Things have changed a lot in the past 7 months (which feels like the understatement of 2020!). Given the current state of COVID-19, our church isn’t ready to return to full, in-person, programming for our kids. So, here is the alternative plan for the upcoming year! It’s designed to be flexible and to nurture connections between our congregation and our kids. It’s also intended to be adaptable, so that we can roll with any changes to the health and safety landscape without overly burdening our volunteers or disrupting our kids more than is necessary.

GOAL: To facilitate 4 connections with each LMC kid (Preschool to Grade 5) every month.

(FYI: Grade 6 and up are going to fall under “youth” this coming year and will primarily connect with the church community through youth group events. More connection points may be added as we have volunteer capacity to do so.)

DELIVERY: We will pattern our year after the school system, dividing into 4 quarters. We will re-evaluate in preparation for each quarter whether or not we should maintain remote connections or begin to introduce in-person events or gatherings. This will allow our volunteers to plan their time and connection points for a set period of time without worrying too much about the threat of sudden shifts. It will, hopefully, also give the kids some simple and clear patterns in a year that’s sure to be filled with pivots.

• Quarter 1 – Sunday, Sept 13 – Sunday, Nov 8
• Quarter 2 – Sunday, Nov 15 – Sunday, Jan 31
• Quarter 3 – Sunday, Feb 7 – Sunday, Apr 18
• Quarter 4 – Sunday, Apr 25 – Sunday, June 20

To begin the year, Quarter 1 will be (almost) entirely online. One exception will be a “Drive By, Say Hi” on Saturday, Sept 12, 10-12 on the LMC front lawn where families can swing by the church to pick up some Sunday School materials for use at home throughout the quarter and a Backpack Tag for the upcoming year (any packages/tags not picked up will be delivered the following week).

MONTH AT A GLANCE: We are hoping that a multi-prong approach will reach the most kids, recognizing that too much online commitment can be taxing. Here is a “month at a glance”.*

• Week 1: LMC Kids Meet-Up Online – This will be like our spring meet-ups (stories, games, music, sharing) and will happen once/month. At this meet-up, we will also introduce a Group Project for the month. These “projects” will be designed for kids, families, or families who are cohorting together to work together, have fun, and share with our community. These could be silly projects, art projects, service projects, creative projects…more details to come.
• Week 2: Teacher/Class Connections – We’ll divide the kids into classes (Preschool, K-Gr 2, Gr 3-5) and each class will have an assigned teacher. This teacher will connect with the class 2-3 times per month in whatever way is comfortable, possible, and age appropriate. Could be Zoom time, pre-recorded videos, prepared packages that can be picked up/dropped off, phone calls, cards, etc… We want each teacher/class to do whatever works for them.
• Week 3: Teacher/Class Connections; Families Submit their Group Project to the Church Office – Teachers will once again connect with students. Families will be asked to submit their Group Project contribution to the church office. We’ll then pull them together in a way that can be shared with the congregation the following Sunday (think video, powerpoint, etc)
• Week 4: Presentation of Group Project in Worship; Teacher/Class Connections (optional) – The Group Project will be featured in the worship service. If teachers/students have capacity to make a connection this week, great! If not, that’s ok.

*More ideas are in the brainstorming phase. As they take shape, we’ll add them into our weekly and monthly connections with LMC kids.

GETTING INVOLVED: We have some key volunteers already lined up to help facilitate these connections points, but we could use more help! Please let Ellen Sabo or the church office know if you’d like to get involved.

Specifically, we could use some help with:

• Grade 3-5: Teacher/Connector
• Monthly Group Projects: Someone to help with planning month to month and preparing the congregational presentation to be shared on the 4th Sunday of the month.
• Inter-generational Connector: This is currently in the brainstorming phase, but we’d like to match each LMC kid with an LMC adult in our community to nurture encouragement, relationship, and care. If you’d like to help develop and organize this opportunity, let us know!

We look forward to connecting with you and your kids in the coming year!