Children's Min Quick Profile

I want to begin by introducing our children's ministry to you. Much of this blog will entail HOW we got to where we are and what is to come. This post is simply a quick snapshot of where we are. I am going to take pictures of the classrooms tomorrow and hopefully post them up this weekend so you can see what it all looks like.

We currently have three classrooms. There is an infant, toddler, and younger elementary classroom. The age breakdowns are currently as follows:

Infant: 2 months-18 months (depending on child's development)
Toddler: 18 months-4 years old
Younger Elementary: 5-8 years old
*These are not our ideal age breakdowns. However; we simply do not have enough manpower to make more classrooms at the moment. For now, with our church's current children and families, this breakdown works.

Our volunteer structure is currently as follows:
2 volunteers in Infant on Sunday (at least one adult female) (each volunteer serves approximately once a month)
1 Teacher in Toddler on Sunday (three teachers for this classroom total; each serves every third Sunday)
1 Teacher in Younger Elementary on Sunday (currently only two teachers for this classroom; each serves every third Sunday. Class closed one of the Sundays in the rotation due to a shortage in teachers)

Each volunteer goes through a process in order to become a volunteer. The process is as follows:
1. Application and app approval
         -age 12 or above, needs to be a church member, background checked (unless a minor)
2. Personal interview with me (about an hour)
3. Go through a training seminar (about an hour)

Our classrooms are visible from outside the classroom (from the lobby area at our church). Each class has a glass door. The Toddler and Younger Elementary classrooms are connected with a glass door as well. This is important for many reasons, which I will get into in the next week in another post.
*It has been nice having the two older classrooms connected. Sometimes our Toddler classroom gets a lot of children. The Younger Elementary teacher will sometimes help out if the Toddler class needs it.

Our Organizational structure looks like this:
1. Lead Pastor at FGC- Pastor Matt Troupe
2. Children's Ministry Leader (volunteer position)- myself
3. Volunteers

I coordinate scheduling, new applications, background checks, teacher and new volunteer trainings, and major curriculum decisions. I report to Pastor Matt as needed or about twice a month. This is helpful and important! Also, I have a very open line of communication with volunteers. They are the backbone of the ministry. Without them, we would not have any classrooms! Their input is very valuable, especially since I am not in EVERY classroom. I myself am a teacher in the Toddler classroom, which means I see what happens there the most. I rely on the volunteers of every class for valuable ideas and input on how things are running.

Lastly, I am spending at least 5 hours each week working on children's ministry "stuff", sometimes more if there is an event or something time consuming comes up.

I hope this gives you a pretty solid glimpse of what Free Grace Church's Children's Ministry looks like at the moment. We have many plans on improving this ministry, but for now this is what we are capable of and are hoping meets the needs of our people. Thanks for reading!