Leader Resource CenterPioneer Clubs

THINGS TO DO IN A WORSHIP SERVICE

Designate February 11 (or a date of your choice) as Pioneer Clubs Sunday, and celebrate in a church service.

Choose as many of the following ideas as you want:


Participation
Outfits
Recognition
Scripture/Message Ideas
Bulletins
Testimonies
Offering
More Ideas

 

PARTICIPATION

Let club members:
  • greet worshipers
  • read Scripture
  • usher
  • perform special music or a skit
  • take a special Pioneer Clubs offering

OUTFITS

  • Have kids and leaders wear their club outfits (T-shirts, vests, sashes, etc.)

RECOGNITION

  • Order service recognition certificates (catalog #2761) or pins (#2762-2766) from the Pioneer Clubs® catalog. Have club members present them to club leaders and Pals during a special time in the service. Point out how through their service volunteers have been a loyal “friend of God” by helping with Pioneer Clubs.
  • Have adult Pals and their club members stand. Tell how Pals show the children they are paired with what being friends means (helper, loyal, prayer partner, encourager).
  • Ask anyone who has been a Camp Cherith® camper or counselor to stand. Have them explain how Camp Cherith, the camping ministry of Pioneer Clubs, helps kids nurture their friendship with God and others.

SCRIPTURE/MESSAGE IDEAS
  • Try one or more of these passages for Scripture readings, the sermon, or other presentations. (Suggested verses listed with summary paraphrases of text.)
    • Proverbs 17:17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.
    • John 15:15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
    • James 2:23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.
  • Lead the congregation in a Bible Exploration from one of your club age-groups, to give them a taste of what kids learn in club. Choose one that deals with being a friend of Jesus.

BULLETINS
  • Have club members design a bulletin cover for Pioneer Clubs Sunday to reflect this year’s Pioneer Clubs Sunday theme, “Friend of God.”
  • Have church leadership write a few paragraphs on the topic “Pioneer Clubs is helping our kids understand what it means to know God is their friend and then how to befriend others.
  • Print the names of club members and club leaders in the bulletin, and ask the congregation to pray for the friendships that develop through Pioneer Clubs.

TESTIMONIES
  • Have the “founders” or long-time leaders of Pioneer Clubs in your church tell about the prayer and planning that have gone into creating an atmosphere where children and youth are encouraged to make Christ Lord in every aspect of life.
  • Ask someone who became a Christian through Pioneer Clubs to briefly speak.

OFFERING
  • Join the growing number of churches that collect a special missions offering to support the national ministry of Pioneer Clubs. The opportunity to give to this important children’s ministry can be extended to the congregation on Pioneer Clubs Sunday or any Sunday of your choice. Let the congregation know what projects their gifts will benefit. Click here for a list of projects.
  • Allow club members to take a special Pioneer Clubs offering.
     

 

  

MORE IDEAS

DECORATIONS

  • Create a bulletin board in the church with pictures of kids in club learning about their Bibles, doing activity awards and having fun.
  • Have the kids bring in pictures of them with a good friend and create a display poster.
  • Take pictures of club members with their Pals and create a display poster with the kids sharing what it means to have the friendship of a Pal.
  • Trace the hands of each club member on construction paper. Have the kids cut out their individuals hands prints. Mount the hands prints, overlapping, on a poster board around one of the verses about friendship.
  • Make a poster with a collection of quotes from club members on what it means to be a friend.

NAME TAGS

  • Have all club members and club workers wear name tags shaped like hand prints. Each can say “Friend of God.”

COORDINATOR PRESENTATION

  • Present the purpose and goals of Pioneer Clubs (see leader plan books or the Club Coordinator's Manual). Emphasize that Pioneer Clubs' basic purpose and goals have remained the same for 67 years.
  • Read Proverbs 17:17. Tell how God has guided you and others to be a friend.
  • Explain how club members have learned from club what it means to be a friend (Examples: learning to help others, praying for one another, practicing care and respect for each other, working on service projects, etc.)

RECRUITMENT VIDEO

  • Show Pioneer Clubs’ leader recruitment video, "Sowing Seeds, Reaping Lives” (catalog #2775), or the Leader Recruitment Commercial (video, #2781; CD-ROM, #2782). Afterward, add similar testimonies from club leaders in your own church.

PRAYER AND DEDICATION

  • Have everyone involved in club stand or come forward.
  • Lead a prayer thanking Jesus for being a human example for us of what it means to be a friend. Ask that club leaders and club members would demonstrate a similar attitude of humility and love.
  • Sing the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”
  • Have your pastor pray for your church's club program, for the Kids for Kids Hike if you choose to participate, and for the national ministry of Pioneer Clubs.