THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610090158
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICK BUCHNOWSKI, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 88 lines
A pair of goggly eyes peek out from behind a white, picket fence. The face is recognizable to the 40 fidgety 4-year-olds who sit in tiny chairs, listening to Petunia's illustration of the importance of obeying your parents.
They respond to the spindly haired puppet by clapping their hands and singing ``Jesus Loves Me.''
Welcome to Sunday School in the new Children's Wing at Atlantic Shores Baptist Church. The first floor of the $1.5 million, two-story Children's Wing opened last month as part of the ongoing, five-year effort by the church to alleviate the cramped quarters of its growing Sunday School classes.
For the tiny tots of the 15-year-old Kempsville Road church, the move into the new wing couldn't have come at a better time.
``We were desperate for space,'' said Mindy Hall, children's ministry coordinator. ``Before we moved into this wing, our infants through 4-year-olds were in the existing building and kindergarten through fifth-graders had their Sunday school in trailers. . . . None of those trailers had bathroom facilities.''
Two hundred infants through 4-year-olds moved into 15 first-floor classrooms Sept. 29. An additional 300 kindergarten through fifth-graders are expected to settle in when the second floor is completed some time next year. The teen-agers' Sunday School program is staged one mile south of the church at Atlantic Shores Christian School's secondary campus on Centerville Turnpike, she said.
Both floors of the new Children's Wing will add a combined 30,000 square feet of space, which will double the size of the existing church sanctuary and classrooms.
After years of planning and piecemeal construction that proceeded only as the cash was raised, church leaders were determined to move the youngsters in two weeks ago. With time running out, the group had to hustle.
``Last week, we were in here every night getting furniture unpacked and getting the construction site cleaned up,'' she said Sunday. ``We went right down to the wire to get in.''
Creating an atmosphere that is family friendly was paramount when church leaders began planning the children's wing, she explained.
A blue and yellow boat-shaped information table with little round windows graces the reception area. The Noah's Ark theme includes colorful three-dimensional animals along the walls, and photographs of children line the corridors.
Hall said this unique layout was the brainchild of Senior Pastor George Sweet, who recalled seeing a similar design in the pediatric ward of a hospital. ``He said `Wouldn't it be great to have a Noah's Ark?' '' she explained. ``Children love to relate to animals.''
Sunday School teachers like LaGaye MacDowall use the children's wing to stage puppet shows to teach the younger kids about God during a weekly event called ``Sonlight City.''
``We use the puppets to teach the kids character traits like obedience,'' she said. ``We try to teach them things they can take with them through life.''
Each classroom is especially equipped to meet the needs of particular age groups, said Kendra Fleming, director of the preschool ministry. The sinks and bathrooms are child size while the crawler rooms are complete with mats and toys for kids in the developmental stage, she said.
With the building open to the public and with volumes of people in and out all the time, providing ample security for the children proved to be a challenge.
``The children and parents now wear number tags,'' Fleming said. ``Only adults with the corresponding number can pick up their children.''
In addition to Sunday School classes, the doors of the new wing are open to the community with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), a support group offering guidance on child-rearing, meeting the first and third Thursday each month from 9 to 11 a.m. Mother/Baby Specialist classes and ``Story Time'' - a reading program for 2- and 3-year-olds - is slated to begin later this month.
The mission of attracting more families to the Sunday School program begins with making the experience exciting. Hall said that's why more families are coming to church and more parents are sending their kids to class.
``They know their children love to come and have a great time learning about God,'' she said. ``I think parents appreciate that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by L.TODD SPENCER
Peggy Swingle attends to one of the infants in the new children's
wing at Atlantic Shores Baptist Church.
Lauralee Lopez, 3, seems comfortably settled in at her new
classroom. Two hundred infants through 4-year-olds moved into 15
first-floor classrooms Sept. 29.
This new classroom at Atlantic Shores Baptist is set up for a
children's church service. Noah's Ark is the theme of the new wing. by CNB