As the school year winds down we also will be wrapping up Sonkids on May 10th. I thought it would be fun to journey back and take a look at all the memories we made bringing the Bible to life and hanging out on Fridays with friends at church. If you have never seen Sonkids in action, I hope you enjoy the show through the photos below. I would also like to recognize the leadership that made it all possible.
Before the kids arrive and the show begins, a lot of prep work goes into making each event possible. From planning and purchasing snacks and crafts, gathering costumes, coming up with group games and materials, making Power Point presentations, to setting up name tags and attendance sheets, Sonkids is a big creative undertaking.
Take the stage props for example. Luke, Louise, Brian, and Tara have helped design most our sets with just a few giant foam core boards, contact paper, bulletin board paper, plastic table cloths, duct tape and spray glue. Hours alone have gone into backdrops, and even then, sometimes things start to peel off when the action starts.
Here is our current worship backdrop. I think Tara is yelling “Touch Down” as Sarah and Ethan help lead worship singing “Big Big House.” Giving it their all!
We change themes 3 times a year. Here is our Operation Overboard set with an awesome yellow submarine, some shark and stingray silhouettes and some sea creatures swimming amongst the seaweed with Miss Tara.
We began the year with the western themed Alasso Ranch and invited everyone to dress as cowboys and cowgirls. Here’s Pastor Scott telling the Bible Story with a big Texas accent.
Each week the kids were very surprised to see what instrument Cowboy Scott would play beside his campfire. With thanks to Luke, Band President at LPA, the tuba, pan flute, recorder, guitar, harmonica and even the didgeridoo made appearances on the Sonkids set.
Worship at each event begins with high energy songs and an interactive Bible story skit. We then reveal our Bible verse for the night and conclude in prayer before the teams head on out to the rotation stations.
I also want to mention that a very important part of the event team is our tech crew. Luke and Victoria hang out in the booth in the back and make all the media magic happen on stage – lighting, sound, microphones, videos, Power Point slides etc. We can’t run worship without them and we miss Cory who has ventured out onto the mission field. (Check out his journey here: Send Me, I’ll Go)
It takes 30 volunteers to run each Sonkids event. Over 60 different people have come out to serve on different nights this past season. I can’t emphasize enough how each and every volunteer matters in a big way.
A large number of the event team members are Crew Leaders. Crew Leaders arrive early to check the kids into their seats in their team’s row. They keep an eye on the kids and participate during worship. After large group time, the Crew Leaders bring their teams of about 15 – 18 kids through rotation stations. Here you can see Karyl, Amy, Jake, Tommy, and I think Brenda and Elizabeth are on the far side.
Crew leaders also assist the kids in snacks, games, and crafts, like Tori and Lousie here helping stringing beads on bracelets.
Our Station Leaders for Crafts, Games, and Snacks gather the necessary materials for over 60 kids who come through their station each week. A different team rotates through every 15 minutes. Here are Pete and Barb West our faithful craft leaders with crew leaders Kristin, Michelle, and Elizabeth.
Games are also a big hit!
And snacks are always a favorite. Here’s Jacob and Louise tending to the tables.
When the kids have gone through the rotations, they come back to the sanctuary for closing worship. One of their favorite segments is “Silly Songs with Sarah and Tara” as you can see here in the video:
Silly Songs With Sarah and Tara
Friday nights are especially fun for our 4 – 6th grade preteens. They are older so they sometimes get to use darts, one at a time ; ) Tommy is carefully supervising. Highlights of the year have been Nerf wars and a campfire.
Our preteens have come a long way this year creating Christian friendships, have grown leaps and bounds in Bible knowledge, and have developed a closer relationship with Jesus Christ.
Teri and Alex Fairley have been the faithful founding leaders for Preteen Ministry at Sunlight and their investment has had an eternal impact on a group of kids who otherwise may have fallen through the cracks between children and youth ministry.
Teri is also Preteen Director for Vacation Bible School. We had our first 5th & 6th grade group last summer. Over 50 kids came out that week to a full VBS separate from our K-4th grade group. Our first year for preteen VBS was a huge success. We are getting ready for round two!
At Sunlight, we are blessed with leadership that provides a place for our 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to have a unique age appropriate youth group all their own.
I hope you have enjoyed the walk down memory lane from Sonkids this year. Our last two meetings are Friday, April 26th and May 10th.
I may not been able to include pictures of all the volunteers who made Sonkids possible, but were it not for all our faithful leaders, 200 kids from our community would not have heard God’s powerful story of redemption and grace and taken home His message of hope and love.
Enjoy the slideshow for more memorable moments from Sonkids. (Shout out to Bill Whitt, photographer extraordinaire!)
