Community Presbyterian Church — St. Maries, Idaho
Our after-school celebrations began with a pizza party! In Dec. 2017, we scheduled the Christmas program rehearsal party for right after school. Since the church is two blocks from the grade school, the children walked to the church. After the party, the children wanted more pizza and more parties! So, in Jan. 2018, the first after-school “Celebration of God’s Love” was held as an experiment. We thought, “Let’s just see how this goes.” But by August, the Christian education team was planning themed celebrations for the entire school year!
Now, once a month, children walk to the church after school to hear Scripture and a short message from the pastor, sing, participate in a science or craft activity, play games and enjoy a full meal. Everything is based on the Scripture and theme of the celebration.
Four years ago, we couldn’t hold a children’s program because we had one child in church. Now, we’ve seen God bring new “unchurched” children — and surprisingly, God has drawn in many of our adults (not involved with Christian education) to serve and connect with the children. Praise God!
— Janet Potter, pastor
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