There's no way we would cancel a party like this one!
Dispite the rain, we'll be having the annual Spring Family Picnic tonight in Building F, the Atrium. Same time, food and games – just a whole lot less mud. See you tonight in the Atrium!
Spring has sprung, and it's time get outside and enjoy it with your family! Our annual Spring Family Picnic is coming up on Friday, May 4 at 6pm. We'll meet out in the baseball fields on campus and have a great time of food and fun.
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We will be providing cotton candy, and popcorn for everyone. You're welcome to bring your own picnic or purchase Papa John’s pizza at the event (or fill up on sugar like this guy!).
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Plan on bringing friends and we'll see you there!
Every weekend hundreds of men, women and students on both of our campuses radically invest their lives in the next generation by serving in Children’s Ministry. It’s not babysitting. It’s not childcare. It’s life change.
As we approach the opening of our Richmond Road campus, we are relaunching our entire Children’s Ministry under the new brand of the Big Picture Show, a place where we show families the big picture of God’s story. We're inviting you to be a part of that. It’s going to take 105 leaders to open the doors of Children’s Ministry at our Richmond Road campus, and some of you will be a part of that adventure. We’ll also be sending some of our current children’s leaders over to Richmond Road which means we’ll have opportunities for new leaders like you to take their place on our Danville or Harrodsburg Road campuses.
We also need some of you to just to jump in for the summer and give our weekly leaders some much needed time to get refreshed and recharged for this next season. In case you didn't get a chance to fill out a card in your program this past weekend, you have the opportunity to sign up online!
So whether you want to be a part of Children’s Ministry at Harrodsburg Road, in Danville, Richmond Road or just help out over the summer, we have a place for you in the Big Picture Show.
Sign up today to radically invest in the next generation!
If you have walked through any of the children's environments at Southland over the last few weeks, you may have noticed a little dust and paint. We are right in the middle of a retheming project for our children's rooms. We are working to make our children's spaces as inviting and engaging as possible in both our Danville and Harrodsburg Rd campuses (and our "soon to be" Richmond Road campus). Soon enough you'll see all of our preschool and elementary environments with a new theme and a fresh look. But for now, here's a glimpse into one of our build days this week and the creation of our new preschool environment - Animation Station.
Can you imagine what it would be like to walk around Walt Disney World knowing that you helped build it? Imagine if you’d been one the artists or construction workers who helped bring Walt’s incredible vision to life. Well, we don’t exactly have a Disney-sized budget, but over the next couple of months we are going to be creating some fantastic environments for families here at our Southland campuses.
As we prepare for the launch of our Richmond Road campus we are completely overhauling the large group stages for our three Children’s Ministry environments, and that’s where we need your help. We need skilled woodworkers, artists, painters and any adults willing to donate some time to help us to build the new sets for Children’s Ministry. We are going to be creating whimsical set pieces and theatrical props to bring our new themed environments to life.
Each week those interested can volunteer to serve at the Harrodsburg Road campus during one or more of our set building sessions from 1–5pm on Mondays and Wednesdays or 9am–5pm, Thursdays. All volunteers must be 18 or over.
If you’d like to be a part of the magic, please contact Tobi.
Want to know how to have almost perfect kids?
Do you long for your little ones to excel in school, be influential for good with friends, follow Jesus with a pureheart and maintain joy at all times?
How would it be if you and your family experienced evenings and weekends of peace, rest and balance in the midst ofproductivity and fruitfulness as a family?
Well that family doesn't exist. However, we would love to equip you with tools to help ensure your kids get a foundation of faith...FROM YOU! Don't miss this unique opportunity to learn what it means to parent your children, Biblically.
Join us for Strategic Parenting that starts this week on Sunday mornings. For more information or to register, go here.
Anyone with kids knows how crazy the Christmas season can be. What we think should be a meaningful, magical time with our family turns into a mad dash just to get everything done. Taking time to focus on Jesus? Sounds like a good idea, but when are you supposed to fit that in to your long list of holiday chores?
Yeah, we all fall prey to the monsters who steal Christmas. Busyness, greed, short tempers and unrealistic expectations conspire to hijack our holiday joy and take our eyes off of the hope that Jesus brings to our families.
This year Southland’s Children’s Ministry wants to help you bust those Christmas monsters by creating some fantastic discussion times with your kids. Beginning the weekend of Nov 26 and 27th, “The Monsters Who Stole Christmas” family discussion packs will be available in all Children’s Ministry environments on both campuses.
Loaded with Bible verses, discussion questions and Christmas challenges, these packets will help your family overcome those pesky monsters of the heart once and for all. So pick yours up and take some time to help your kids do some serious monster busting. It may be the best present you can give them this Christmas.
Adapted from Jason’s Magnetic Ministry Blog:
What’s the big deal about 411? That’s the number of people – kids and adults who’ve been baptized at Southland so far this year. So what’s that mean for our Children’s Ministry volunteers? Well, first of all, we celebrate 411 new brothers and sisters joining God’s family. Above and beyond that, our volunteers were a part of each of those 411 baptisms. Below is a message for these volunteers.
Here are three ways I’ve watched amazing Children’s Ministry leaders contribute to people crossing the line of faith this year:
1. You reach kids’ with God’s love. There are kids who have made a decision to follow Jesus this year because of the love and attention you’ve shown them. Whether it’s through a direct conversation you’ve had with them about salvation or you just showing up and pouring out kindness, you have been Jesus with skin on to the children God has sent your way. Even if they can’t articulate it, kids see God in you and want what you have.
2. You make it easy for parents to go to church. Because you make church fun for their kids, most of our parents don’t have to struggle with dragging their kids to church. In fact, many of our parents have told me that their kids get upset if they have to be out of town and miss a weekend. A lot of our kids drag their parents to church, which is huge! That means parents can attend worship and classes without being distracted or feeling guilty that they just ditched their kid. This frees them up to be fully present and do business with God. Parents have come to faith this year because your ministry enabled them to go experience being a part of the church.
3. You’ve inspired contagious faith. Parents have also come to faith this year because of #1 and #2 working together. I’ve seen parents show up at our Kid Splash events thinking about baptism for the first time, because their kids are asking questions. I’ve watched the faith of children spread through entire families. That all begins with you building relationships with kids and creating an irresistible weekend experience in Children’s Ministry.
So there you have it, three reasons why you can feel good about playing a HUGE part in 411 baptisms this year. Remember, there’s no such thing as JUST Children’s Ministry. What you do opens the door of heaven to entire families who may otherwise never be introduced to the love of God.
Pretty mind-blowing, huh? Join us in taking time this month to say THANK YOU to all of our awesome Children’s ministry volunteers!
If you’ve ever sat through a large group program in Children’s Ministry here at Southland, you will know that we are blessed to have some incredibly talented people on our stages bringing the Bible to life every weekend for our kids. From our gifted worship teams to creative teachers, skilled actors and techs, we have an amazing volunteer team.
In the last couple of years, though, we began thinking outside the box of the Harrodsburg Road campus. As we announced plans for Danville, and now our Richmond Road campus, we began asking ourselves how we can capture some of the best of what we do to set up the new Southland campuses to create amazing experiences for kids.
Enter the cameras! A couple of months ago, we installed our first camera package in our 3rd-5th grade Children’s Ministry environment. Each weekend we video all of the worship, drama and teaching that happens on our stages to pass off to our Danville campus and will eventually send the same programs to Richmond Road.
Our goal wasn’t to create a video curriculum, but a tool that would equip the multi-site campuses to build their own engaging, live experiences. As a bonus they also have the Harrodsburg Road video content as a back-up as they work through the process of building their own large group programming teams.
For the past month our Danville volunteers have taken the footage and scripts from Harrodsburg Road and have used them to rehearse their own large group programs. Just imagine if you were a teacher at our Danville or Richmond Road campus. Think of how much easier it would to be to prepare if you could watch a video of someone doing your lesson live on stage. Our Danville children’s worship leaders are also able to use video of Harrodsburg Road worship to enhance their own services and give their kids a bigger experience. Because of this technology we are also able to show dramas each week that we would never have enough people to be able to pull off live on all of our campuses.
I can tell you from seeing it in action myself that our Danville team is taking the Harrodsburg Road content and knocking it out of the park!
We are now synced up in 3rd-5th grade, and over the coming months we will be phasing in cameras in both K-2nd grade and preschool. By the time our Richmond Road campus opens in January of 2013 we will have full video support in all of our preschool and elementary environments. So, as you see cameras moving into your rooms on the weekend, know that they are here to equip our campuses to help kids experience God’s big story wherever they happen to attend.
Childrens Pastor
THIS TWO DAY SEMINAR HAS BEEN CANCELLED EFFECTIVE at 10:25am, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011.
What does it take to raise children who truly love the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind? The reality is that there is no “one-size-fits-all” plan for raising spiritually strong children. But imagine if there were some common denominators that would help define parenting success. Good news! There are! Strategic Parenting is a revolutionary seminar geared toward aiding parents in raising a generation of spiritual champions.
This is a two day seminar:
6–9pm, Friday, September 30 and 9am–4pm, Saturday, October 1 at the Harrodsburg Road campus, Building B.
Cost is $35/individual or $40/couple. Childcare is not provided.
Don't miss this unique opportunity to get together with other parents and learn how to do parenting the right way. Biblically.
This past Sunday we hosted an Internet Safety Class for families with students. There was a great response as well as a great interest in this topic as it impacts and effects our students on a daily basis.
In student ministry, we find that walking alongside families, helping them be equipped with tools, and partnering with our community experts makes for a great collaborative effort to protect and prepare our students.
As a followup, we wanted to share this great resource site with familes : www.netsmartz.org
We hope this will help you continue in educating yourself on how to best lead your family and students when it comes to Internet Safety.
Nathan Head, Age Level Pastor
As preparations are made for the upcoming school year, several needs emerge. One of the most prevalent is the need for caring, committed adults that are willing to invest their time and energy into the lives of children and students. In a world where everything is temporary, just being consistently present can foster real life in the next generation.
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Serving in age level ministries can look like a lot of different things. It can be leading a life group. It can be performing dramas on Sunday mornings. It can be running the tech in one of the programs. Some current leaders had these experiences to relay:
Impact. By just being there and talking with the kids you are impacting their lives, showing that they are important and that they are cared about. You may not even know the amount of impact you have on them, I didn’t until I had a parent come up and tell me, ‘thank you for being a positive influence on our daughter’. The sincerity in her eyes communicated so much to me.
Being a Life Group leader to me, means that I can be someone that a child and their parents can come to freely. I can help a family with questions and concerns about their own journey with Christ. But most importantly, I develop a relationship with the child and their family that demonstrates the intimacy found in the family of God's children.
Are you ready to make a difference? If you're interested in serving you can fill a card during services this weekend, or contact Nathan Head.
Every week at Southland we have around 1800 kids or students involved in groups! We believe that God speaks when we gather in community so we start in preschool and build that into the rhythm of our kids lives. It is a priority because when they head off to college or work at 18 it’s “who they are” and not “what they do.” To make this happen we need 100’s of people willing to give their lives for the next generation. Here’s a couple folks, out of the 100’s, that told us their story:
You don’t have to know the entire Bible, have a teaching degree, how to juggle bowling pins or have an “S” on your chest...what you need to do is consider this; Is God asking me to give some time away so that the next generation knows a God who is crazy about them?Being a Life Group leader to me, means that I can be someone that a child and their parents can come to freely. I can help a family with questions and concerns about their own journey with Christ. But most importantly, I develop a relationship with the child and their family that demonstrates the intimacy found in the family of God's children.
Being a Life Group leader means IMPACT. By just being there and talking with the kids you are impacting their lives, showing that they are important and that they are cared about. You may not even know the amount of impact you have on them, I didn’t until I had a parent come up and tell me, ‘thank you for being a positive influence on our daughter’. The sincerity behind those words landed in a deep place in my heart.
If you’ve never been to a Who’s In the House event, you can expect big dance numbers, drama, worship and creative teaching all designed to get your family talking about faith at home.
After the show we’ll have the Off the Hook after party in the parking lot where kids can meet their favorite characters, get cotton candy and have their fishy faces painted to take the fun home.
Who’s In the House isn’t just about your family, though. This is an easy way to invite families you know to check out Southland for the very first time. Even if you don’t have your own preschool or elementary aged kids at home, reach out to your neighbors, your co-workers or other families and invite them to come out to Southland with you on Thursday evening at 7pm. Who's in the House gives you an easy way to introduce people to Southland and, more importantly, to the God whose love lets all of us Off the Hook.
The Atlantis Mall Grand Opening will be Off the Hook for this year's Who's in the House!
After weeks of construction, the Atlantis mall will soon be open for business. There will be numerous stores including a newly refurbished Build a Bass Workshop and a remodeled Abercrombie & Fish. Grand Opening celebrations will include high energy worship, dance, drama and some exciting teaching. You won't want to miss out.
Not sure what Who's In the House is all about? You can find out more here.
Remember, we'll have performances this Thursday, June 16 @ 7pm at the Danville Campus and next Thursday, June 23 @ 7pm at the Harrodsburg Road Campus.
Tyler Johnson, Children's Programming Leader