This past Sunday, there were some who wondered why Awana was not scheduled to be held on Dec. 18th. I’d like to take a few moments to explain why I made that decision.
I begin looking at the Awana schedule for the following year in the spring of the year ending. I look at when we will start, end, what Sundays we will not meet as well as how many weeks the Awana year will meet.
This past spring as I was planning the schedule, I had to look at many variables, mainly when we would start as we were transitioning to the facility, which would help decide how many weeks we would meet.
As I looked at the holidays, I had to make decisions that affected families. Should we meet on the 18th and only have the 25th (Christmas Day) and Jan 1st (New Year’s Day) off? Knowing that during the holidays people’s schedules get busy and there are several Christmas programs to be seen and family times to be had, I wanted to make sure that families had an opportunity to have a Sunday to spend time as a family, visiting others, seeing a Christmas program (whether at Hanover Fellowship – not knowing if we’d plan one or not – or elsewhere) and not feel like they had to decide between that and Awana.
That is why back in the spring I decided that we would not meet for Awana on Dec. 18th, to give families that open date to do something as a family during the holidays.
That decision, back in the spring, is why that Sunday evening was open to hold a time for families to get together and watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” and fellowship.
Families are important and it continues to be our goal to partner with parents and families, not just in ministries held at Hanover Fellowship, but in life, allowing them to grow together, in the Lord, as families.
I pray this helps you understand the decision I made to not meet for Awana on the 18th.
Feel free to post your thoughts and comments below.