Baby Dedication
(7/20/2006) AWANA Worker Policies
Grace Bible Church, Wappingers Falls, NY
1) Each AWANA worker will be knowledgeable with and follow the GBC Children’s / Youth Worker Policies and will complete and sign the Participation Covenant and be approved by the AWANA Commander prior to beginning any work with the children. (Those who are not members of GBC must also agree to and sign the AWANA Doctrinal Statement below).
2) AWANA workers are to arrive a minimum of ten (10) minutes prior to the starting time in order to make sure that final preparations of both themselves and the room are completed and they are ready to receive and welcome the students.
3) AWANA workers are to participate in the meetings called for them by their Director or the AWANA Commander. They are also to attend any training classes as needed or directed by either their Director or the AWANA Commander in order to improve their abilities in teaching the AWANA program. If they cannot attend they are to notify their Director.
4) AWANA workers are to take an active interest in the lives of their students which will include at minimum regular prayer for each student. Teachers are also to make sure that enrolled students that have missed meetings are contacted. (This can be done by any method effective in communicating to the student such as phone calls, letters or post-cards, mailing the missed lesson, personal visits).
5) AWANA workers are encouraged to have regular contact with the parents of their students in order to know how they might best assist the parents in teaching their child to know and follow the Lord. This is also an excellent way to witness to non-Christian parents.
6) AWANA teachers are encouraged to make prior arrangements with an approved substitute teachers for planned absences as early as possible. They are to make sure the AWANA Commander has been notified. If an absence will be due to illness or other emergency their Director or the AWANA Commander should be notified as soon as possible so that other arrangements can be made.
7) AWANA Teachers are encouraged to recruit assistants for their classrooms. (Teens may be used upon approval of the AWANA Commander). This allows for new teachers to be trained and helps increase the safety of the class room (i.e. prevention of abuse of any child as well as false accusations against any teacher).
8) "The Two Worker Policy" - A teacher with only one student but no other worker present will join in with another class until there is an additional worker or student. A single teacher may teach alone if there is more than one student present, however, the AWANA Commander must be notified and nothing must obstruct the view into the classroom from either the outside windows, the door widow or the video surveillance camera.
9) Discipline. A child that disrupts is given three warnings. On the second warning they are to be isolated to a chair separate from the rest of the group for the remainder of the class time. The parent is to be notified after class. On the third warning the child is to sent to the AWANA Commander and the matter will be discussed with the parent / guardian. A child that reaches the third warning twice within a four week period will be asked to not attend for a period of one month.
10) Safety. All activities will be done with the utmost attention given to the safety and welfare of the children.
AWANA Doctrinal Statement - What We Believe
THE BIBLE
We believe that the Bible, both Old and New
Testaments, is supernaturally inspired, so that it is inerrant in the original
manuscripts and preserved by God in its verbal and plenary inspiration, so that
it is a divinely authoritative standard for every age and every life. (Matthew
5:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)
GOD
We believe in one God that eternally exists and reveals
Himself in three persons - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - having each the same
nature, attributes and perfections, worthy of the same worship and confidence.
(Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; John 1:1-2, 14, 10:30, 14:15-17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2
Corinthians 13:14)
We believe in God as absolute and sole Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and that creation was by divine command, from nothing and not through an evolutionary process. (John 1:3, 10; Acts 17:24-25; Genesis 1:1)
We believe that God, by His sovereign choice and out of love for men, sent Christ into the world to save sinners. (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 John 4:14)
GOD THE SON
We believe that Jesus
Christ was fully God in the flesh and fully man, that He was born of a virgin
and that He lived a sinless life, in which He taught and performed mighty works
and wonders and signs exactly as revealed in the four gospels. We believe that
He was crucified, shed His blood, died to pay the penalty for our sins and was
raised bodily from the dead on the third day. Forty days later He ascended to
the Father's right hand where He is Head of the Church and intercedes for
believers. From there He is coming again personally, bodily and visibly to this
earth to set up His millennial kingdom. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Hebrews 1:1-2, 7:25;
Luke 1:30-35; Ephesians 4:8; John 1:1-5, 10-14, 14:3; Colossians 2:9; 1
Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:3,11; Revelation 20:4)
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person and
is God, possessing all the divine attributes. He convicts of sin, regenerates,
indwells, baptizes and seals all believers at the moment of their salvation,
filling them in response to yieldedness with the goal of conforming them to the
image of Christ. (John 3:5, 16:7-11; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30, 5:18; 1
Corinthians 6:19, 12:13)
MAN
We believe that man was created in the image and
likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature
and became alienated from God. We believe that all men are morally corrupt, and
of themselves utterly unable to remedy their lost condition. (Genesis 1:26-27;
Romans 1:18, 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12)
SALVATION
We believe that
salvation is a gift of God and is received by man through personal faith in
Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for sin. We believe that man is justified by
grace through faith apart from works and that all true believers, once saved,
are kept secure in Christ forever. (Acts 13:38-39; Romans 4:5, 6:23, 8:1, 38-39;
John 10:27-29; Ephesians 2:8-9)
THE CHURCH
We believe that the true Church is composed of
all persons who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit through saving faith in Jesus
Christ; that they are united together in the body of Christ of which He is Lord
and Head; and are commissioned for the God-given tasks of worshiping,
fellowshipping, teaching, evangelizing and exercising the spiritual gifts. (Acts
2:42,47; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:23-24; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2
Corinthians 11:2)
We believe that the establishment and continuance of the local church is clearly taught in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
We believe that the local church is autonomous and free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
THE ORDINANCES
We believe the ordinances for the believer are
water baptism by immersion and the Lord's supper as a memorial. They are,
however, not to be regarded as a means of salvation. But both of which are an
evidence of obedience and fellowship with the Lord. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts
2:38, 41, 8:12, 35-38; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
We believe that a Christian should walk in
holiness and not after the flesh, with the goal of being conformed to the image
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a new creation, walking in the Spirit,
the Christian learns to grow in faith, in obedience to Scripture, in prayer, in
fellowship with the saints and in a life of service. We believe that the
Christian will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to have his life
evaluated according to his deeds. (Galatians 5:16-26; Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians
4:20-24; Hebrews 11:6, 12:1-2; John 17:17; Ephesians 6:18; Romans 8:29; 2
Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
THE SECOND COMING
We believe in the personal, premillennial and
imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily resurrection
of the dead, of the believer to everlasting glory and the unbeliever to judgment
and everlasting conscious punishment. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians
15:51-52; Titus 2:11-13; John 14:1-6; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:11-15; 2
Peter 3:10)
Non-Member Agreement for AWANA Workers
Grace Bible Church, Wappingers Falls, NY
I have read and understand the AWANA Worker Policies above and agree to abide by them when working in the AWANA program or event sponsored by AWANA or Grace Bible Church and when working with the children or youth of Grace Bible Church or on the Church property.
I believe the AWANA Doctrinal Statement above and I also agree that while working in the Grace Bible Church AWANA ministry I will teach to teach only what is in the AWANA program and will refrain from teaching any doctrine contrary to the Statement of Faith of Grace Bible Church.
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Signature Date
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Printed Name
Return this sheet to the AWANA Commander and keep the earlier pages for your personal reference.
