presented in worship on November 6, 2011...
Good morning.
As members of the congregation, we all make a promise to our children at their Baptism:
Do we the members of the Church of Jesus Christ, promise to guide and nurture [this child] by word and deed, with love and prayer, encouraging this child to know and follow Christ and to be a faithful member of his Church
I am here this morning as a child of this church who was baptized and confirmed here and attended Sunday School and Youth Fellowship. As a mother, I volunteered as a Sunday School teacher for 20 years and for the last 9 years, I have participated as a member of the CEC. The education of our children and youth are very important to the future of our congregation. As the leader of the Christian Education Committee and as a member of this congregation who contemplates my stewardship responsibilities at this time each year, just as we all do, I would like to share with you our need, as a congregation to financially support the expanded role of our Director of Youth and Children Ministries.
As you know, our Christian Education director, Kristen Thomas-Clarke, moved on in September to a new position in her field of library sciences, and we need to fill her position. Kristen’s position was officially compensated for 10 hours a week. She also volunteered many additional hours. This position is responsible for recruiting, training and leading a small army of 20-30 volunteers to teach our children and run their fellowship activities. This position is also responsible for selecting our educational materials, developing materials for our annual Spiritual Enrichment Retreat and Vacation Bible School. This position also participates as a member of the Christian Education Committee.
After reviewing the job responsibilities, and thoughtful and prayerful discussion, the Christian Education Committee recommended to the Session that to effectively keep our promise to “encourage our children to know and follow Christ and to be a faithful member of his Church” we need to expand and strengthen the children and youth program offerings. In order to accomplish this, we need to increase the hours of this role by adding 10 hours a week to the Director of Youth and Children Ministries. . . . . . . .taking it to a 20 hour a week position.
At their August Session meeting, the Session approved the job description for the Director of Youth and Children Ministries voting to increase the hours of the Director position from 10 hours a week to 20 hours a week. At the September Session meeting, Session agreed to increase the compensation commensurate with the increase in hours.
To attract a candidate that has an education and experience in Youth ministries, we need to offer a competitive compensation package. This commitment will result in a total of 20 hours a week and an increase to our budget of $10,000/year for a total compensation package of $20,000/year. We believe that 20 hours/week will meet the needs of our congregation and that this compensation level is in line with comparable positions elsewhere in the Presbytery.
As members of this congregation, we have a responsibility to support the programs that are critical to the success of our ministries. We do this by volunteering and by our financial support. Each of us needs to give prayerful thought to how we can best contribute to Ardmore Presbyterian’s ministries. $10,000 is a lot of money to raise, but think about it this way. . . That’s only $1.60 per week from each family in the church. Without this additional support, the funding would have to be allocated from other areas within the church that also depend upon our membership’s stewardship for their ministries and programs.
As you consider your stewardship commitment for the coming year, please consider increasing your pledge and including in that increase $1.60 a week to fund the compensation of this critical position.
The Christian Education Committee prays for you as you weigh the importance of this need to the future of the Ardmore Presbyterian Church.
Thank you.
Kathy Toal
Moderator, Christian Education Committee
