Update
August 15, 2020
A Special Message from the Children's Minister

Buncombe Street Church Family, 

It has been an amazing journey of 24 years being in ministry with each of you. Some of you will remember that, in the midst of a large renovation, a Christian Educator arrived with her husband, a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old having no idea what she was getting into. Those beginning days were filled with excitement and the drama of moving classrooms each week to accommodate the builders and making sure we would be able to have Sunday school. The results; lots of excitement, growth, and an additional staff person that enabled me to settle into my sole position of Children’s Minister.  

What a privilege to be a part of raising thousands of your children in the faith. Through our multiple programs, we grew to love the ONE who loves us more. I have been blessed beyond words watching your children grow and seeing them move from children’s ministry to confirmation, youth, college, careers, marriage and then bring children of their own back to our programs. 

Let me tell you about my heroes; the thousands who have volunteered to serve through the years in these ministries. Because they are called by God and committed to His service, they gave their time and talents working with the children and the administrators to move forward. Because they are called by God to serve, we were able to meaningfully share Christ with many children even beyond the walls of BSUMC. 

To the children’s ministry staff both past and present who have shared my vision and spent endless hours planning and loving on our children, a BIG THANK YOU. The guidance and inspiration of the church staff who over the years have lifted me up and given me the courage and strength to serve in all times and circumstances.
 
. . . the time has come for me to retire. Hilleary and I will remain in Greenville. My initial plan is to get away from technology overload, rest, renew and then pursue my passion of working with children in poverty. 

My heartfelt thanks to ALL the BSUMC family. I will certainly miss you and especially my children. 

Blessings,
Gayle Quay
Join us on Facebook
SUNDAY August 16
for our last Red Letter Summer Sunday School
"A Rich Man Questions Jesus"

Thank you to the Maddox Family & the Herlong Family for this week's Sunday School lessons.

9:00 Younger Children
9:30 Older Children

Red Letter Summer
LIVE TRIVIA on Facebook
August 23 at 9:30.
* * * Trivia Prizes mailed out * * *
Upcoming Events

Please note that links for all zoom events can be found on the church website calendar.

We've got lots of NEW & exciting opportunities throughout August -- more coming each week -- all culminating in the launch of our NEW fall Sunday School platform.

**Note that the last Back-to-school Photo Shoot is on Aug. 22. Plan to sign up now.



  • Mark your calendars for a Parent Meeting on Sunday, August 30 at 9 am on zoom to learn how fall Sunday School will work for K2-5th grades, which will begin after Labor Day weekend. The meeting will be recorded and sent in the CMU. Click here for zoom link.
road-trip-children.jpg
Come Say Goodbye
to Rev. Gayle 

Tuesday, August 25, 11:30-1:30 pm & Wednesday, August 26, 5-6:30 pm, we will have drive-thrus in the circle near the main office. These drive-thrus are designated times to wish Rev. Gayle well as she enters retirement.
This drive-thru pick up is also the time to pick up all items: backpack/device bag tags, sacred space kits, AND your child's Sunday School journals/booklets (K2-2nd grade & Trinity), which we will be using in our virtual Sunday School.
Safe Sanctuary

It's that time, volunteers:
Annual Safe Sanctuary Training.
Who needs training?
Anyone who volunteers as a coordinator, teacher or substitute or is interested in creating a safe sanctuary at BSUMC. It's required for all volunteers (even for zoom) & recommended for all members. Please complete by September 6, 2020.
Our last Photo Shoot day is this week! (August 22) Sign up today. We want to celebrate all of our kids in the Promotion Sunday slideshow!
Epworth Children’s Home suffered a fire in early June 2020. For our Back-to-School service project in Children’s Ministry, we are asking our families to help raise funds for the recovery efforts in a unique way. We are asking each family to donate $15.00 through Realm by clicking here. You'll also be sent a Sign Up Genius link to choose a time slot on on either Aug.13th or Aug.22, for a Back-to-School Photo-shoot in Orders Garden at the Downtown Campus. 

Children’s Ministry will receive a copy of the photo of each child holding their own back-to-school sign (we will provide) that says what grade of Sunday School they are being promoted to. We will use these pictures for a special slideshow on Promotion Sunday, Aug. 30th.*

If you would like a copy of the photo or if you would like additional photos of your family at the time of your photo shoot, you will have the opportunity to do so by purchasing digital copies directly from the photographer, who will send you proofs. 

Photo Shoot Details for Virus-Safety:
  • Appointments take 5-10 minutes and are scheduled 20 minutes apart.
  • Your child will be given their own promotion sign to keep. They will not be reused.
  • Your child can remove his/her mask only while being photographed.

*If you have a conflict with attending the photo shoot, we are also accepting self-submitted photos at childrensministry@bsumc.com.
Sprouts is a unique covenant discipleship program that requires in-person, close-contact, weekly commitments. Due to its nature, we are sad that Sprouts will not be able to resume this fall. We will announce plans for Sprouts in January 2021.
Mark your calendars for this unique back-to-school prayer service! All of the BSUMC clergy will lead us in a special prayer for students, school staff, and educators on Sunday, August 23 from 5-5:30 PM. Attend this uplifting service on Zoom using the code 821 8443 2182. The password is Blessing. In addition to offering a special prayer of support, Rev. Gilreath will bless backpack tags. To order a backpack tag, register below before August 16. 


Sunday Evening, 5-6 pm

This Sunday our rising 6th graders will be - Set Apart - for remembering!

It's our last gathering & we will meet with Rev. Gayle to share stories & remember our favorite things about Children's Ministry.

See you Sunday at 5!
Rev. Gayle Quay
Elizabeth Loughran