Preschool & Children l Youth l Adult l Missions l Music Ministry

Recreation l Weekday Preschool

Preschool and Children's Ministries:

For more information about preschool and children's ministries, contact Paula Durham, at 864-233-5332, ext 109.

- Worship services - Each Sunday morning at 9:00 or 11:00 in the sanctuary. During both services, there is childcare for babies through age 2. In both worship services, there are children's sermon for children age 3 through grade 5. Following the children's sermon, children may remain with their parents in the sanctuary or participate in the extended session on the first floor for ages 3 through 5K, or children's church on the second floor on the first and third Sundays of each month for grades 1-5. In extended session and children's church, preschoolers children are led to worship God in age-appropriate ways through praise, music, Scripture, activities, and prayer.

- Sunday School - Each Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m., there are age-specific Sunday School classes for all preschoolers and children.

- Preschoolers meet on the first floor, use the "¯Hands-On Bible" curriculum, and are grouped into the following classes: babies, toddlers, twos and younger threes, older threes and fours, and fives. During the worship services, preschoolers are taught Bible lessons and stories that compliment and reinforce the biblical truths they learned in Sunday School.

- Children in grades 1-5 meet on the second floor and use the Potter's Workshop curriculum. Children in each grade rotate to a different workshop each Sunday during a four- to six-week unit. In each workshop, a unit's concept is related to biblical stories through activities using one or more various learning approaches (Bible knowledge activities, video, drama/puppetry, games, art, computer, cooking, geography, science, mission, nature, and media production). Through small-group learning and spiritual journals, children develop two vital Christian disciplines: relational skills and personal reflection. These are interwoven throughout all the workshops as children relate to one another and develop their spiritual learning.

- Mission Action and Education - Every second Sunday during the worship services, the preschoolers and children collect a "Pocket Change Offering for World Hunger" in lieu of the children's sermon. They are precious as they randomly wind their way through the congregation and choir loft collecting pocket change in loaf pans. The church is supportive of our "little missionaries" that we are able to support seven children through Children International from this offering. Take a minute to look at the second floor bulletin board to see pictures of our "adopted" children.

- Wednesday Evening Activities - Each Wednesday evening, dinner is served in the Fellowship Hall.  Preschoolers and children who participate in choirs (September through May) eat dinner at 5:15 so they can get to their choirs by 5:45 (see Music Ministry).  At 6:30 there is child care for babies through age two. Preschoolers and children (older twos through grade 5) are involved in age-specific mission groups, where they learn about missionaries who share the gospel locally and globally and how they can become involved in missions themselves through local mission projects, mission support offerings, and prayer. Throughout the year, children's mission groups enjoy special activities and during the summer, children in grades 1-5 participate in mission camps. Preschool and children's mission groups are:

Child Care (Boys and girls, birth through younger twos)
Mission Friends (Boys and girls, older twos through age 3)
Mission Friends (Boys and girls, age 4)
Mission Friends (Boys and girls, age 5)

Girls in Action (Girls in grades 1-3)
Girls in Action (Girls in grades 4-5)
Royal Ambassadors (Boys in grades 1-3)
Royal Ambassadors (Boys in grades 4-5)

During the summer months (June through August), everyone eats dinner at 6:00 and then at 6:30 preschoolers go to Mission Friends, and children in grades 1-5 (boys and girls together) enjoy ©¯TeamKid (a recreation-based discipleship program).

- Special Events - The Preschool and Children's Councils plan seasonal events and activities each quarter for preschoolers and children such as fall festivals, Easter egg hunts, Christmas parties and caroling, and Vacation Bible School.

Youth

For more informatino about our recreation ministry, contact Lucy Doolittle at mtndoo@hotmail.com or aat 864-298-0012.

Please see the youth page here

Adult Ministries :

For more information about adult ministries, contact Stephen Clyborne at stephen@earlest.org or 864-233-5332, ect. 104.

Adult:

- Worship Services - Each Sunday morning at 9:00 or 11:00 in the sanctuary. The 9:00 and 11:00 services are identical in style and content. During both services, there is childcare for babies through age 2, a children's sermon followed by extended session for ages 3 through 5K, and children's church on the first and third Sundays of each month for grades 1-5 (see preschool and children's ministries). Worship is the time when the entire church family gathers to offer praise to God and celebrate what God is doing in our lives. The worship services are often the first contact visitors have with our church.


- Sunday School - Each Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m., there are small-group Bible studies for all ages designed to help people connect the Bible with daily life. In small groups, people who share common life experiences and are in the same stage of life have opportunities to build relationships with one another as they study the Bible together. Sunday morning Bible study groups are loosely grouped by age:


Single Adult Department
College and Career Class (Ages 18-25)
Singles (Ages 26-49)
Singles (Ages 50 and better)

Young Adult Department
Young Adults (Ages 18-34)

Median Adult A Department
Median Adult A (Ages 35-39)
Median Adult B (Ages 40-44)
Median Adult C (Ages 45-49)
Median Adult D (Ages 50-64)

Senior Adult Department (Ages 65 and better)
Fellowship Class
Friendship Class
Learners Class


- Wednesday Evening Opportunities - Each Wednesday evening, the entire church family gathers around the dinner tables to enjoy a fellowship meal together. Preschoolers, children, and youth scatter to their choirs, mission groups, and Bible studies (see sections on preschool, children's and youth ministries). Adults remain in the Fellowship Hall for a time of prayer and Bible study led by one of the ministers beginning at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evenings are informal times when we get to know people in the church we might not get to spend time with on Sunday mornings.


- Discipleship Courses - Special interest courses are offered each quarter to enable adults to deepen their understanding of God, others, and self; to deal with moral and social issues from a biblical perspective; to understand what it means to be a Christian in general and a Baptist in particular; to equip Christians to discover and use their spiritual gifts; to help church members effectively share their faith with others; and to responsibly interpret the Bible and apply it to life. Courses are offered at various times to accommodate people with differing schedules.


- Women's Bible Study - A monthly women's Bible study group meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m. All women of the church are invited to participate in this opportunity for Bible study and fellowship.


- Ministry Teams - As needs are identified each year, deacon-led teams are formed to meet those needs. Church members are encouraged to help identify needs and to serve on any of these ministry teams for which they have been gifted. Teams are clustered around five broad categories related to the church's mission: Worship, Missions, Education, Fellowship, and Ministry.


- Committees - Another way church members participate in the ministry of the church is by serving on the various committees which help church life to function smoothly and responsibly. Often behind the scenes, people who serve on committees keep the life of the church healthy and focused. Church members are encouraged to volunteer to serve on any of these committees: Benevolence, Bereavement, Children's Ministry, Constitution and Bylaws, Decorations, Facilities, Food Services, Nominating, Ordinance, Personnel, Preschool Ministry, Property and Space, Public Relations, Recreation, Stewardship, Youth Ministry, Sound, Weddings.


College and Young Adults:

- Senior adults are invited to experience eXtra Years of Zest with the XYZ group which meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. There is a covered dish lunch and an entertaining program presented by guests from the community. It is a wonderful time of fellowship. This active group of senior adults also plans beach trips, day trips, and fun outings that keep our senior adults busy.

Missions:

For More information about missions ministries, contact Jim Wooten at jim@earlest.org or 864-233-5332.

Through budget gifts and special offerings, Earle Street Baptist Church seeks to cooperate with a wide array of global missions entities to accomplish the Great Commission. Among those through whom we seek to support missions causes around the world are the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, the South Carolina Baptist Convention, as well as both the national and stat Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

We are part part of the Greenville Baptist Association, and we lend support to such local interdenominational mission organizations as United Ministries and the Greenville Rescue Mission. We sponsor two Vietnamese congregations, and have a volunteer team that takes place one day each month to distribute food to the disadvantaged served by the Eastside Crisis Center. Additionally, we undertake smaller, monthly mission action projects spearheaded by our WMU

Our Youth are involved in summer camps and trips, and our adults partner with other area churches across denominational lines to build houses with Habitat for Humanity.

Music Ministry:

For more information about our music ministry, contact Janice Hinnant at janice@earlest.org or 864-233-5332, ext. 102.

Earle Street Baptist Church has a Music Ministry involving over 200 people of all ages. The church currently has two children’s choirs, a youth choir, three handbell choirs, and the Sanctuary Choir. The Music Ministry seeks to help people discover and develop their talents, and then use those talents to glorify God.

There are many ways to get involved in the Music Ministry at Earle Street:

Wednesdays
5:45 – 6:30 pm.......Younger Children’s Choir (ages 4 – 1st grade)
.............................. Young Musicians Choir (grades 2 – 5)
7:15 – 8:15 pm ......Sanctuary Choir (adults)

Sundays
3:15 – 4:00 pm ......Middle School Handbell Choir (grades 6 – 8)
4:00 – 4:45 pm ......Youth Choir (grades 6 - 12)
4:45 – 5:30 pm ......High School Handbell Choir (grades 9 – 12)
5:30 – 7:00 pm ......Earle Street Ringers (adult handbell choir)

Recreation:

For more informatino about our recreation ministry, contact Lucy Doolittle at mtndoo@hotmail.com or aat 864-298-0012.

Earle Street is an active congregation, and our Family Life Center is an active place. Basketball rules in the fall and winter months, with league teams for kindergartners through men in their fifties. Year-round, on Tuesday nights, adult  volleyball is the game. Craft classes are also a hit: from ceramics to making stain glass to weaving baskets, we are always searching for fun things to do.

Away from the church facilities, we have picnics and socials and trips and golf tournaments. "Mall rats" meet through the week for a walking club, and the local softball fields have seen both a men's and a cooed team from Earle Street step up to the plate.