Week 6

Substitute Practicum: This week during Spring Break I went to Zion Church in Palm Bay, Florida. This is the church I may be doing a summer internship at this summer. At Zion, there are two morning worship services. I first attending the early service and then during the second service I observed the teaching going on in the children’s church. Zion does not have any “Sunday school” classes, because they have life groups that meet weekly. For the kids though, during both services they have a nursery class, a preschool and Kindergarten class, and the children’s church which is for grades 1^st-5^th. There children’s church is structured as a classroom setting and is very similar to Sunday school. I believe I should get credit for this substitute practicum because Zion has a structure that is similar to Sunday school, yet they do not exactly have a “Sunday school” program. I learned a lot from this observation and believe that I should get credit for it and also be counted as a Sunday school observation.

TIME SPENT THIS WEEK:

3/9/08: 4 hours – worship service and observing the children’s church. I also helped my aunt with her welcome ministry duties before and after church.

CLASS THIS WEEK:

I had a great experience observing the children’s church at Zion this week. Darren, one of the teachers whose turn it was to teach this week did and extraordinary job. He is a coach and high school teacher so he is very good at keeping the children’s attention and making them follow the rules. I learned that as a teacher, I must be firm but loving with those I teach.

For the majority of the time Darren was teaching a lesson that he had came up with all on his own. He began the class with a short video clip, spoke, did communion, and then ended class with another short video clip and then let the children play before releasing them. I never saw or heard someone do so well with the children. There was a big group of about 25 kids and they were all very well behaved. I observed how he handled children who extra grace was required for. I also saw how he handled a problem between the boys and the girls by sitting them on separate places of the room before class even began. These techniques are definitely ones I will take with me as I further my ministry.

One of my favorite parts to the class was when Darren and his dad did communion with the children. Each child walked up, dipped their bread in the juice, and the two of them laid hands on the child and prayed a blessing over them. Each child walked by with a smile on their face and I could tell they all felt special. I had never seen this before with children and it was so fascinating to observe. I hope to include that in my own ministry.

Not only did I learn how to handle extra grace required people, and how to deal with situations before they get out of hand, but I also learned how the Sunday school program can be incorporated in different ways in different churches. By observing how this class was handled, I believe I am walking away this week with techniques that I can and will use in the future.

QUESTIONS THIS WEEK:

1. How do you feel about putting children in children’s church and the other classrooms during the worship service without even letting them be a part of the Adult worship service?

2. How do you feel about this type of program replacing Sunday school?

3. How often should communion and other sacraments take place with children?