An always changing yet faithful church club
It only took one phone call to CEF in 2008 from Pastor Patrick Hines to get the ball rolling. While in seminary, Patrick learned of research studies showing that nearly two thirds of born again adult believers first believed as children during that all-important, ripe for the harvest, four to fourteen years old age range. He contacted the local CEF chapter about starting a Good News Club in the closest elementary school to the church, Sharonville Elementary. Since then, Good News Club has been an integral part of Grace Bible Presbyterian Church's outreach and evangelism ministries.
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Over the past ten years the club's team has changed but always includes committed Christians with a heart for evangelizing the community. This mid-sized church has had 20 church members help at one time or another whose ages range from 15 to 80. Participants are high schoolers, working-aged adults who carved out a couple hours a week from their work schedule to serve, empty nesters, parents with children who are old enough to be left alone after school, grandparents, and newly retired and not-so-newly retired seniors. The team size varies and usually depends on the number of students in club which has ranged for six to 35.
This year's club has eight regularly attending students and the current team includes two adults with teaching experience, Debbie Creath and Malinda Wightman, and two high school students, Kyra and Jackson Becker.
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Sharonville Elementary students displaying their handmade scroll saw Trinity necklace early Easter gifts they received from church member JD Wetterling.
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CEF volunteers and friends SAVE-THE-DATE!
The annual Good News Club Celebration Luncheon is Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 11:30 AM
More info to follow
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Management and Discipline Workshop
On February 9th club leaders and volunteers met for an informative and helpful workshop to keep our clubs running smoothly. Most volunteers do not have public school teaching experience nor in depth training from CEF so having Phil Miekley, a beloved retired Madeira School District teacher, and CEF trainers Pat Daniels and Nance McNew from the Miami Valley chapter lead the workshop was invaluable. Their tips of the trade and pointers gave us a number of ideas that were immediately put into use.
Phil spoke first starting with the comment that when he would go to these types of workshops over the years he would considered them valuable if he came away with just one helpful tip. Well, we came away with many more than one as he showed how to keep kids' interests and engage them in the lesson. Pat Daniels and Nance McNew followed with CEF training that focused on classroom management.
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Left: Phil Miekley laughs along with the group when demonstrating asking kids' about their secret talents.
Right:Pat Daniels challenges volunteers to think deeply about biblical training.
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Some of the tips were easily implemented and had an immediate positive effect. For example, to solve the problem of being fair to everyone when it comes to helping the teacher or answering question, some clubs took the suggestion of using sticks with the kids' names on them that are pulled from a pocket when needed. The "it's not fair" objection quickly disappears. Another simple suggestion was to ask kids' their secret talents to get them to focus on the teacher and get them ready for what you will be teaching next.
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"I loved the idea of taking on the voices of the characters and lowering and raising your voice. Where applicable, I have worked to incorporate that." Cindi Kostanty, Lockland Elementary School
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"I loved this workshop and grabbed all the available material I could for future reference. Drawing names is a great idea and our kids really enjoyed that."
Missy Sackenheim, Fairfield East Elementary School
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The workshop was so well-received that we are thinking of doing something similar in the future. Many thanks to our volunteer speakers.
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The local CEF committee is looking for more members to help us to expand the ministry in the Cincinnati area. Please contact the office at (513) 456-1675 or office@cefcincinnati.org for more information.
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