Dear Forest Lake Church Family,

There are 2 very important matters concerning our children that I want
to share with you:

1. We have a VITAL NEED for Children’s Sunday School teachers!
Teaching our children is one of the absolute basics of a church. We must
teach our children! But it’s not merely an obligation. It is a wonderful
opportunity, and I believe God will provide, but I don’t think it will happen
by “just adding water”. And we wouldn’t want any dehydrated Sunday
School teachers anyway … I think you might also call them “Dry”. No, I
believe we do have the people in our congregation who can do this well.
So, I call on you to listen and hear if God may be calling you to this
wonderful task.

Erin Flowers tells me that the ideal situation for Sunday School
volunteers would be: one adult teacher and helper to work with my K-1,
2-3, & 4-5 classes and they can rotate quarterly, if need be. Curriculum
will be given out ahead of time so that they will be prepared ahead of time
for each lesson and I will work with them to coordinate the needed
materials and supplies. I will still begin each lesson with all the children in
the assembly room teaching the Bible lesson. Children will end the hour
with their teachers in their classrooms building upon what they learned
with me in the assembly.

So, it is my sincere hope that a number of you will hear this call. It is
important that people of all ages consider themselves as eligible. Some of
the best Sunday School teachers I had as a child were of “grandparent”
age (whatever that is). If you are sensing this call, please contact Erin.
You’ll be glad you did.

2. A second very important matter concerning our Children is
implementing our Safe Sanctuaries Policy. This has to do with caring for
our children in the very best way and ensuring they are safe in our
church. Unfortunately we live in a world with many threats. So, we are
increasing our efforts. We now have a Safe Sanctuaries Committee
whose job it is to ensure that we stay alert to the safety of all people in
our care, especially our children. Those on this committee are : Nancy
Cole (Chairperson), Mike Cargile, Jack Duncan, Meri Farmer, Erin &
Tommy Flowers, Ginny Hubbard, & Mary Helen Posey, as well as ex
officio members Chris Denson, Janet Edwards and Janie Plaxco.

We recognize that these efforts may seem to be a hassle, but we call
upon everyone to recognize the tremendous importance of our children’s
safety. It is our prayer that we can foster a culture of care where we all will
honor the commitment we make when a child is baptized: With God’s help
we will so order our lives after that example of Christ that this child
surrounded by steadfast love, may be established in the faith, and
confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to life eternal.

We believe this can be done with a spirit of hospitality and not paranoia.
We don’t want people to feel tense and anxious when we are at church.
Instead it is our aim to help people understand how we can all work together
to insure the safety of our children. Toward this end we are providing times of
training for all our congregation. Two have already been held for our staff &
congregation, and another is planned for Aug. 29 during the Sunday School
hour in the sanctuary. We hope everyone in our church will be a part one of
these training times (we will schedule more if needed), and we solicit your
active support in implementing some new procedures that we believe will be
very helpful in accomplishing our goal of “Safe Sanctuary” for our children &
everyone.

Another major development that will help greatly in this is a new Welcome
Center at the main entrance of our church (in the Gathering Area where the
covered drive-through is located). Construction will begin soon. This will
enable us to welcome everyone who enters our church. On weekdays
7 AM – 5:30 PM this will be the only entrance that will be open. This will also
enable us to know who is in the building. In order to do this we will need a lot
of help! There will be 60 hours/week when we’ll need someone on duty. But
actually this would only take 30 persons who would work 2 hours/week. That’s
not an insurmountable goal … especially if you consider the value … we will
both be able to better ensure the church is a safe place and we will be much
better able to extend warm hospitality to all who enter. I am certain this will
pay many dividends. I pray that you will prayerfully consider being a part of
this important development for our church. You can sign-up in the church
office or by telling a member of the Safe Sanctuaries Committee or by
emailing me cdenson@forestlakeumc.org. Thank you for taking all this to
heart.

With Love in Christ from your Pastor,
Chris