Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
ALTON - Calvary Baptist Church has a new club for local kids.
The Awana Club meets from 5–7:15 p.m. every Sunday at Calvary Baptist Church, located at 1422 Washington Avenue in Alton. Kids aged 2 to fifth grade are invited to participate. Attendees will play games, enjoy refreshments and study the Bible. The Awana Club is also putting on a production of “The Grinch” in December, and participants will rehearse at every Sunday meeting.
“God’s word tells [kids], ‘Hey, it’s okay, I’m in control even though things seem really weird and out of control. I’m in control and I love you,’” explained Mike Harrleson with Calvary Baptist Church. “When they come on Sunday nights for Awana, we teach them God’s word. We have a wonderful group of volunteers that just love kids and love God.”
Harrleson explained that the main goal of the Awana Club is to help kids connect to each other and learn from the Bible. He noted that the club is a great chance for kids to receive spiritual guidance and teach one another.
“We love to feed them physically, but the best part is feeding them spiritually,” Harrleson said. “They go to school Monday through Friday, and that’s a lot. There’s a lot to do there and sometimes you don’t get to talk about what’s going on inside. And you come on Sunday night and you can talk about that. You can ask for prayer. We can pray with you, pray for you about what’s going on in your life.”
The production of “The Grinch” is a new element added to the Awana Club this year, and Harrleson anticipates it will be a lot of fun. Kids will be acting, creating sets and props, and comparing the story of “The Grinch” to the Bible. Harrleson thinks it will be an interesting way for kids to learn from Bible verse Ezekiel 36:26 and gain a better understanding of the transformative power of God’s love.
“Our sin separates us from God, but it’s only through the love and power of Jesus and what He’s done that we can be made right with Him,” Harrleson explained. “The Grinch is a great picture and story of that, so that’s why we're going to be doing that play. The kids are going to have a lot of fun with that.”
While Harrleson is particularly looking forward to the Awana Club, he noted that there are many more exciting things happening at Calvary Baptist Church. The church recently opened the Calvary Christian School for preschoolers to fifth graders. Harrleson said the school aims to build students’ characters while giving them a solid Christian education.
“That’s part of the mission, to form their character instead of just giving them information and having them spit it back at you. It’s forming character and getting them to think and getting them to discern, ‘Why am I doing what I’m doing?’” he explained. “There’s nothing that God will ask us to do that He won’t give us the strength to do if we just trust Him. It has been a long year of work with our board and our education council and everybody in the community. It’s been really neat to see what God’s done.”
The church will also be hosting its annual Falliday, a fall festival, on Oct. 25, 2024. By registering for Falliday, kids also have the chance to win a scholarship for Upward basketball or cheerleading, which will start in January.
For more information about Calvary Baptist Church and their programs, including the Awana Club, Calvary Christian School, Falliday and Upward, you can visit the official Calvary Baptist Church website at CalvaryCares4U.org. You can also register your child for the Awana Club online.
“It’s a lot coming up,” Harrleson added. “There’s always a way to get on board or plug in.”
More like this:
