by Pastor Jun Caruz
It was an exciting day for everyone at GSCC as we awaited the unveiling of our new place of worship. It was the culmination of many hours of prayer and preparation as we opened GSCC’s sanctuary for its inaugural worship service. GSCC’s Christian Education Ministry was also at the forefront of all the excitement as we eagerly opened the doors to start our very own Children’s Ministry. GSCC has allocated four rooms that will serve as Sunday school classrooms for Pre K to K, Grades 1 and 2, Grades 3 and 4, and finally Grades 5 and 6. The Nursery room will be completed in phase 2 of the building renovation. Each of the four rooms is adorned with murals that were meticulously drawn by members of GSCC’s Young Adult and Youth Ministry.
The historic event that kicked off the birth of the Children’s Ministry at GSCC started with Kids Praise. Kids Praise is GSCC’s version of praise and worship that caters to children. As the adults sang praise and worship in the sanctuary, the children also had their time of praise and worship at the Music Room. They danced and glorified God with their hands as they sang songs of praise. After Kids Praise, the children were split into two groups, Pre K to 2nd Grade and 3rd to 6th grade levels.
As the teachers and helpers led their students to their respective classrooms, the Pre K group were excited to see their bumble bee- decorated room. As hours went on, their group grew to around 15 children. They played for a while and then Rochele led them to a bible story about God creating the world as recorded in Genesis 1. After the bible story, the children enjoyed their snacks before heading back to the Music room to practice for their upcoming special number.
The 3rd to 6th graders group met at the Music room and were led to a bible study by Sharlene who taught about Genesis 1. The Faithweaver curriculum that GSCC uses allows students of different age groups to study the same topic but was modified to fit the age bracket.
Part of the Sunday school curriculum includes introducing the kids to music and arts. The last 20 minutes of Sunday school is spent in the Music room practicing for their upcoming special number. Guided by Joy and Debbie, the children learned some songs complete with choreography.
Truly, it was an exciting day for Christian Education Ministry. We successfully launched the Children’s Ministry by kicking off its own Sunday School program. Overall, the day went according to plan but there is still room for improvement. The leaders of Christian Education Ministry are quick to come up with a list of things that can be improved. As we go forward, our goal is toward continuous improvement. We will not be satisfied with “good enough” attitude but instead will be driven by excellence in ministry.
