• Since it is our first week back since Christmas, it would be great if all guides are a little early to greet their students!
• Guides, if you weren’t at the meeting last week, and don’t have your new lessons, you better come early to read through and plan tomorrow’s lesson!
• Thank you for a great Guide/Manager meeting last week. We really had a good discussion and I feel blessed by all of you!
• I assume you will soon begin to get questions from parents about Lent. Please let them know that I will be sending a letter to their home in the next few weeks with all the details.

That’s all for now! See you all tomorrow night!

Not much new to report this week….

• We will start in the Sanctuary for worship.
• Library: 6th grade       Computers: 4th grade (if you would like to lead)
• 3 yr. old-1st grade teacher meeting, 10:00-10:30 AM, Rm. 2F. Remember to bring your eval. forms with you! Next week from 10:00-10:30 will be 2nd-6th grade teachers meeting.  If you need childcare during the meeting, arrangements have been made to have the nursery supervised during that half-hour.

That’s all for this week!

News you can use for this Sunday…

Welcome back to Sunday School! The Christmas programs were wonderful and I thank you for all your help pulling things together. But, it will be nice to get back to our old routine. This Sunday, we will return to the opening worship schedule, this Sunday being in the Chris. Ed. wing. So from 9-9:15/10:30-10:45, all ages (3 year old-6th grade) will meet in the Gathering Area for worship.

Special Note:Adrian Poynter will no longer be able to lead the Computer lab sessions. If you would like, your class may still use the space, but Adrian will not be able to plan and lead.

• There is no assigned class to the library this week. The 5th grade class has computer lab if you would like.
• Please mark your calendars!  I would like to meet with all 3 yr. 0ld-1st grade teachers on Jan. 11th from 10:00-10:30 AM. On Jan. 18th, I would like to meet with all 2nd-6th grade teachers from 10:00-10:30 AM.  Please look for evaluation forms in your folders this Sunday. Fill them out and bring them to the meeting in Rm. 2F. These meetings will be a great opportunity to offer feedback, evaluate the program year so far, and support one another in our ministry together.
• 4th-6th grade winter retreat at Luther Crest is coming soon, Jan. 23-25! Please encourage your students to register. If they need financial assistance, it is available. Deadline is THIS SUNDAY!
• In a few weeks, the Chris. Ed. committee will be re-introducing the Playground fundraiser to the kids. The committee is starting a “campaign” in the marketplace this Sunday. Congregation members will be able to contribute to the Playground fund and see the preliminary sketches.

There will be a Christian Education committee meeting next Thursday, Jan. 8th, at 6 PM in Rm. 2F.  You are all welcome to join!

“Christmas in a Box”, Wednesday, December 17-All kids be here at 6 PM. (Cast at 5:45) Meet in the gathering area to line up for program. Parents can pick kids up in their Sunday morning classrooms after the program.

• The Advent Festival is TONIGHT! I hope you all can bring your families. Enjoy food, fellowship and fun all in one place! We’ve got TONS of Grandma’s Attic merchandise for your kids to buy. Just a quarter a piece! Fun crafts too! The supper is free-will donation.
• Sunday will be a program rehearsal for the 1st-6th graders. The younger kids will have opening worship/rehearsal and then go to class.
• Next Sunday, the 14th, will be a full-hour run through for all ages. The older kids will be in the Faith Life Center and the younger kids will be in the Chris. Ed. gathering area. There will be no Sanctuary worship on the 14th. We will ask all parents to bring kids directly to practice.

That’s all for now! Thank you for allowing Sunday School to be a part of your life!

We await the birth of Christ...

What you need to know for this week…

• Please have your group ready to leave Faith at 6:30 sharp for shopping. Pick up your tags and money at the welcome desk in the North Lobby. Each group will get 2 tags and 50 dollars. (Unless your group did a Faith Break, then you will have more.) Remember to bring the release forms for transporting your group.
• Please be back to church by 7:30 to get the gifts wrapped. We will do wrapping in the North Lobby.
• Note: Shopping night will not be counted as a fellowship/service event for your group.
• Need to get going on your small group service credits? Service event opportunities for your group: 1. Sort Giving Tree gifts this Sunday: I need a group to sort the gifts according to which agency the tags came from. Shouldn’t take too long and can be done anytime Sunday morning. (If a group can’t do it, it would be a good individual credit for those in your group who need to catch up.) 2. Costumes for Christmas program: I need a group to sort through the costume closet and find costumes for the cast. Then, if the group wants, they could be backstage help during the program on Wednesday, the 17th.
• For the groups who are helping with the Advent Festival this Friday: Supper starts at 5:15 PM and shopping at 6:00. Please have your groups here by 5:45. The plan is to have each confirmation student pair up with a Sunday School child and accompany them through Grandma’s Attic. Please come with a flexible attitude as your group may be asked to help with kitchen, crafts, or wrapping too. I’m excited! It will be a great night!
• There are many acolyte opportunities for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Please encourage your kids to sign up if they will be in town.
• I am working on a new acolyte schedule for Jan.-April. Your kids can expect these in their mailboxes by next week.

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Confirmation Schedule for the remainder of the 2008 year 

December 3- Giving Tree Shopping Night

December 10-Worship and Class: The Greatest Prayer (I will have print-outs for each student in your folders on the 10th.)

December 17- No class, 1st-6th grade Christmas Program

December 24- No class, Christmas Eve Worship @ 3, 5, 7:30, 10:30 PM

December 31- No class, New Year’s Eve

January 7- No class, Guide/Manager Meeting at 6:30 PM

ENJOY YOUR “BREAK” FROM CONFIRMATION CLASS DURING DECEMBER! YOU DESERVE IT!

Here are some things I am thankful for…

1. My family. A great 2 yr. old son and a loving husband.
2. A healthy pregnancy so far. I’m due May 12.
3. A job which fulfills a great purpose through ministry.
4. Cranberry sauce!
5. A vehicle that can get us from here to there.
6. Sunday School teachers, small group guides, managers, coordinators, nursery help, Bible study leaders, musicians.
7. Kids who come to Faith each week with an eager heart, open and ready to take it all in!
8. For a King who died for you, for me, and even for that guy walking down the street.

This isn’t an all-inclusive list by any means, but it sums up a lot of the gifts in my life for which I’m thankful. Try it out! Leave a comment of thanksgiving so we can share in eachother’s thanfulness!

Thess. 5.18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Happy thanksgiving to you! (I bet something else you’re thankful for is a week off from Confirmation and Sunday School!)

• Start in Sanctuary.
• Your new set of lessons is in your folder. Please pick these up this Sunday.
• Computers: NONE (Adrian, our leader for computers, will not be available to lead the 3 yr. olds this Sunday. Sorry for any inconvenience.) Library: 5th grade
• Reminder: No Sunday School on Nov. 30. Happy Thanksgiving!
• I would like to take the whole hour on Sunday, Dec. 7, for Christmas program rehearsal for 1st.-6th grades. (3 yr.-Kind. would do worship then class as usual). This means that Dec. 7 and 14 would both be rehearsal days for the older kids, and that the next week of actual “class” won’t be until January 4. (Dec. 21 is the 3 yr.-Kind. program, and Dec. 28 is Christmas Break.) Dec. 14 is a full run-through for all ages.
• Grandma’s Attic is coming soon! We will have shopping lists for the kids this Sunday to take home. It is from 5:15-8:00 PM on December 5th.
• 4th-6th grade teachers: Please encourage your kids to sign up for the Winter Retreat at Luther Crest Bible Camp, Jan. 23-25. The cost is $95. Registrations are available at the Chris. Ed. counter.

That’s all for now! See you on Sunday!