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Stacey Pybus
Church hires director of family ministry
Director of Ministry to
Children and Their Families
What do you like to be called? Stacey.
Have you worked someplace where we might have seen you before? First- and third-grade teacher at Coronado Elementary.
Tell us where you went to school? Amarillo High School (I’m a Sandie living in Rebel land!) West Texas A&M University with a bachelor of science in education.
Tell us about your family: Husband, Dewayne, and daughters Audrey, 7, and Kate, 6.
What is your church home? Trinity Fellowship.
What do you do for fun? Creative writing, decorating and shopping, public speaking, birthday parties for homeless children.
What is your favorite food, movie or book? Food - scampi; movie: “Life Is Beautiful” and “Miracle on 34th Street.”
I am most proud of: My two daughters’ faith and their willingness to share.
Anything else you would like to say to introduce yourself: I am so excited about this amazing opportunity to help children develop their relationship with God.
Bible School set for June 9-13
Vacation Bible School 2008 is officially set for June 9-13. It’s never too soon to plan on joining us!
Please feel free to contact Charee Godwin-Smith at cgodwinsmith@phcama.org if you would like to volunteer your time and services. It’s sure to be a great week!
As always we look forward to seeing each of you there.
Welcome, New KidZone workers
K.C. Quianes
What
do you like to be called? K.C.
Have you worked someplace before where we might have seen you? Managed Care Center, Child Protective Services, Nationwide Insurance.
Tell us where you went to school: Tascosa High School, West Texas A&M University with a degree in psychology.
Tell us about your immediate family: My husband’s name is Valentine, and we have a 21-month-old son named Jeremiah.
What is your church home? None at this time.
What do you do for fun? Travel, sing, spend time with family.
What is your favorite food, movie or book? Steak and shrimp and anything choclolate! Favorite movie: “The Color Purple”; favorite book: “God Don’t Like Ugly.”
I am most proud of: My family and my son.
Elizabeth Vega
What
do you like to be called? Elizabeth or Liz.
Have you worked someplace before where we might have seen you? I worked at FPC for two summers and at Managed Care Center.
Tell us where you went to school: Groom High School; degree from Southwestern Adventist University.
What is your church home? Seventh-day Adventist
What do you do for fun? Read, shop.
What is your favorite food, movie or book? Love Mexican and Italian food. Love scary movies, but also “Pretty Woman”; love romance novels.
I use this word or phrase too much: “Anyway.”
KidZone to resume March 26
The Children’s Ministry team would like to remind everyone that KidZone will resume March 26 after taking a week off for Spring Break.
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Stephanie Walton, left, and Karesa Spalding staff the new intake/release counter outside the nursery/crawler rooms. |
Counter boosts security for children
After much anticipation, the first floor of the Christian Education building has a new addition!
We have a beautiful new intake/release counter outside our nursery/crawler, toddler and preschool rooms.
Our new counter serves two functions — it is an added measure of security for our littlest children, and it helps us safely manage how children enter and exit the classrooms.
For several months now, we have had cameras and monitors in place outside the nursery/crawler room. Parents are able to check on and discreetly observe their babies without being seen by them, eliminating additional separation anxiety.
Thank you to everyone who has helped to plan and encourage this process and see it come to fruition:
Jill Goodrich and the Children's Planning Team — for helping identify the need and for formulating the plan.
Jim Doche — for sharing your talents in the architectural drawings.
Billy Morgan of 5E Communications — for providing and installing the security cameras and monitors.
Rex Vermillion — for helping us with networking and resources.
Nolan Dees, Laura Autry and Doyle Askew — for being liaisons, for all your attention to details and for keeping us informed!
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Harvest Festival and Pumpkin Carving Oct. 20 was a busy day for church members with the Family Fall Harvest Festival at the Gilmour ranch and pumpkin carving at the Presbyterian Children's Home. For more photos of the events, click here. |
Readers needed for Library time
We are excited to bring back Library Time for the early childhood. We will be going to the library every second Sunday of the month. The children and adults had so much fun during the summer. The children have a story read to them and then they get to check out a book to take home. We are looking for volunteers to read to the kids. We do the reading right after the children's message. As soon as you are done reading you can slip right back into service. Here are the dates we will be going to the library. Nov. 11, Dec. 9, Jan. 13, Feb. 10, March 9, April 13 and May 18.If you would like to read at any of these times please call Elease Wood at 336-1813.
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Ice Cream Social Members gathered in the Parlor Courtyard on Aug. 19 to participate in the Back to School Ice Cream Social, hosted by the Children's Ministry Team. Besides tasty desserts, the event also featured face painting and games. For more photos of the event, click here. |
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| For more photos of VBS, click here. |
VBS participants journey to Galilee
First Presbyterian Church was quite an exciting place June 18–22! The Great Hall was transformed into “Galilee by-the-Sea," and 125 children became the Tribes of Israel.
They worshiped, sang and danced Jewish folk dances. They sampled olives, dates, freshly baked bread and traditional Jewish foods. They listened for the sound of the shofar, announcing the opening and closing of the marketplace.
They experienced authentic Jewish traditions — visiting a rabbi, touching the mezuza and singing the Shema.
They visited the marketplace and carved boats from soap, stitched leather purses, beaded shell jewelry, painted “stained glass" boxes, made spiced wood and other creative projects.
They ate delicious snacks and enjoyed vigorous outside play activities, like tug of war, hopscotch, casting nets, etc. They saw biblical stories come to life.
Most important, they learned more about Jesus' life, who He is and what He did for us as Christians. They experienced hands-on activities that illustrated issues like leprosy — how it was very contagious and incurable, yet Jesus was able to heal it miraculously and immediately.
Our annual Vacation Bible School was very well attended this year! At least nine of the children are from families who do not yet attend a church. Many seeds were planted by about 50 faithful volunteers!
Early Child Ministries teach kids about tithing
By Laura Markert
Special to The Chimes
Hello from FPC Children's Ministries' Early
Childhood Division! One of our goals in Early Childhood Ministries
is to teach each child that 
they
need to make wise choices based on the truths of the Bible. We
would like to tell you about one of our current projects. Since
Easter, we have been teaching the importance of tithing. The Bible
says, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart
to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Our children are learning, “God is helping me to help others" when they tithe. We want to teach our children that tithing is important, and it needs to start as early as possible and become a lifelong practice.
We hope when our small children help other small children — either at home in Amarillo or around the world — it will mean something to them. Their tithes will go to a well-qualified children's organization to purchase healthy food or vaccinations for small children. On Family Recognition Sunday, May 20, the class that has collected the most money will choose the organization to which the money will be given.
Current totals collected are:
Toddlers (Ms. Stephanie's class) $22.06
Pre-Schooler's (Ms. Laura's class) $57.93
Pre-K 1 (Ms. Nancy's class) $16.11
Pre K-2 (Ms. Cindy's class) $12.36
Combined Total: $108.46
We believe it is really important to help our children learn the practice of tithing, and plan to continue teaching this foundation in Sunday school for years to come. We hope you will continue to help your children find or earn spare change to bring each Sunday as we teach them this important lesson.
Children's
Ministry
Service With A Smile: Barbara Biehler |
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Past Service: Rotational Sunday School shepherd; played piano with Mary Ann Fields; various committees and task groups Current Service: Vacation Bible School Why I Serve: I've been volunteering with Children's Ministries for a long time! I love the interaction with the children – their spontaneous responses – and seeing them grow and learn about the Bible. |
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New year, new programs, new ideas
in store for Children's Ministry
By Jill Goodrich
Special to The Chimes
Listening is such an important part of communication, isn't it? The Bible has countless references to the importance of listening. Last summer the Children's Ministry Planning Team did just that. We held an open forum to hear from parents, volunteers and any FPC member. We wanted to listen to the ideas and concerns from anyone who wanted to offer their input about the programs for our children.
Out of that session, there were many great ideas, several of which have been or are being implemented. For example, we've introduced a new David C. Cook curriculum in Bible Village and have strengthened all of our curriculum in the different age groups.
We've launched KidZone — a fun and interactive time of fellowship and learning on Wednesday nights for infants through 5th grade.
We've made some great additions to the CMT staff including a strong nursery team that takes care of our youngest participants! And, we're not stopping there.
We've got even more in store for the coming year.
One of the most important suggestions from the listening session was the importance of communication. That's why we're not waiting until next summer to share what's been going on in Children's Ministry and seeking to hear what's important to the families who take part.
Our vision for Children's Ministry is focused on helping families nurture their children to become fully devoted followers of Christ. We want every child to grow up and believe in making wise choices based on the Bible's truths, that they can trust in God no matter what and to treat others the way they want to be treated.