Hello Chapel Hill Families!

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine and the last days of school! In Sunday School, we learned the Bible story called, “Paul & Timothy” (Acts 16:1-5, 2 Timothy 1:5-7). This Sunday, we will continue learning about Paul with “Paul & Silas in Prison” (Acts 16:16-40).

VBS Work Nights start TODAY! Come join us in the children’s wing from 5:30-7:30 PM to prep supplies and craft decorations with great company 😉

This Sunday is Promotion Sunday! We will welcome our rising kindergarteners from the Nursery into the Children’s Wing for Sunday School, and say farewell to our rising 6th graders. Current 5th grade families: please see below for more information about this Sunday.

On Sunday, May 22nd CH Kids will be promoted to their next grade level in Sunday School. This is especially important for our Rising Kindergarteners and 5th Graders.

If you have an incoming Kindergartener, please e-mail me with your child’s name. Some families choose to give their kids an extra year in pre-k so I manually promote this grade level. Rising Kindergarteners will check-in in the Lower Level Children’s Wing at 9:30. We no longer offer Sunday school for K-12th Grade during the 11:00 service, and encourage families to attend together at that time.

If you have a 5th Grader going into 6th Grade, please drop them off in the children’s wing as normal on the 22nd. Our Youth and Young Adult Director, Heidi K. Greenwood Doell, will be waiting for them in the 4th/5th grade classroom. We will give each of them a moment to share where they are going to Middle School next year, and then we will send them off to the Middle School Youth Room with Heidi by singing “Go With God”.

Heidi will have a very brief Middle School Youth Orientation for Parents at 10:30AM in Cup of Grace just outside the Middle School Youth Room LL-04 on the 22nd. Please plan to attend for information about Youth Group, Mission Trips, and other Summer opportunities.

We sponsor cousins, Neema & Kikwete, who live in the Angel House Orphanage in Tanzania, Africa. We have pledged to give $90/month in order to provide food, clothing and schooling to these children at Angel House. Each Sunday, kids have the opportunity to bring money to put into our offering for Neema and Kikwete. Would you help us meet our goal by sending your child with $1.00 each week? Our former Director of Children’s Ministries, Raegan Brane, has visited Angel House in the past. You can find out more information about the Grassroots Organization and Angel House by clicking HERE.

REMINDER:

If you have a 3rd, 4th or 5th grader that has a Deep Blue Bible, please help them remember to bring it with them to Sunday school each week! We don’t have many extras of that particular version at the church and they will be looking up and reading scripture every time they come to church from now on.

VBS CHILD REGISTRATION UPDATE: 215/250 REGISTERED

We will be doing “Knights of North Castle” LIVE for VBS 2022 at Chapel Hill. We did this VBS virtually during 2020, but are excited to deck out the church with snow, Christmas trees, and castle décor this Summer. Child attendance will be capped at 250 kids. Child registration opened on Palm Sunday, April 10th and registration will close by Sunday, June 5th (unless we hit our 250 mark sooner) REGISTER YOUR CHILD TODAY!

If you would like to help plan and prep for VBS this year, please contact me. If you would like to volunteer during the week, click here! Not available during the week, but would like to help prepare decorations and materials? See our work night schedule below:

Don’t forget to check our Chapel Hill Kids Facebook Group regularly for the most up to date information. If you haven’t checked your child’s information on the birthday post, please make sure you do so as soon as possible. I have marked it as an announcement so you can easily find it. If you have moved in the last year, please contact the office so that we have your correct address on file so they can receive some birthday mail. The office number is (316) 684-1117.

Blessings to you and your children,

Allison

Celebrate Wonder is a Sunday school curriculum that engages children’s natural sense of curiosity to help them understand God’s love. It creates a safe environment for kids to ask big questions — helping them explore the Bible in ways that feed their imagination and encourages creativity. Through carefully-selected Bible stories, songs, videos, and hands-on activities, Celebrate Wonder gives children the tools to explore their faith while incorporating it into their daily lives.

Each month, our weekly stories will align with a Faith Word. The Faith Word for the month of May is, “PROCLAIM”.

Everywhere Paul went he searched for opportunities to preach and share the good news. Paul’s news wasn’t always welcome, however. In this week’s Bible story, we read about one of the multiple times Paul was put in prison.

Paul was thrown into prison for healing an enslaved woman. While healing a woman sounds like a good thing to do, especially for the woman, the woman’s owners were angry. Once the woman was healed, they were no longer able to use the woman as a fortune-teller to make money for them.

The experience of Paul and Silas in prison illustrates Paul’s zealousness in spreading the good news. While Paul and Silas were in prison, there was an earthquake which opened the prison doors and broke their chains. Presented with an opportunity to escape, Paul and Silas stayed instead and told the jailer about Jesus.

Fellowship with others and education were central to Paul’s ministry. When we gather together as a community of faith, we are recognizing what Paul knew, that for the church to grow and thrive, people need to meet together and learn about God.

TIP: If you know a child who has an incarcerated parent, here is some more information on how to be sensitive to them. (https://youth.gov/youth-topics/childrenof-incarcerated-parents/federal-tools-resources/tip-sheet-teachers)

This month’s unit is about proclaiming the good news of God’s love. St. Francis is credited to have said, “Teach the gospel always and use words when you have to.” St. Francis knew that actions are also proclamations about God’s love. How are your actions proclaiming God’s love?