PowerSource: What we do on Wednesday nights with kids Part 1

We don't have a budget or the resources to do a purchased program on Wednesday nights but we want to do something a little different than what we do on Sundays and we wanted kids to really get a chance to dig into the Bible and retain what they have learned.

I will say that we have worked with this particular model for two years, and we make tweaks constantly. At this point we are trying to move past just filling a schedule into giving the kids a little more time to absorb and process what they've learned and a chance to hear the Holy Spirit speak. It is hard to hear Him when there is so much "busyness". Today's post is the outline of how a typical Wednesday night flows. I will post later about how we choose and present our Bible content.

Here's our basic outline. We call it PowerSource.

We officially start at 6:30 but since most kids are there, especially van kids we start a countdown at 6:20 and send them for bathroom and drinks. Inevitably at 6:30 and as soon as we got settled, someone would ask to go to the bathroom, then another and another and it would put us behind schedule. We only have one hour and don't want to waste a minute of it, so we just gather them up early now and they don't even realize it. ;)

6:20
countdown/bathroom etc.
give dots* for being here and bringing a Bible and for bringing a friend

6:30
Pray
Rules
Cheer
Pledges
B-C-V (Book Chapter Verse)
Sing a song (Memory verse for the month by Jumpstart3)

6:50
break into groups for our rotations

7:10"ish"
Return to large group
Offering
Song
Announcements/Upcoming events
God sightings
Review memory verse
Review what we've learned thus far.
Dismiss

I will post next time more about each component and what we do so stay tuned!

*Dots: We make a page for each month and put it on the bulletin board, each kid gets one. We give dots for attendance, bringing a Bible and shining God's light or some other special thing like bringing a friend, or helping beyond what was asked. The dots are added up for a prize at the end of the month. This is only our second month doing it this way. January was great and now they are starting to understand how it works.

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