Back to Sunday School

I've always loved the fall- the leaves, the cooler weather, the new school year ahead.
The same is true for fall in Sunday school. This week was exciting. I saw new families who have just moved to the area, and old families who had taken a break from church over the summer.
It's just like starting school, new, fresh, exciting!
But in our little church in Burlington we have space issues, too little space for too many kids. I will never turn a child away, but this has created an issue for our congregation. I have about 90 kids from birth to 6th grade, but really only two spaces to house them over three services. Our church also doubles as a coffee shop, so we have a great lounge area where people sit and chat between and during services.
So, here's the problem: we want to have an effective program, but we need more space, specifically for our upper elementary boys small group. I've tried to crunch more kids in other rooms, we've met outside, we've asked for families to come to different services, but nothing has worked. So, I've made an executive decision and we've taken over the coffee shop.
I'm not so sure that the adults like that very much. We even have our building manager hushing them up and telling them to go outside. It's causing quite a stir! But the kids love it, comfortable chairs, the sweet smell of coffee and cookies wafting around them, and my husband, who runs the small group (he's a softy at heart), often fetches hot chocolate on their demand.
The added stress is worth it to me because I know the kids need to come first, but it does add an unusual element to the Sunday experience.
I plan on moving a lower elementary boys group down to the coffee shop this week to work on building race cars with their leader Matt. It'll be a mess, but it will be worth it! I'll let you know how that works out.