First Baptist Church - Huntsville, AL

Children's Ministry
6th Grade Ministry
Contact: Cindy Russell

6th Grade Calendar for 2006 - 2007

We choose at First Baptist to keep these children-almost-teens in the children's department for developmental reasons. Preteens are only beginning to think abstractly. This cognitive change affects almost every area of growth and development. As children, they thought of God only in concrete terms. As preteens, they are developing a larger collection of intellectual tools that includes abstract-thinking abilities. These new ways of thinking will find expression in their views of God, grace, salvation, relationships, power, motives, and just about everything else. We want to develop a ministry specifically for preteens that will help them grow physically, mentally, emotionally and socially, but most importantly spiritually. The following activities are offered as ministry to these very special children/pre-teens.

Sunday Fellowship Every other Sunday we have a small “snack” breakfast and a time of fellowship before the Sunday School hour. Parents are scheduled to help provide the breakfast and invited to join the students for this “Food, Fun, and Fellowship.” Click here to see the schedule for parent participation.

Open House Sixth grade open house is a time for parents to gather information about 6 th grade ministry. We have a time of fellowship followed with ministry highlights. The open house is held on Sunday morning, at the beginning of the Sunday school hour just after the beginning of the school year. Look for the date and time in The Messenger or on the Children’s Calendar of Events.

Lock-In In the spring, we plan a night full of activities, yes ALL night long. Some activities have included: bowling, food, skating, food, amusement parks, food, scavenger hunts, food and “Sardines.” Watch The Messenger or the Children’s Calendar of Events for the date and more information.

A Tree for Children The Sunday afternoon presentation of the Living Christmas Tree is “A Tree for Children.” We the 6 th graders, assist by being child friendly ushers for the event. Our responsibilities are to assist in passing our orders of worship and helping parents find childcare and restrooms.

Missions Throughout the year 6 th graders will be given opportunities to reach outside themselves to help others. We will plan and implement age-appropriate mission projects. These may include: collecting school supplies for the Sarah Tate Reading Room or Councill Court, serving meals with the Salvation Army Soup kitchen, collecting and/or sorting toys for Christmas Charities, adopting our own Christmas Angel, etc. The goal is to allow the 6 th graders to participate hand-on in identifying and meeting the need of another.

Fun Trip We will schedule a fun trip for the late spring early summer time frame. The purpose of the trip will be to strengthen our bonds of friendship before the 6 th graders are released into the youth group. Strong bonds help the young person transition to the new if they have strong ties to others new to the experience.

Messy Games This event is usually scheduled during the week of Music Camp, immediately following the Thursday night dress rehearsal. Parents are encouraged to join us for this super fun, super messy night of activity. Be sure to mark your calendar, this is always a favorite.

We are Baptists Beginning in January, we will take a 6 week journey discovering what Baptists believe. We will be using curriculum produced by the Baptist Ethics Commission titled, “We Are Baptist.” We will study in-depth the Baptist tenants of: Soul Freedom, Believer’s Baptism, The Bible, Priesthood of All Believers, Religious Liberty and Autonomy of the Local Church .

Adolescent Retreat We believe that the church has a responsibility to help parents educate children about their developing bodies. Our moral and ethical understandings are about all parts of our lives. We hope that church school teachers, ministers, parents and children will join together for study around this important topic of adolescent development so that our children are empowered by this information.

See You at the Pole See you at the Pole is not a public demonstration. It is not a club meeting. It is not a church service. See You at the Pole is a time for students to pray for their schools, friends, communities, and countries. Even when faced with opposition, students should keep in mind that they have gathered for the sole purpose of prayer.

Bible Presentation 6 th Grade Bible presentation is scheduled for the last Sunday morning before Sunday School promotion. It is an event at which parents have an opportunity to renew their commitment to God in providing a Christian home and education for their children. And, 6 th graders have an opportunity to commit themselves to personal responsibilitity in studying God’s word. As a gift from Children’s Ministry, we present the outgoing 6 th graders with a Teen Study Bible.