promise land: sunday school

Dear Parent

Prairie View is an honestly warm, friendly young congregation. I mean that. We really are a hospitable bunch of Christians. And the heart and soul of our new church has been from "day one," our many young families and their children. Speaking as a parent, I know that the "apple of our eye" will always be our kids, no matter how old they are. They are very important to each of us. And their "instruction in the Lord" is one of our highest shared priorities.

In this section of our website we hope to give you information that will help you as a parent, understand our goals, our methods, and how you can get involved in the instruction of your own children in basic Bible truth.

We will sketch out briefly our Nursery program and Promise Land, our regular Sunday school. We will touch on all of our various children's ministries, right up until they eventually join us for our adult Sunday service, as teens while still in High School.

Just as we each have car pooled our kids to countless ballgames and music practices and sat on a lot of bleachers with pride and joy; we also desire that every parent's involvement in their child's spiritual instruction be enjoyable and a source of real satisfaction to you - the parent.

I think God has helped my wife and I with our own seven children. Could I quote from a paper I wrote for parents?

"For the last fifteen years, if I could put my finger on one topic that I feel God has given me some insight with and fruit, across the nation, it would be in the area of parenting. We have spoken at church conferences on this topic, now over fifty times. And it seems that this is the subject that we receive the most response to.

I speak primarily to help our families build children who are obedient, who have strong work habits and who are solid in their academics.

In no way do I think that I have all the answers. I do not offer 'harsh, narrow, my-way-or-else' methods. Rather, I try to concentrate on the larger principles of parenting and seek to help strengthen our hearts and our resolve as parents.

My passion is to challenge, encourage and equip parents to stand up, speak up and reach out with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through each of our families.

When we are sharing our faith and reaching out to the lost as couples and families, and getting our eyes off of ourselves - then all facets of our family life seem to fall into place."

- Rick Whitney, regional-pastor
(from our Parenting Manual)

Again Dear Parent

We promise to love your child! If you ever have any questions, we would welcome your call and we would be happy to talk about kids over a cup of coffee, or schedule a lunch together at your convenience. Our Promise Land teachers and coordinators are also eager to help answer any questions you might have.

I have spoken at conferences and retreats all across this country on the subject of parenting. Along with pastoring, I work as regional director of Great Commission Northwest. In this capacity, I try to help "Pastor the pastors" and serve as a church consultant. And it seems like our first concern, in each of these various churches, is and always remains - our families!

Keep Pressing,
Rick Whitney, regional-pastor