D

While the first few phases of Cultivate may seem very theoretical, it is when Cultivate is acted out that one can see its practicality and effectiveness. This transition can be seen from discover and design parts into the do part of cultivate. For example, by themselves, the interns of Coral Ridge could not do the task of bringing in ten new families. However, the interns used the community around them at CRPC to enact the design the 2trees interns cultivated. This meant that at every layer of VBS, all the volunteers and staff had to be on the same page while interacting with students. They confirmed that every volunteer knew to connect with each child, especially those who were identified as visitors or guests. The team also asked that these volunteers not just know the five basic questions about every child (name, age, address, school and family), but also make a true connection with the children to ensure that they were engaged with the material being taught. This aligned very well with the motto of Coral Ridge, which allowed them to act out the Liberating Power of the Gospel. The Gospel frees us to not just sit by and proclaim the word of reconciliation, but it allows people, such as the team of VBS volunteers, to come alongside someone of any age and demonstrate the love in the words which they have heard. In the midst of VBS, all four interns played their own part in carrying out the do of the Cultivate process. Jordan Prince was deeply involved with the 4th and 5th grade groups, where he got to intimately know the children and share the VBS experience with them. Also, Julie Anne Osterhus and Kara Van Kirk were able to involve themselves while leading groups of 2nd and 3rd grade children. By the end of the week, it was clear that all the volunteers had bought in to the design of VBS, meaning that they were heavily involved in each individual childs week. In that aspect, VBS could not have gone any better. In addition to the volunteers and staff who led each group, Philip Worrall took care of the Bible Verse Station. He was able to get the kids involved with each other, by allowing them to create more of a community within each group; while still maintaining that the children memorize Gods Word and be able to communicate what they were learning. Leo Reilly was a very big part of the interns design as well; he was the first point of contact that children and parents had during child check-in each day. This specific design was so that Leo would not just be some distant head figure, but instead, be a person that the parents and children could get to know.

R -Discover
After wrapping up the implementation, the team completed a SWOT analysis and came up with three things that could maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of the project that was developed. One of the first ways to improve the way Vacation Bible School was carried out is to improve the volunteer base in many ways. The childrens ministry has an excellent and passionate staff, but there is the threat that the staff could possibly get worn out. Having more volunteers could help the staff when it comes to planning and constructing an event like VBS. Part of growing the volunteer base could come with a shift in the culture of CRPC where people see the benefits of childrens ministry and are excited to volunteer and be a part of whats going on. Also, the volunteer base for VBS in 2013 could have been improved by increasing the amount of training. While the team did conduct a training session on all the plans that they were implementing, the session was short and held right after church. It could have been more constructive if the session was isolated and held by itself so that the team could sit the volunteers down and explain the plan instead of having everyone meet up for a quick second right after service, when families are often ready to go home for the day. One strength of the childrens ministry is that the staff and team are very good at focusing on all the details have to be covered. However, this can often cause tunnel vision, in which they can be too narrow in their view of a project like VBS. For example, it can cause the team to be more focused on how VBS may look aesthetically and not how the children and visiting families are going to be reached. Finally, the follow-up process and plan could have been more thorough. While the teams plan was to be very intentional on reaching out to visitors during and after VBS, some of the focus was distracted due to other details and projects going on in childrens ministry. More phone calls could have been made to visiting families as follow-up, and as stated before, the volunteer team could have been better equipped to know how to reach out to children.

Conclusio
At Coral Ridge Presbyterian, the childrens ministry interns were able to see just how integrated the Cultivate process can be in every project they complete. Each task in a work environment inherently consists of discovery, design, do and re-discover; however, the Cultivate process forces one to consciously step through each phase of the system and apply the specific methods that go along with each phase. By emphasizing the importance of consciously walking through each step, the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the project can be insured. This was especially true for the childrens ministry interns during their Vacation Bible School project. Due to the careful thinking that is required throughout the Cultivate process, the team was forced to take a step back and look at VBS in a way that wouldnt just seek to improve the childrens ministry by itself, but improve the church as a whole. This holistic thinking led the team to do their best and not just implement a design that the childrens ministry could use from year to year, but instead, create a foundation for something that they could build upon for the whole church. The project that resulted reflects the teams main thought that a healthy church should have a healthy childrens ministry, and the best way to strive for a healthy childrens ministry is to use Cultivate.

Desig
Using the database collected in the discovery phase, they began the design process by creating a useful system to identify visiting families. The team had to find a way to tangibly and quickly identify children without being obtrusive. What they came up with was a sticker system in which each childs nametag had a sticker on it that corresponded to one of three colors. The blue sticker meant that a specific child was a member at Coral Ridge, the green sticker meant that a child was a member of another church, and the red sticker meant that a child was not a member of any church. The team wanted to be as direct and intentional as possible with the latter two groups, so a meeting was also set aside after Sunday worship where the VBS volunteers could be instructed on the sticker system and what the sticker system meant to childrens ministry that week. Secondly, the team wanted to come up with several ways to follow up with visiting families after VBS. This idea started out initially as a photo magnet of each individual child which would include the service times and other basic information about the church on it. These photo magnets would be sent home with the children at the end of the week. In addition to this photo magnet, the team sought out ways to make sure the families who were visiting without a church home felt especially welcomed, so a follow-up packet was developed to mail out the week after VBS. The follow-up packet included a handwritten, personal note thanking the families for allowing their child to spend the week at Coral Ridge. Also, the team made sure to add in other important handouts such as a pamphlet with CRPCs Get Connected information, a pamphlet that had a list of childrens ministry activities for the rest of the year, and a This is Coral Ridge DVD that lays out the basic information about who the church is. Finally, the packet included some gifts such as pieces of candy and The Book of Hope, a small booklet developed by OneHope so that the children and parents alike would have some sort of exposure to the Gospel after VBS week.

Childre Ministr

by: Jordy, Julie Anne, Kara and Phil

milk
butter

Discover

who would be essential for the interview process. Starting off with informal surveys, the team discovered that part of the problem with new family integration following VBS in 2012 was that there was not enough intentional and direct contact with children and parents who were not members of CRPC. This meant that during the week of VBS for 2013, the In order to initiate the Cultivate team wanted to make sure that the volunprocess, the team had to work with the teers and the staff paid close attention to end in mind, and that meant using the the families that were visiting. It was desired outcome to shape the rest of the important to make these guests feel espeprocess. The team quickly realized that in cially welcomed and comfortable at the order to design a system that would help church while also engaging them with add ten new families to the church, there the Gospel. The team also wanted this to needed to be an understanding of the carry over after VBS by staying in concontext that they were stepping into. tact with these families and thanking How did integration of new families into them for choosing to be a part of CRPC the church after VBS go in 2012? How for the week. does the pastoral staff carry out family The final phase of this discovery care of visiting families? Why do/dont process involved compiling a database of families stay with the church? What all the children registered for Vacation would have improved the likelihood of Bible School. The team needed this list families joining after VBS? These quesso that they could go through and identitions formed the basis for the primary fy the children who were not members of research, in addition to their use in the CRPC, and from there, come up with a informal interviews with church and system that would allow them to know pastoral leadership. The team went on to which kids were visiting during the week complete an asset map which allowed of VBS. them to identify the key stakeholders

Childre Ministr

Vacation Bible School is an event that a majority of American churches put on from year to year. It is a great way to engage children in a time of biblical learning and worship while they are out of school; however, at Coral Ridge Presbyterian, the staff didnt want to put on a VBS just for the sake of having a VBS. They wanted to avoid going through the motions and instead make sure that VBS was effective and impactful on a childs understanding of God. So, in order to ensure this effectiveness, the Cultivate process was used. This pro-

cess involved gaining a general understanding of how to improve VBS, tailoring the programs accordingly, and then implementing these ideas so the desired outcomes could be achieved. The goal for Vacation Bible School at Coral Ridge as proposed by the childrens pastor, Leo Reilly, was to see ten new families join the church through VBS. The desired outcome from this goal was to see the children of these families impacted with the Gospel as they attended church throughout the duration of the summer and into the fall.