Emmanuel Mennonite

We have a dream

Last Sunday morning as part of our "Church Life"/Ask Your Council Member series in the banquet room, we heard some of the dreams of our Education Committee:

- that children would become so engaged in Sunday School that they would beg their parents to bring them

- that people might get so excited about teaching Sunday school that they would eagerly volunteer to contribute and use their gifts

- that youth who don't normally attend Sunday school might get  connected - possibly with a youth band or by being involved with SonForce where the younger kids would benefit from their example and look up to them

- that the banquet room might be filled with adults wanting to learn

These are wonderful dreams--and yet they're much more as we also seek to put foundations under them:

- for the On The Way adult class: we've already started providing sound in the banquet room so all will be able to hear easily; this Sunday we will follow up on the suggestion to re-arrange the chairs to make the room more inviting so people can enter behind everyone already seated instead of at the front; between now and September, Allen has volunteered to convene a subgroup to plan a new On The Way schedule with a view to promoting and distributing it in advance; new ideas are being considered, like providing coffee and a place for fellowship or perhaps an informal praise and prayer time during Sunday school

- for the younger classes: we've already started SonForce and plan to continue that as a fun time of active learning; plans are underway to paint the upstairs hallway with colourful, inviting murals; curriculum is being reviewed as we explore a new pod format that will allow teachers to focus on areas of ministry that they especially love, allow other teachers to take a much needed break, and engage the kids with memorable songs, activities, and Bible stories

- for the library: we have dreams to make the library catalogue available online; to continue to provide resources from Mennonite Publishing that may be difficult to find locally elsewhere.

We are also still in need of a Chairperson for our Education ministry, so please join us in our dreaming and praying!  If you sense that God might be calling you to this ministry, I'd love to hear from you at pastor@emmanuelmennonite.com