Here are the plans for this year’s Passion Weekend! Our house churches are encouraged to get together and pray on Thursday the 21st focusing on “Jesus as the Servant.” (Staff hopes to provide some suggested prayer plans for this). We’ll then be having a 6:30-8:00pm Good Friday gathering at Apex focusing on “Jesus as the Sacrifice” (see Apex Kids note below). Lastly, our normal weekend gatherings (at their normal times) will be the culmination and celebration of “Jesus as our Savior!”
Apex Kids & Students
Apex Kids will have normal classes on Easter Saturday and Sunday; however, there will only be limited kids ministry for Good Friday. If you want your child to participate in Apex Kids during the Good Friday service, limited spots are available… please register online ASAP by clicking the link below:
Click Here for Good Friday Kids Classes Registration
Apex Students will have no activities all day on Saturday or Sunday. This includes 56 Crew, 78 Ignition, and High School.
2011 Passion Weekend (Easter) at Apex
Apex Kids & Student Ministries Updates
If you are the parent of a child or student (birth to 8th grade) or volunteer with Apex Kids or Student Ministries here are some things you NEED to know!
Updated: Apex Kids/Student Ministry Calendar for Birth to 8th Grade
January to April Trimester
Mar. 12 Studio 34 Pajama Purity Party - Same schedule as Feb 5
Mar. 21 Deadline for Summer Camp Deposit of 50.00
Mar. 26 March Manliness: Rescheduled to include grades 3 to 6
April 3-4 Easter: Guest David Cain shares Christ as he Juggles.
Apr. 17-18 Deadline to turn in Camp Scholarship Applications
Apr. 23 Partnering with Parents Event: “School Options for your Child”
May to August Trimester
May 7 KIDS TALENT SHOW!
May 8-9 Parent-Child Dedications during the Gatherings
May 22-23 Bump Weekend – Kids promoted to next class or grade: Special presentation about Courage from:”Phil and Friends”
May 23 Mandatory meeting about Camp 11am; Also Payment Deadline
May 29-30 Memorial Day-Begin Summer Schedule for Apex Kids & Students
June 14-18 Centri-Kids Camp for Grades 4 to 6 (Grade attended this past year)
June 19-20 Baptisms on Father’s Day weekend
JUNE 21-25 FIVE DAY FEST! (VBS) “High Seas Expedition” The Kickoff of our Summer “Growing” and “Going” emphasis for Kids in our House Church Regions:
SHINE: “SHARING HIM IN NEIGHBORHOODS EVERYWHERE”
1) Watermelon Parties: One day Backyard Gospel presentations in our House Churches from June to August.
2) Five Day Clubs: Week long Backyard, Park, or Playground Gospel presentations – at least one per region July and August.
July 19-23 M-Fuge Camp for Grades 7 & 8 (Grade attended this past year)
Aug. 28-29 Back to School Weekend at Apex
Preview of September to December Trimester
September Shoe Box Kickoff this month
October Parent-Child Dedications during the Gatherings
November Operation Christmas Child & Thanksgiving Family Service
December Community Outreach to Needy and Homeless
Apex Kids and Students: Parent Help Team (PHT)
Dear Parents: We are honored to minister to your children at our weekend Gatherings. We are glad to contribute to your efforts to “grow” your children spiritually- a partnership we willingly invest in and prepare for every week.
To enhance that partnership we are creating the Parent Help Team. The PHT includes all parents of children/students from Birth to 8th Grade who DO NOT CURRENTLY serve within Apex Kids-Student Ministries. Apex leadership is now requiring that you or your spouse serve in one of the following ways:
Guides:
Register and escort visitors to proper rooms-areas from Check-in desk
6 times a year or 4 times in one month
Gatekeepers:
Provide information and security in and around children/student hallways.
6 times a year or 4 times in one month
Helpers:
Assist teacher/leader in classroom or ministry area.
6 times a year or 4 times in one month
Inn Keepers:
Help clean rooms and sanitize toys
6 times a year
Registered Nurses:
Available during Gathering if needed
6 times a year
Why are we now requiring that parents who are not serving help?
1) To maintain and enhance a “Growing” environment that is consistent.
2) Provide needed help to those who are more fully committed to this area.
3) To more fairly involve families benefiting from Apex Kids Student Ministries
Go here to register, in the coming months a new church management system we are installing will also bring a new Kids/Student check in system with it. For security reasons, your child will not be in our system unless you have signed up to serve.
To all of those volunteers who are currently serving . . .
Dear Volunteers: Thank you for ministering to Kids/Students at our weekend Gatherings. We appreciate your contribution to the spiritual growth of our families and enjoy working with you on a regular basis here at Apex.
To acknowledge your consistent contribution we are identifying and organizing you as part of Apex Kids and Student Ministry Team. (AKSM) Very simply you are the people that serve our families on a regular basis.
Apex Kids and Student Ministry Team : AKSM
Ministry Team Serving Calendar:
1) Trimester One: January to April
2) Trimester Two: May to August
3) Trimester Three: September to December
Ministry Team Serving Level: Gold
1) Once a week all year
2) Once a week for one trimester
3) Once a week for two trimesters
Ministry Team Serving Level: Silver
1) Once a week for a month: Serving month on and month off
2) Once a week for a month: Serving 1 month in each trimester
3) Once a week for a month: Serving 1 month in two of the trimesters
Ministry Team Serving Level: Bronze
1) Every month 1 to 3 times
Please know that we have appreciated your service and only seek to acknowledge your faithfulness through the identification of service levels. The creation of the Parent Help Team is to let you know that we respect your effort by requiring all of our parents to more fully invest in our ministry.
Apex Kids and Student Ministry Leaders
Apex Kids: Simplify and Serve in 2010
An important letter from Kevin Bowman, Apex Kids Director:
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Simplify and Serve in 2010!
Please take the time to read this detailed and helpful plan for ministry in Apex Kids for 2010. “Simplify and Serve” will be our guiding theme for next year. It is explained in this post in 6 parts, and we ask that you fill out the provided form after reading!
Simplifying Volunteer Scheduling: Currently we need 86 people to fully staff our weekend Gatherings. The weekly effort to schedule those 86 volunteers has been exceptional and unnecessarily difficult. Changes in the way we will schedule our volunteers reflect our desire to serve in a manner that is more consistently staffed, better prepared and very intentional in the building of relationships between children, their families and those who serve them.
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Part 1: Trimesters
Our plan will be framed within three trimesters:
First: January – April
Second: May – August
Third: September – December
It is our goal to coordinate the ministry of our workers with events and life schedules common to most, if not everyone, within the Apex family.
This approach also represents a realistic view of the unique transitions, choices and priorities that all families and churches encounter throughout the year, and especially during the summer months of May to August.
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Part 2: Accommodation
Our plan must be able to accommodate at least 400 children each weekend during the 3 Gatherings. All three of our Gatherings are equally important, but the greater number of children at our 9:30 service make its staffing a priority.
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Part 3: Stewardship
Although we will always need to recruit additional workers, it is just as important that we are good stewards of the volunteers that already serve.
Apex has a unique demographic of young families, college students, busy professionals and military personnel. That blend of people within the context of a thriving House Church vision presents both opportunities and challenges when trying to build and maintain a level of excellence in our ministry.
Our intent is to provide opportunities for service that work with our church demographic rather than working around it. That said, we will be asking that our people “adjust,” to meet the needs of our children.
We realize that many of you who faithfully serve do not have margin in your schedules to do more or alter how you serve. We are asking those of you who do have margin in your schedule to reconsider “how” you serve.
For example: if you now serve 12 weeks throughout the year, we would ask to consider serving 8 weeks in 2 one month blocks. In this case LESS is MORE. These scheduling options will be explained more in the next part.
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Part 4: Priorities & Options
One more time… Every person presently serving within Apex Kids is important!
Under our current system, even if we retain 100% of our volunteers on our database, we would still need to add an additional 50 to 60 people to properly and effectively staff Apex Kids. Given that scenario, please examine our planning priorities and serving options to which you’d like to commit:
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***Apex Kids Planning Priorities for 2010:
a) 9:30 Gathering: Greatest number of Children
b) Sept-Dec & Jan-April trimesters: Most consistent attendance pattern
c) May-July trimester: Most inconsistent attendance pattern
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***Apex Kids Serving Options for 2010:
a) Those who wish to serve every week for the entire year
b) Those who wish to serve every week for an entire trimester
c) Those who wish to serve for an entire month at a time (something that many of our volunteers already do.) Many serve a month on and a month off. Serving one month per trimester would also be very beneficial to our scheduling as well as our mission. (Especially during May – August.)
d) Those who wish to serve two weeks every month
e) Those who wish to serve an entire weekend
f) Those who wish to serve as part of a House Church project
g) Those who wish to serve in a manner not listed above
Encouraging note: If we simply add 4 or 5 “every week” volunteers or “entire trimester” volunteers we stretch our existing volunteer database by more than 80 people. If you don’t understand how that works, please contact me! I would be happy to explain that to you, and help you sign up.
Let me restate: Please understand why it is important for Apex Kids to prioritize our scheduling of volunteers by those that will serve the most often. It helps everyone serve less often!
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Part 5: For ALL Parents
For the purpose of being qualified to serve in a classroom if need be, we need to create a true sub list. As a sub, you will not be asked to serve more than 4 times per year. That is a promise.
We are asking ALL parents whose children attend Apex Kids ministries during our weekend Gatherings to go to our website and do the following:
- Download a Volunteer Screening Form
- Fill it out and turn it in at the Apex Kids Lobby Desk (Check-In Center)
These forms can be downloaded at:
http://apexcommunity.org/how-to-connect/kids/
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Part 6: Final Thoughts
Final thoughts on why we are changing the serving schedule
1. To build better relationships between our workers and the families they serve: we want to put forth a more consistent face on our teaching staff. Most would agree that having the same teacher(s) as much as possible, is better for the kids, especially with our youngest children.
2. To improve the impact of our teaching: most of our curriculum is set up as an 8 week unit and teaching for a four week period of time allows a teacher to refer back to previous weeks material and link it with lessons that will follow. (And yes… we believe that is important, even for a two year old!)
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Now, if you are a parent and do not volunteer, please follow the instructions in Part 5.
If you are a volunteer, or wish to begin regular service with Apex Kids, please use our 2010 Scheduling Feedback Form to let us know how you’d prefer to serve. You can either pick-up and return a printed form at the Apex Kids Lobby Desk, or you can fill out the form online by visiting this link:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGJSWHdGVVVkVnNYNVNFZGtZbExwVnc6MA
Thanks again, for all your service… and you’re willingness to read all of these planning thoughts! Feel free to contact me with questions.
Kevin Bowman, Apex Kids Director
kevin.bowman@apexcommunity.org or 432-9022 x208