The Joy class: how it began and what happens each week
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In the words of my friend Katie, who leads the Joy class:
After the first Joy Prom in April 2004, I felt God say, "Great job loving adults with special needs one night of the year, but I love them every day, and Providence needs to as well."
We began taking steps to start a Sunday school class but had no idea what it would look like. We sent out postcards to all the guests who attended the Joy Prom and planned a start date of September 26, 2004. Right away I started hearing from several interested folks who were planning to come to the class, and some even started coming to Providence a few months before Joy class even started. I attended a conference at Ridgecrest and also met with the Special Ministries department at the Baptist State Convention and was able to gather lots of great material there.
We use Lifeway's Access material, which is specifically designed for adults with special learning needs. Each Sunday at 9:30 we have snack and fellowship, then do prayer requests. We each share a prayer request with the class, and then we have a list of about ten missionaries from our church that we pray for each week, most of whom we have met through the Missions Festivals over the years.
We use our Lifeway materials to study our lesson, and we have been following along with their five-year plan that goes through the whole Bible. Since we all learn best through different methods, we use a variety of activities including art projects, games, drama, videos, visuals, and other things to study the Bible. Each Sunday we close Joy class by saying the Lord's Prayer together.
Some of the highlights of our year include the Missions Festival, Joy Prom, Happiness Retreat in July at Camp Caraway, baptism at the lake, the collection of art supplies for our friends in Serbia every Christmas, and the Christmas musical.
Our class members range in age from 16 to 65, though no one seems to mind the age differences! Some of us live with family members, some in group homes, and some of us live independently or with roommates. We have different abilities, different interests, different backgrounds, and different hopes and dreams, but the things we have in common are even greater - we know God loves us, we love Jesus, and we love others.
After the first Joy Prom in April 2004, I felt God say, "Great job loving adults with special needs one night of the year, but I love them every day, and Providence needs to as well."
We began taking steps to start a Sunday school class but had no idea what it would look like. We sent out postcards to all the guests who attended the Joy Prom and planned a start date of September 26, 2004. Right away I started hearing from several interested folks who were planning to come to the class, and some even started coming to Providence a few months before Joy class even started. I attended a conference at Ridgecrest and also met with the Special Ministries department at the Baptist State Convention and was able to gather lots of great material there.
We use Lifeway's Access material, which is specifically designed for adults with special learning needs. Each Sunday at 9:30 we have snack and fellowship, then do prayer requests. We each share a prayer request with the class, and then we have a list of about ten missionaries from our church that we pray for each week, most of whom we have met through the Missions Festivals over the years.
We use our Lifeway materials to study our lesson, and we have been following along with their five-year plan that goes through the whole Bible. Since we all learn best through different methods, we use a variety of activities including art projects, games, drama, videos, visuals, and other things to study the Bible. Each Sunday we close Joy class by saying the Lord's Prayer together.
Some of the highlights of our year include the Missions Festival, Joy Prom, Happiness Retreat in July at Camp Caraway, baptism at the lake, the collection of art supplies for our friends in Serbia every Christmas, and the Christmas musical.
Our class members range in age from 16 to 65, though no one seems to mind the age differences! Some of us live with family members, some in group homes, and some of us live independently or with roommates. We have different abilities, different interests, different backgrounds, and different hopes and dreams, but the things we have in common are even greater - we know God loves us, we love Jesus, and we love others.