Dear GMH Family,
 
The Lord has given us a vibrant and wonderful children’s ministry and most of us are part of this team!
 
As we move forward this Fall to invest in the lives of our kids and our Adults, we have an opportunity to provide and preserve the gospel-centeredness of our community. Along with this, we are given the Biblical charge to guard, keep and protect our children.
 
We have been children at one time and if we can remember together what it was like, we would say it was fun, enjoyable, and memorable. I believe we would admit too that there were times when we really needed someone to listen to us and care for us in a particular way. In the wake of the many abuse allegations within the church and outside of the church, we know the reality of that desire and need. In Jesus, we too empathize with others and each other that have been taken advantage of.
 
God has invited each of us to provide the type of stewardship for our kids that frees them to be vibrant and delightful children of God. For this reason, we have partnered with GRACE, an organization whose acronym stands for Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment.GRACE is coming along side of us for the purpose of empowering and training our community to do three things—recognize, prevent, and respond to child abuse.
 
GRACE will lead us through their Prevention Training that consolidates a thorough child abuse education and prevention course. This is a very important step in the history of our church and for our Children’s Ministry in particular.
 
As we take this step together, we would love for our entire church community to attend this training. So, we ask,
 
“Will you sign up, right now, for one of the training opportunities listed below?”
 
The first option is right after Sunday service Sept 30th from 12:30PM-4:30PM at Grace Meridian Hill. 

The second is for the morning of Oct 6th from 9AM-1PM at Grace Mosaic 1423 Girard St NE, 20017. 
  
We strongly urge you to choose one of these time slots. The link to signing up is here. And, if you’d like a refresher on GRACE, click here.
 
Given the dynamics of the time and location of each training option, we are not able to provide childcare. We suggest families team-up to care for each other’s kids on alternate weekends. Among other creative solutions, this also could be an opportunity for NGs to offer care for kids as a group.
 
As a church family, let’s continue building from the foundation of the gospel of grace for the sake of our children’s future as image bearers of Christ. In so doing, we are building redemptive hope into our story as a community of believers.
 
Yours In Christ,
 
Yancie, with Pastor Duke and Elder Steve

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