Shannon Smith serves as the Children's Ministry Board's 2K-3K Coordinator, and she has been a member of BSUMC since 2007.
I started my journey with children’s ministry as a single 20-something. I had recently made Greenville, and then a few months later, Buncombe Street, my home, and I was looking for a way to serve. My nieces and nephews, who at the time were all very young, lived many miles away. While I couldn’t play with them, at BSUMC, I had the opportunity to volunteer in the church nursery. The mornings I got to spend playing peek-a-boo, reading stories, or simply rocking a sleeping baby were some of my favorite Sundays. Fast forward 14 years and I’m staring down 40 with 2 children of my own who have benefited greatly not only from the nursery, but also from attending Sunday school. It’s hard to get motivated to get a toddler and infant dressed and out the door for 8:45 church service, but when my 2 year old started asking to go to Sunday school it was just the push our family needed. Once my youngest turned 2, I graduated from the nursery with him and started rotating as a 2K Sunday school teacher. Teaching Sunday school, followed by joining the Children’s Ministry Board has allowed this introvert to be pulled out of the background and form relationships with those whom I sit near in the pews. It warms my heart to see our youngest members know they are surrounded by so much love beginning as babies all the way until they leave the nest.
