Nurture, Education & Discipleship

Mission: To offer a biblically-based education program so that children, youth and adults may grow in their understanding of and commitment to Jesus Christ. To develop, administer and oversee the education program in fulfillment of the Great Commission of our Lord

Accomplishments in 2019:

NED Committee

• Had three inter-generational summer Sunday School breakfasts, and enhanced the programs. • Started program to identify volunteers Ambassadors from each adult Sunday school class to encourage church members not currently active in Sunday school classes to come join their class. • Three new members from the congregation at-large joined the Committee.

Children’s Ministry

• Continued search for Special Needs Coordinator. • Holiday Events: Gingerbread House participation was the largest ever (55 families). Trunk or Treat (250 attendance). Easter Egg Hunt. • Successful overnight mission trip to Charlotte for 18 youth. They viewed life from the homeless perspective in downtown Charlotte. • 250 children participated in Vacation Bible School in June. • 30 second graders completed Worship Discovery with approximately one-third having perfect attendance. • Cradle Roll Sunday had 28 households participating. • Selected a new curriculum (with assistance from an ad-hoc curriculum committee) for Pre-K Elementary: Growing in Grace and Gratitude.

Youth Ministry (Middle School)

• Boys asked for Small Groups to meet more frequently. • 6th Grade Sunday School implemented a program to recruit more involvement in Sunday School. Plans to implement this strategy with other grades. • Successful mission trip to Wilmington, NC in June to rebuild houses damaged by the hurricane.

Accomplishments in 2019 (con’t):

• Great Escape youth conference retreat held in July with double the participation at 13 youth. • Successful mission trip to Abaco, Bahamas in April for hurricane repair. 28 middle and high school youth and parents participated. • Held a service day at Jubilee Academy. • Souper Bowl of Caring raised $5,300 which was donated to St. Lawrence Place. • First ever 8th grade boys retreat in May with 10 youth and 3 leaders and doubled participation for 8th grade girls retreat in April with 10 youth and 2 leaders.

Youth Ministry (High School)

• 94 youth, parents and chaperones served on mission trips, Summer 2019, to Salkehatchie (Aiken) • 104 youth, parents and chaperones attended 3 different retreats: Lock-out, Advent Retreat and Ski

Retreat. • 37 Confirmands joined Eastminster in April 2019. • 14 youth preached on Youth Sunday and 120 participated. • A prayer group of parents and young adults gathers monthly to pray for youth and send notes of encouragement. • Hard to measure, but there seems to be a deepening of faith among youth and families. Not only have numbers increased, but youth are praying aloud, sharing authentically with each other and asking more questions.

Small Groups & LTJ Library Ministries

• Small Groups have grown to 53 groups including 10 new groups. • Produced 11 videos: 3 for “Sharing the Hope,” 1 for the CORE Retreat, 2 for the Small Group Facilitator

Training Session, 3 for “Sharing the Story,” 1 on Thornwell Home, and 1 on “Dreaming & Discerning.” • Held first annual CORE Retreat in March 2019 with 250 adults and 35 children in attendance. 21% of registrants were non-EPC members and 45 attendees decided to join the CLC as a result of the retreat. • Held Workshop in August to train Small Groups Facilitators. • Hosted the Small Groups Kickoff Dinner in September.

Accomplishments in 2019 (con’t):

Small Groups & LTJ Library Ministries (con’t):

• More than 100 different members/staff wrote devotionals for Eastminster’s Daily Devotionals sent by e-mail. • More than 80 new resources added to the Library for circulation. • Eastminster Day School children now visit the library every Friday for Storytime.

Adult Christian Education Ministries:

• Adult Vacation Bible School held in August to study “Life and Travels of Apostle Paul.” • Three participants in Eastminster Experience. • Rev. Douglass Key called as the Senior Associate Pastor for Adult Discipleship.

Goals in 2020:

NED Committee:

• Develop Guidelines for marriage enrichment portion of the Bob and Pat Arial endowment. NED has been given oversight and decision-making authority over the disbursement of that portion of the fund and guidelines should be developed to determine how proposals/requests for those funds should be considered. • Develop Guidelines for expenditure of the Catechism fund. • Increase visibility of Christian Education information on Eastminster’s Website. • Examine strategies to improve/revise Sunday School and increase attendance. • Develop program to offer Training for Sunday School teachers. • Continue and expand the program to identify volunteers Ambassadors from each adult Sunday school class to encourage church members not currently active in Sunday school classes to come join their class. • Assess the findings of the 2028 Dreaming and Discerning process (insofar as they concern Christian

Education) and begin the implementation process.

Children’s Ministry

• Add two Early Childhood events to the calendar in addition to repeating past events like Trunk or Treat,

Gingerbread House decorating, etc. • Return to CROSS Charlotte with another Family Mission trip. • Connect Special Needs coordinator with families of special needs and start to build a program of support. • More volunteer involvement (via face-to-face and phone call recruitment). • Evaluate security issues and need for upgrades. • Continue implementation and evaluation of new preK-elementary curriculum, Growing in Grace and

Gratitude.

Youth Ministry (Middle School)

• Middle School Youth ski trip MLK Weekend (42 youth signed up). • Feed off of momentum from the Great Escape last summer and take 1 bus full (13 youth) in June. • Middle School Youth Summer Mission trip to Panther, WV with Son Servants and get at least (25 youth). July 20-25. • Continue with prayer breakfasts and invite guest leaders so the youth can build relationships with other church workers/members. • Expand parent/congregation involvement with Middle School Youth ministry by starting prayer group for our Middle School youth/families. • Have midweek Bible studies in homes to increase participation. • 8th grade boys and girls retreats scheduled for April 3-5.

Goals in 2020 (con’t):

Youth Ministry (High School)

• Call a youth minister. Search Committee is already in progress. • Deepen the faith of High School youth and train, encourage, equip youth to become Christ’s disciples that will go make other disciples. • Recruit more young adult leaders especially on Sunday nights. • Form a team to help with Sunday night youth programs and Confirmation.

Small Groups & LTJ Library Ministries:

• Work with Evangelism/NED on creating a more efficient “on ramp” for new members to be plugged into a Small Group immediately after joining. • Collaborate with a team of young adults to help build Small Groups for college age and young 20s. • Continue to help the Men’s Ministry build through Small Groups. • Jumpstart a devotional Instagram for daily devotionals for students (high school and college). • Grow the Core Writers Group to widen the variety of devotionals during the year. • Increase the outlets for daily devotionals: more widely promoting signups to members, CLC users, EDS parents and teachers, and students. • Continue to work with an outside production company on video messages for worship services-- telling members’ stories of God’s work in their lives. • Host the reach-out event, Strengthening Your CORE: A Retreat to Stretch Mind, Body, Soul (March 6-7) • Continue to promote the Library as an up-to-date, strong resource for Sunday School teachers, Small Group leaders, teachers and members to use and enjoy.

Adult Christian Education Ministries:

• Assess the barriers to entry for Adult Education. • Identify and listen to those worshipping families who are disengaged from the Educational ministries of the congregation and discern with them ways that we can be more effective. • Look for ways to make Pastor led studies and events as convenient as possible for the already busy schedules of our people. Try to accommodate the needs we cannot control. • Work with the Pastoral staff to make sure Professional development opportunities are embraced that will nurture and refresh their sense of call and vision for ministry.

Want to know more?

NED Chair: John Hill (2020) - john.hill@odnss.com Eastminster Staff Support: Dr. Douglass Key, Croskeys Royall, Caroline Bennett & Susie Glenn