Newsletter Issue #19 --  June 13, 2016 

Mission Statement: SundaySchoolNetwork.com brings over 25 years of experience to children's ministry. Our Bible lesson plans and activities are designed to lead children to Christ, helping them grow in their faith, so they can proclaim the good news message to the next generation.  

In today's newsletter:

1) Survey Says . . . 

2) Summer Bible Skits

3) First-time VBS

4) Some Survey Suggestions

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A Great Summer-time Resource



For Sundays & Midweek Classes!

1) Survey Says . . .

Thank you to all those who took the time to share your thoughts on charging a fee for VBS. Some of you didn't hold your opinions back, which was great! I am compiling the results and will share them very soon. I also want to thank those who took the time to encourage me in my ministry here on SundaySchoolNetwork.com. It is greatly appreciated. 

Make sure you read some of the suggestions, see #4, below, from a few of the respondents who took the survey.

Also, don't forget, June 15th is the last day to use the Coupon that was offered at the end of the survey. So if you haven't taken the survey, or redeemed your coupon, time is running out:
http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/Take-our-Survey.html 

Your webservant,
Sarah Keith <><

2) Summer Bible Skits

Using Bible skits during the summer is a great way to change up your lesson plans and keep children engaged and learning! 

Sample our selection of Lights, Camera, Action Bible Skits based on the Gospel of Mark, the book of Ruth, and the book of Esther.

3) First-time VBS

Good day,

I am Sylvia Katongo from Bread of Life Church International, Lusaka, Zambia in Southern African.

We have not had VBS yet with our teens, but we are thinking of having one probably before
the end of year. We don't have any ideas of how it is usually done. We were thinking of comprising
more of Bible study, so that teens understand the word of God, and then coupled with games. 

Sylvia Katongo

--from SSTN: Hi Sylvia, how exciting for your church family! I encourage you to check out the Amazing Parable Race. It is a good mix of a Bible lesson based on the Parable of the Sower and Bible games that reinforce the lesson. It's a one-day event, so it's a perfect way to try out a summer program. Please keep us posted as to what you decide to do!

4) Is there a resource that SundaySchoolNetwork.com could provide that would enhance your summer programming needs?

Suggestion: It would be wonderful to find "free" or more "reasonably priced" lessons, crafts, and games that can be used and shaped around different Bible lessons; for instance, Fruit of the Spirit - an individual lesson for each one that would include crafts/games. It's getting more and more expensive to purchase pre-packaged kits, especially when funds are becoming more limited. If trying to do a fundraiser to accumulate funds to lessen the burden on the church, you usually have little participation with the exception of those who are already contributing. If there were resources made available to incorporate all those aspects mentioned above from SSTN, that would be great.

--from SSTN: I must not be doing a very good job of making everyone aware of our affordable resources that can be used in Sunday school, Children's church, mid-week, summer church, and yes, even VBS. LOL! This IS exactly what we DO provide, and in fact have Fruit of the Spirit Bible lessons "shaped" around each Spirit attribute, and each one is accompanied with a craft and game. To see a list of our Bible lesson plans, check out the following link: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/Bible-4-life.html 

Suggestion: Curriculum add ons to VBS. Gospel Light was great about this, but I struggled this year to fill in the gap for summer Sunday school curriculum post VBS.

--from SSTN: in years past, when teachers needed help with extra ideas or "adding-on," teachers on SSTN would post their questions and other teachers would answer them. I encourage you to use this network to ask questions, but also to answer other teacher's questions that are posed. SSTN was started long before social media began and is still a great way to connect with other teachers. It is a valuable resource. BUT, everyone must be willing to give and take ideas for it to work effectively. Also, feel free to post questions or suggestions to our Facebook page.

Suggestion: A catch-all of free resources.

--from SSTN: I'm so glad I ran this survey. It has helped me to see that I need to improve on making our resources known! There's quite an extensive list or "catch-all" already in our website. Have you looked through our F-R-E-E  Ideas section, as well as our LINKS page? Both of these links can be found from our home page at http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com 

Your webservant,
Sarah Keith <><
PS. the link to our Partner LINKS is listed at the bottom of the home page. 

And please remember, your donations and purchases to the site make these resources possible.

Have you written a children's or teen's ministry resource? 
SHARE your great ideas!

Send to: submissions@sundayschoolnetwork.com 

Use the link at the bottom of the newsletter to forward it to friends and coworkers.

SEARCH SundaySchoolNetwork.com for ideas:

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Copyright 1997 - 2015 / d.b.a. "S. A. Keith of Creative Imaginations Reproducing in any medium, commercial or noncommercial, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission. SSTN has contributors from all over the world who share their ideas. If you reprint any of the ideas from SSTN, SundaySchoolNetwork.com or ChristianCrafters.Com in any medium (websites, magazines, newsletters, etc.), you must contact the submitter, and website for reprint permissions. Any materials used must also include the submitter's name and where the ideas were gleaned from. The opinions expressed or advertisements displayed in the SSTN e-Newsletter are not necessarily endorsed by SundaySchoolNetwork.com or any of its affiliates. SSTN reserves the right to edit and or exclude information from the SSTN e-Newsletter.