Quest in a Box is coming to your church doorstep within the week if you registered for Quest in Box by Sept. 1, 2021. If you missed the registration deadline but would like the lessons to, I am happy to send you what supplies I have left, but it won't be a complete box of materials. You will get all the lessons, signs, and video links. Strangely enough, there was an alphabet bead shortage, and it was hard to get the letter O and D for our Quest craft! Who knew Covid would cause a bead shortage? I was able to get just enough beads for those who registered.

Opening and Closing worship links were created and provided by Rev. Craig Williams.

Feed My Sheep! lesson link was taught by Rev. Walt Garrett

Do Good Love God Do No Harm lesson link was taught by Rev. Eva Englert-Jessen

Who's the Boss? lesson link was taught by Rev. Hammet Evans

Tell Me Without Telling Me lesson link was taught by Sadie Stratton

Thank you so much to all who shared their gifts in teaching the lessons and songs! My prayer is that you are all able to use this material with your 4th-6th graders in the coming weeks and months.

Many of you can be back in your routine with your ministry to children and their families. Masking is always a must right now for indoor and outdoor ministry.

Pam Lentz at Conway FUMC has purchased some umbrellas with lights under the canopy and created an outdoor classroom for Wednesday evenings. She hopes to use this space as long as the weather is clear. Every little extra step we can take to ensure children are safe is an added layer of protection.

I have included a link below to a website creating pre-school-age children a learning space for ministry or just for their families to come and enjoy together. Think of it as an outreach nature playground! I hope that our beautiful fall and gentle winters of AR will encourage you to try some outdoor classrooms.

The oh-so-talented Christi Crawford has created and shared with all of us once again! She needed an Acolyte Training Manual so she created one with lots of instructions about why we do what we do as well as logistics specific to her church.

She has given me the Word Document so if anyone wants to use what she has created to make changes specific to your Sanctuary your church is welcome to have a copy.

Many churches have volunteers that coordinate Acolytes. Having a manual that everyone teaches from for training adds consistency to traditions and makes sure everyone gets the same information during training. You may want to customize your own print out a couple of copies for volunteers as well put it on your church website as a downloadable PDF that any parent can refer to if their child has questions.

Traci Smith shared this poet Austin Kleon who takes newspaper articles and circles words that stand out. Not words that stand out as reading the article for comprehension, but more like a word bank. He creates poems with the boxed words and blacks out the rest of the article. Click on the video below for a quick tutorial.

I could see someone using this idea with 4th-6th grade or above as a way to create a prayer or a poem! You would need some old newspapers, sharpies, and once-through modeling of how to create the prayer using the words in the text. (Be sure to cover the table with cardboard or plastic so you don't get Sharpie bleed through.) It would be lovely to see what they all created on a shared board or digital posts. This would be an easy weekly opening while activity for tweens as you are waiting to gather for instruction. It would also be neat to have these prayers scrolled on a screen during worship.

Just a reminder, we are open all year and would love to host individuals, families, or retreats. Call 501-262-2600 or email kayla.hardage@tanako.org for more information.

Dates to remember: