wfn.org | Local church’s character education camp draws more than 500 students

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>3022 Edition

>January 25~31, 2010

Local church’s character education camp draws more than 500  students

>Reported by Li Hsin-ren, Chen Wei-jian

>Written by Lydia Ma

With so many families having fewer children nowadays, many Sunday  schools or

kindergartens are closing due to dwindling enrollments. Churches  that were once

filled with the sound of children’s laughter now face the  challenge of transforming

children’s ministries if they want to reach out to the next  generation.

Changhua Presbyterian Church is an old, established church located  in the heart of

Changhua city. The church began a Saturday children’s day  camp a few years ago

and the number of children registering for the camp increases  steadily with every

passing year. The church now needs volunteers to direct traffic  near the church’s

entrance because so many parents are dropping their children off  to this Saturday

camp. What is this church doing right? Why has it been so  successful in reaching

>out to children and drawing them to church?

As of September 2009, the number of students registered in this  camp surpassed

500. The camp is essentially a “character education  camp”, a place where children

learn and develop good moral characters and take music or arts  classes on the

side. Because so many students are registering, the church has  decided to

transform this “camp” into a “school” recently  and has hired 24 arts teachers and 65

character education teachers. Character education classes are  taught by church

members they range from kindergarten to grade 6. The church  started a junior high

school program this year and there are currently 19 students  registered in that

>extension program.

According to the director of the church’s character education  school, Tu Chen-

hsiang, there were approximately 80 students when the program  began. The

number of students has increased by more than 100 every year since  then. Tu said

some students who attended the Saturday camp kept returning to the  church even

after they moved on to junior high school. “We discovered  that Saturday camps are

temporary, but Saturday schools are permanent. We hope this  children’s ministry

will continue for many years to come and we also hope it will help  these children to

transition into church life little by little,” said Tu.

In order to minister to these children, the church has reached out  to their parents by

offering a few classes for adults. It has also coordinated youth  fellowship meetings

to start right after arts classes finish so that junior high  students can attend youth

fellowship if they choose to stay on after class. According to  reports, some parents

are even attending Sunday services regularly now.

According to the church’s pastor, Rev. Li Chih-jen, the  church has faced many

challenges while transitioning from having a kindergarten to  having a weekend

children’s camp. However, one of the reasons why the church  began community

outreach specifically targeting children was because church  members were

generally older adults and the number of children in Sunday  schools was dwindling.

Another important factor is that there are many regulations  dictating how

kindergartens must operate, prompting the church to open a  character education

school instead because its staff will be able to freely teach  about Christianity and

how it is connected to every moral character being taught.

To help and encourage staff members, Changhua Church also  organizes a retreat

for them every year. Staff members will also pray together before  and after each

camp session. “Every member of this church is devoted to this  ministry. For

example, the men’s fellowship helps direct traffic outside  the church, and there is

also one old lady who comes to church every Saturday morning to  pray in the main

sanctuary for the children who will fill these pews later in the  afternoon,” said Rev.

>Li.

Li also said that church members view this school as a ministry  and not a business.

He pointed out that, sometimes, churches will see kindergartens as  another means

to increase revenue and therefore hire professionals who may not  be Christians to

teach classes and run the school. But Li is adamant that this  school must remain

one of the church’s ministries and he encourages church  members to volunteer.

Character building begins at a young age, says pastor

Rev. Li began pastoring in Changhua in February 2006 and was  surprised to

discover that this big church had less than 10 Sunday school  students. The problem

prompted him to think of ways to revamp or transform Sunday school  and he

decided to begin character education camps a few months later.

Li emphasized that what society lacks nowadays is moral education,  but Jesus is

the leading educator in this realm and the Bible provides a good  foundation for

morality. Not only will Scripture lead children to Christ, it will  also instill in them good

moral character and correct social values. This is in essence the  church’s core

belief and vision for its character education school.

As for class content, the camp typically includes singing, short  lessons on moral

character, discussion of life issues, and some music, arts, or  language lessons.

Character education classes revolve around topics such as  obedience, honesty,

concentration, etc. and textbooks vary depending on students’  age group. Students

are required to arrive ten minutes before classes begin, wear a  uniform and proper

shoes and a name tag, obey every teacher’s instructions, and  respect fellow

>classmates.

The church held a convocation for students last Christmas and the  number of

parents and students who attended this event exceeded 1,000. There  were so

many people that the church was filled past its maximum capacity.  Though there

are currently more than 500 students enrolled in Changhua  Church’s character

education school, its goal is to reach out to 1,000 students  ultimately.

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