The Spiritual Development Committee is tasked with the oversight of the spiritual education of Beech Church. Generally speaking, this task primarily includes arenas which are focused upon the children of the church: Sunday School (pre-K to 12th grade), Children’s Church and Wee Worship, and Vacation Bible School. While the committee recognizes that education is important for all ages, it is understood that adult classes generally tend to be less teacher/student oriented and more often involve a facilitator leading a class discussion. Therefore, this committee ensures that the classes for all ages of children are staffed.

 

Likewise, it is the responsibility of this committee to ensure that the teachers have the supplies they need for their class, especially curriculum. Having this understanding, the committee attempts to be in communication with any teachers who are unable to attend the committee meetings to determine how the curriculum suits their class. Often, the committee will attempt to streamline the curriculum so that all ages of children (pre-k through 5th grade) are discussing the same topic/story on any given Sunday. This also serves as the curriculum of Children’s Church and Wee Worship. We believe that repetition has a great potential for laying a strong foundation for the children’s spiritual growth.

 

While Wednesday night worship is not a part of the Committee’s oversight, the curriculum often serves as a guide for Wednesday Bible Studies. As an advisory member of the church, the pastor is often involved in the Committee. He has expressed that by having a common worship/devotion time on Wednesday nights, this will allow families to discuss the biblical topics in the car or at home.

 

We understand that families being together during worship service is often a vital part of helping children grow and learn. However, we also recognize that children and adults have vastly differing attention spans, and learning styles. Therefore, our 11AM Sunday morning worship service includes Wee Worship and Children’s Church. During the 11AM service, children are included in at least half of the service. However, during the service, a time is set aside for the Children’s Ministry Director to provide a message for the children within the context of the worship service. This message often is no more than 5 min and involves question and response learning. Afterward, the children are released to their respective classes. Wee Worship is for children ages 3-Pre-K and Children’s Church is for children ages Kindergarten – 2nd grade.

 

Finally, the Committee oversees and recruits staff for Vacation Bible School each year. Vacation Bible School is a dynamic time teaching children God’s word. At Beech Church, we often have 4 nights (2 hours each night) of highly engaged activities. Each night usually includes an opening activity, a Bible lesson, a recreational activity, a craft, a short video, a snack, and a closing activity. The fifth night of VBS generally includes an opening, the Bible story, ice cream, and a fun slip and slide.