Kingsway Christian Church

Children’s Christmas Program

2010-01-10T07:46:00.001-08:00

Before the program begins, the angels and shepherds are kept busy in Parrish Hall.

Some angels got a little bored. And some of the shepherds had to resort to modern day technology….

Kingsway’s amazing choir jump started the program with their joyous voices.

Enter the narrator.

Rachel and Christa welcome everyone.

Meanwhile the angels are still coloring.

Jerry and Barta’s grandchildren, James and Maggie come all the way from Scotland to light the advent candle.

The teacher (Denise) tells her students (Lauren, Katy, and Maggie) to start preparing for the nativity scene.

Their version included: hamsters, televisions, microwaves, and movies. Not like the real scenario at all!

Enter Mary (Lucy) and Joseph (Zach), led by the innkeeper (Liam).

The shepherds (Jared, Carson, Mason, Sam, Colby) gather around the fire.

Gabriel (Kelsey) shares the news of Jesus’ birth with the shepherds.

She brings with her a heavenly host.

Lauren

Charlotte

Abby

Katelyn (and her precious piece of tinsel)

The shepherds and confer and decide to visit the new babe.

Before Mary sings a solo, she leaves Joseph with babysitting duties.

Away in a Manger – simply amazing!

Erin, Emily, Rachel, and Ashly prepare to offer communion.

Mary and Joseph continue on their journey with the greatest Christmas gift of all.

The children realize they might’ve been wrong about their demands for their nativity scene.

The Cherub Choir performs.

Everyone takes their seat.

As we prepare for Kelsey’s baptism. It is such a privilege to watch her make this very important decision.

Madelyne

Emily and ***

James helps the children prepare for the offering.

The gifts are left at the manger. Touching.

James sends us off with the benediction.

A little caroling goes a long way…

2009-12-26T16:10:00.001-08:00

On December 6th, the youth of Kingsway caroled for a few of the church’s shut-ins. Our first stop was Mary Landess. We stood outside her room and serenaded her with joyous holiday tunes.

Our next stop was special.

We gathered in the community room to wait for:

Clyde Stewart!

We spent a few minutes talking to Clyde and introducing ourselves until Scott could bring Lucy to join us.

Clyde’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw his beautiful bride.

We sang our hearts out!

And they held hands the entire time. It made my heart jump. It was the most touching moment of my day. A daughter and her mother (a resident in the same facility) joined us for the last song or two. When we had finished she asked me if we were the Stuart’s family. I said no, that we were their church family. She sighed and said she wished her church would come and visit her mother. I swelled with pride and felt sad for her, all at the same time.

Next we hopped in our FIVE cars and headed out to see Hazel. Her dog even joined in with the singing.

We took a chance and stopped by Vera Hammond’s room. Luckily she was at home and welcomed us right in.

Mildred Ransom told us this was the first time in 84 years she’d had carolers!

As we left she gave us some wise advice about never telling a lie!

Our last stop of the day took us down a long and winding road to Mary Ann Goodwin.

After a hard day’s work the kids re-grouped at the church for some hot chocolate. A small reward compared to all the smiling faces we saw that day!

Advent Workshop

2009-12-06T07:38:00.001-08:00

Sunday, after the worship service, many folks gathered to decorate the church for the Advent season.

But up first? LUNCH! Pizza was enjoyed by all.

Several ladies of the church took on the younger children to make cookies. It was a phenomenal treat for all. Kids got to spend time with members they don’t usually fellowship with and were able to form new friendships.

Katy and Anna

Sydney and Elsie

Kelsey and Lyn

Nancy and Susan were brave and took on Carson, Lauren, Jared, and Sam.

Kaye and Mason were hard to catch they were moving so fast!

While the children were pre-occupied, the adults started working on the church.

There were light bulbs to be replaced. They are waaaayyyy up there!

There were boxes to be unpacked and poinsettias to be put out.

Connie and Jocelyn discussed how the pews should be decorated.

Then Nikki and Jocelyn put the plan into action.

Aren’t they beautiful?

Several nativity scenes had to be set up.

Jim, Jan and Andy had a lot of work to do with the Christmas tree.

That’s a lot of angels to be put on the tree.

The Angel Tree for Youth Villages is one of my most favorite decorations in the narthex! This year my family has chosen two little girls: a toddler who wants some hair bows and a preschooler who wants a doll. As a mom of 2 girls - these items are right up my alley!

There sure are a lot of wreaths to be hung in the sanctuary.

Chris put the men to shame on the ladder. She hung wreath after wreath at an incredible pace!

See how Chris did it by herself? It took both Paul and Bobby to hang this one.

Bob had to pull out the automatic ladder to hang this one!

A big THANK YOU to all who helped in one fashion or another. Kingsway looks beautiful!

MIFA

2009-11-22T08:35:00.001-08:00

Ms. Paula has been instrumental in finding opportunities for Kingsway’s youth to volunteer in the community. First it was planting flowers at the Child Advocacy Center and this weekend was serving at Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA). First we gathered with members of the WIM to sort presents for the Hope Chest.

On your mark.

Get set.

GO!!!!!

WIM wrapped the gifts for the children.

While the adults were busy, the children were doing their own thing. They were charged with painting address signs. These signs will help MIFA volunteers find the homes during their holiday meal deliveries.

A few ~~adults~~ big kids even got involved.

In addition to working on address signs, we also decorated WELCOME signs.

A hard day’s work for a worthy cause!!!! Thanks Ms. Paula.

Bethany Hills

2009-10-18T21:18:00.001-07:00

What did you do this weekend?

Youth Sunday

2009-08-26T20:28:00.001-07:00

Swim Party!!!

2009-08-22T21:19:00.001-07:00

These folks are a blessing to Kingsway.

On Saturday they opened their home, their kitchen, and their pool to the children of Kingsway.

Such style!

Such grace!

There was good conversation.

and some “surfing”.

Some opted for the chips and dip and the shade.

There was no stopping Cameron.

It was a nice break for the moms.

It was so much fun it made Sydney turn a flip.

Katy was just as happy!

There were a lot of first times.

Sydney’s first time to jump in the pool without anyone around.

Her first time to jump in the deep end of the pool.

and off the DIVING BOARD!

It was Katy’s first time to jump off the diving board too.

She then moved on to her first dive.

Cameron had finally gotten his belly full.

But he didn’t hesitate to squeeze in a popsicle.

Nor did anyone else.

I have no idea what Carson is doing…..

A big thank you to Rusty and Emily! You’re big hearts are what help to make Kingsway such a special place.

I Will Go, Send Me

2009-07-06T18:04:00.001-07:00

On July 5, 2009, Rachel commissioned our CYF group in preparation of their workcamp trip to Illinois. When Rachel asked, “Who would…?”, their response was:

“I will go, send me.”

It never ceases to amaze me that the youth will give up a week of their summer vacation to work. Hard work! Not to mention their leaders using their precious vacation time from work to…., well, WORK.

Please keep them in your prayers. Pray for compassionate hearts, open minds, and strong bodies.

Pray for Jessica.

Pray for Zach and Grant.

Pray for Ashly and Emily.

Pray for Rick.

Pray for Sarah, Alex, and Sam who couldn’t be at church for the commissioning, but who will be working just as hard as the others.

Pray for safe travel, pray for enlightenment, pray for joy, pray for sharing, pray for a good time to be had by all.

They will depart Friday morning, July 10th and return Saturday evening, July 18th.

They will take what you have shared with them, and share it with others.

Pray for them as you have promised.

And maybe,

just maybe,

you could pray for Grant to change his shirt more than once while they are gone……...

Happy Birthday!

2009-05-31T20:57:00.001-07:00

Today is Pentecost Sunday. Happy Birthday to the Christian Church.

In celebration of Pentecost, we had a huge birthday cake. After all, you NEED a birthday cake if you’re going to celebrate a birthday.

And what color do you decorate the church with? Why RED, of course!

For the big day everyone was asked to wear red.

The choir wasn’t about to be left out.

The service opened with several people standing in the aisles, speaking different languages, all at the same time. It set the stage for today’s readings.

The acolytes even joined in with their splash of red.

During children’s moment, Rachel talked about flames of fire. Then she led the children up and down the aisle with their “flames”.

View Full Album

After the service? CAKE and fellowship!

View Full Album

Anne was even caught red ~~handed~~ coated!

Kingsway’s Annual Easter Egg Hunt – Version 2009

2009-04-14T13:12:00.001-07:00

Saturday, April 11th was our annual Easter egg hunt.

We had a petting zoo, pony rides, train rides, and songs. Not to mention 851 Easter eggs to hunt!

We hosted 158 children from the church and community for a morning full of fun.

There are lots of pictures to see. So please, click on the photo albums to make sure you can see them all.

Lots and lots of decorations and volunteers.

View Full Album

The pony rides were popular.

View Full Album

Look at all of those animals. Have you ever seen so many colors?

View Full Album

The train drew quite a crowd.

View Full Album

Hats, face painting, and snacks kept the attendees busy!

View Full Album

And a special visitor didn’t hurt either.

View Full Album

Jason and Rachel welcomed all of the visitors and Stan led us in some singing.

View Full Album

Eggs, eggs, they were everywhere! And so were the kids!

View Full Album

And the best part? THE PEOPLE!!!!!

View Full Album

Thanks to the many, many volunteers it took to pull this off. A special thanks goes out to Sandy Kovach and Bill White for spearheading this event. It was, undoubtedly, a HUGE success!

Passages’ First Friday in April

2009-04-06T20:13:00.001-07:00

April 3, 2009 was the first Friday in April, so there was sure to be a Passages get-together in the works. We gathered at the Fox’s house for some good pizza and fellowship.

Thanks to Heather and Mike, we had a fantastic time!

Big Stuff Can Fit in Small Moments

2009-03-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

There was a whole thing of things going on during Children’s Moment this Sunday. Dr. Jason made an exciting announcement. Rachel Woodall will be joining Kingsway as an Associate Pastor/Coordinator of Youth Ministry. Welcome Rachel! We are so excited to have you at Kingsway.

Then Elizabeth talked about magnets and paperclips. How they are drawn to each other and stick to each other.

How can we be close to to God and Jesus? We can pray! That will keep us close.

After church, it was on to Kingsway’s Annual Chili Cook-Off. It drew quite the crowd.

This cutie sat at my table.

Twelve entries! They all looked so good.

Oh, we went back for seconds, and some thirds.

After the judges did a blind taste test, Greg announced the winner.

Seriously? The minister? You’ve got to be kidding! But he wasn’t . Jason won with his “What the Hell?” chili.

Looks good, doesn’t it?

His prize? This handy, dandy chili pepper bandana. I believe Katelyn looks much better in it than Jason would.

Congratulations Jason! At least until next year……

Can You Measure God’s Love?

2009-03-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

Linda tried her best to convince the children that you CAN measure God’s love.

She tried it with a small measuring cup, then a big one.

and Dallas told her You can’t measure God’s love.

She tried it with a ruler, then a yardstick.

and Dallas told her You can’t measure God’s love.

She tried it with a watch.

and Dallas told her You can’t measure God’s love.

These are the children that agreed with Linda:

These are the children that agreed with Dallas:

Sorry Linda. Thankfully, God’s love is IMMEASURABLE!

Passages Game Night

2009-03-14T21:12:00.001-07:00

It’s that time again – Passages Game Night at the Royle house, where rules are subject to change at a moment’s notice!

Guess what this is! You’ll have to scroll all the way to the end to find out.

First, there was some incredible food courtesy of Heather.

Then we drew numbers for our teams.

There were lots of folks.

Bill and Susan

Nick and Cindy

Carey

Wes, Jocelyn, and Paul

Rudy

Rebel

Rudy and me are close friends. Both of us are looking a little fuzzy here.

First we played Fact or Crap...

Then we tried Mad Gab. For about 3 minutes.

The grand finale – Pictionary. Let me show you.

Wes drew: Harley Davidson

Paul was next with: Liposuction. (I know, we found it hard to believe too!)

Cindy drew: Yacht

Susan was very serious about her game. See how she’s thinking REALLY hard about her word: Little.

Bill said she should have drawn a picture of Maggie and Liam. Apparently Maggie use to call Liam “Little”.

Andy was up next.

Horse Race. Believe it or not his horse started out as a car and then converted to the animal.

It is very dangerous to play a game with tons of laughter when you are 7 months pregnant!

Jocelyn: Solid. Can you see it? Don’t worry, neither could we.

Jason with his Swiss Humpty Dumpty.

Andy with his Force Field.

Bill with an incredible version of Fear.

Andy: Chauffeur. I got this!

Here’s Susan. Thinking again.

For her many versions of Shade.

Jason: North America. Well, at least half of it.

Paul with the finale: Eel

Did you guess it? Are you sure?

Take another look.

CARVE! That’s right, CARVE! See the knife? No, that’s not a slug Wes. It’s a…

………

Turkey

Yes folks! That is a turkey getting ready to be carved with a knife! No really, it’s a turkey.

Big round blob + antennae = TURKEY

What a difference a week makes!

2009-03-09T18:41:00.001-07:00

Sunday, March 1, 2009….

Sunday, March 8, 2009…

Okay, okay. Church was cancelled on March 1, 2009 due to inclement weather. But yesterday, it was nice!

Llewellyn talked to the kids about God’s Promises.

Mary Lou and Howard’s first CYF group came to church to help celebrate Mary Lou’s 90th birthday.

Now between you and me – I hope I look as good as Mary Lou when I’m 90. But more importantly – I hope I maintain my sense of humor like she has. A couple of years ago when the girls were little and Howard was still with us, Mary Lou and I would commiserate with each other about the trials of getting our “kids” ready for church – seems we were in the same boat!

Back to the youth group…

Rumor has it they were in CYF during the late 1950’s/early 1960’s, but these folks look too good for it to be true.

Happy Birthday Mary Lou!!!

Snow Day

2009-03-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

Kingsway Christian Church will be closed Sunday, March 1, 2009 due to inclement weather. See you in the sanctuary next Sunday!

Fabulous February Follies - 2009

2009-02-23T13:21:00.001-08:00

Once again, it was time for the CYF’s biggest fundraiser for their workcamp trip this summer in Sullivan, Illinois. An awful lot of time and energy goes into this annual production, but the results are well worth the efforts!

This year our theme was Kingsway’s Got Talent – and boy did it!

View Full Album

Setup is always a humongous task. It takes a lot to turn an empty gym

into a studio

and back to an empty gym – all within 48 hours.

But then again, these kids can do anything…Sure, there were several breaks, snack times, and lots and lots of table moving, but they got it done.

To go with the theme there was the judge’s table:

The judge’s “X” boards:

Table decorations:

Chairs to be put out (lots of chairs):

View Full Album

Ginger Haynes and her kitchen crew worked hard on the food. Appetizers on the tables, lasagna in the oven, and my favorite, glazed bananas over ice cream. The youth groups served dinner to the guests at their tables.

View Full Album

Rick began the show, sharing with the audience what this fundraiser is about, how workcamp changes these kids, and how grateful we are that Kingsway is so supportive of the youth.

Emily was an excellent emcee!

First on stage – Grant and Jessica, backed by the Disciples Band, and followed up with an interview by Emily.

View Full Album

Next was Lauren singing a sweet song.

Up next? Bill “Thinks He’s Funny” White. What did the judges think? Not a single “X” and the judges had a hard time talking to him because they were laughing so hard.

Babe & The Geezers surprised us all by whipping out their kazoos during the last half of the song. Here’s the Babe…

and the Geezers…

with their kazoos…

which didn’t score to highly with the judges. OUCH!

Next up – another babe – Katelyn. PK (preacher’s kid) or not, she stole the show. I mean, who would not fall in love with this..

And she was ready to perform for the rest of the show, if only her mom would let her. See these photos for the wrestling match that ensued while Heather tried to stop the performance.

View Full Album

After a brief intermission, Stan and the Disciples Band worked the crowd. They even drew “groupies” to the front of the stage.

View Full Album

Anne, Barbara, and Stan brought their unique act to the stage. Barbara may have to be the next Church Council secretary with her mad typing skills (not to mention her posh red shoes)! She didn’t seem to be the least bit deterred by the judges’ thoughts.

View Full Album

Bill shared the stage with Stan.

And then with his beautiful daughter, Lucy.

And every year, A visitor from the East arrives. This year was no exception. Please say hello to the Great Haynak.

View Full Album

Our last act of the night was Paul Scott and the Disciples Band. Oh my word – when was the last time you saw someone dress like this in church? Yowza, yowza Ms. Connie!

View Full Album

And while the show is being held on the stage, another “show” is happening in the corner of the gym.

To round out the evening, we drew for the fantastic door prizes…

View Full Album

As it turns out Sam won the portable DVD player.

But to his credit, he felt it should go to someone else in the church, since this was a fundraiser for the youth. So Sam picked another ticket..

Imagine the surprise (see Lucy’s face?) when he drew…

HIS DAD’S TICKET!

And it’s over.

The crowd makes their way home.

And the once beautifully set tables look a little different…

And siblings of the youth are tired and ready for bed.

And the room is converted back to a gym for the daycare.

We are eternally grateful to Kingsway for their support of the CYF and the kids’ ministry to work on the homes of others in need. It is at workcamp these kids focus on their faith, fellowship, service, and fun. Without Kingsway, it would not be possible. God Bless!

A note from Donna

2009-02-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

Can you believe Donna is in Israel and took time to give a shout-out to her friends at Kingsway:

Hi everyone! I cannot begin to describe how wonderful this Israel trip. Wish you could all have this experience. Take care and see you soon.
-Donna

We are all praying you have a fantastic trip and safe travel Donna!

Notes from WIM Meeting 2-9-09

2009-02-10T20:42:00.001-08:00

WIM met last evening in the MOSD building with nine in attendance (Lee Russell, Judy Daniel, Paula Wright, Yvonne Thomas, Denise McCormick, Susan Bailey, Barbara Bullington, Linda Gibson & Nancy Folden). Nancy reviewed Dr. Sleeth's book "Serve God, Save the Planet" with some of his suggestions for being good stewards of God's World.

Feb. 14th, our group will be delivering Valentine baskets to Kingsway's shut-ins. The baskets will be assembled at Emily Schaeffer's home. Linda Gibson, Yvonne Thomas, Nancy Folden, Judy Daniel & Diane Senger have agreed to help deliver the baskets,starting at 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning. We have several on the list to receive baskets, so if you can also help, please call Emily on Friday and let her know. Also, if you can help assemble the baskets,call Emily for the day and time (Emily is out of town Feb. 8th through Feb. 12th). Nancy Williams and Yvonne Thomas will be baking cookies. Paula Wright will be filling the small heart shaped tins with a baked item.

March 14th, Kingsway will be the host church for WTNCWF "Spiritual Journey." Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.Registration fee will be $15.00 and our CWF will receive $6.00 of the fee for our expenses. Gary Wright has agreed to prepare the lunch and our custodian, Eric Myles, has agreed to clean up afterwards. The CWF would like for the WIM to help with greeting our guests and to help serve the meal, which we will be most happy to do.

March 29th will be 5th Sunday Harvest when we ask our Kingsway members to donate non-perishable food to the Memphis Food Bank Pantry. This is one way we can reach out to the community to help those who are hungry.

Again, a big thank you to all those who helped with Cabin Fever Luncheon to raise over $400.00 to help with expenses for those planning to attend the 2010 Quadrennial in Greensboro, NC. Let's talk it up and have many in attendance from Kingsway.