Dear Parents,
We are so excited that your child is going to be involved in a Hang Ten group for the 2010 – 2011 school year! This is the beginning of an amazing and life-changing adventure for you and your family. Not only will your child learn more about God and his infinite love for them but they will also make new friends and have a godly leader that will help them to make wise decisions, trust God no matter what, and treat others the way they want to be treated.
We have hundreds of volunteers and staff working hard each week to make this happen but we can’t do it without you. The average child will spend over 1000 hours every year in school and they will spend less than 50 hours in church. The average parent has more than 10 times the opportunities to discuss spiritual issues in one year than a church leader does in 10 years. We need you to help us help your kids by doing these four things:
1. COME CONSISTENTLY TO THE SERVICE THAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR. Be sure to have your child attend a consistent hour, with the same group of friends, and the same leader every weekend. Along with this letter is a magnet with the service time that your child’s Hang Ten group meets and the name of their leader. You can put this on your refrigerator to help you and your family remember when your child’s group gathers each weekend.
2. USE THE RESOURCES THAT YOU GET FROM BEACH HOUSE AT HOME. Each weekend we will send your child home with resources and tools to help you help them live out the Biblical virtues that they heard about at church. Spending time at home working through these activities will help to reinforce the lessons that they learned at church through the week. Here’s what we’ll send home with them on a typical weekend:
Fridge Door Cards (for parents) – A weekly update for parents that gives you the virtue, memory verse, Bible story, bottom line (key concept for the week), and a question for kids and parents to talk about on the way home or during a meal.
GodTime Books (for kids) – Four weekly devotions to focus your child’s attention as they spend time reading the Bible and talking to God at home. Designed for older kids to do on their own or for younger kids to do with a parent.
3. GET TO KNOW YOUR CHILD’S HANG TEN GROUP LEADER. Our leaders really want to get to know you. Our ministry isn’t just to children but to parents as well. We want to partner with you as much as possible to help your kids navigate the key milestones in their life successfully.
4. LET US KNOW WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP. Please email us with the campus and service your child attends along with whatever questions, comments, and concerns that you have. Your feedback is important to us.
Thank you for letting us partner with you and your family! You may notice we say this a lot in letters like these but we mean it every single time. Check out our website at http://www.highdesertchurch.com/ and subscribe to our blog at http://hdc-kids.posterous.com/ to stay up-to-date on what is going on in our ministry.
— Jeff Mc Clung
Children’s Ministry Pastor
Jeff McClung 