March 31, 2025 • 26 mins
Hope Church's Family Ministry team shares their vision for two reimagined classrooms as part of the Hope in Motion capital campaign, addressing crucial gaps for children with special needs and fourth/fifth graders in transition between children's and youth ministries.
If you'd like to support the Hope in Motion campaign to fund these classroom transformations along with other initiatives, visit meethope.org/motion and consider increasing your annual giving by 10% toward this initiative to help us reach our goal of $125,000.
Thanks for being a part of the HOPE community as we continue conversations about faith and hope! You can learn more at meethope.org or find us on socials @meethopechurch. Join in for worship on Sundays at meethope.online.church! Have a question? Contact us at podcast@meethope.org.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:03):
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Jeff Bills (00:22):
Welcome to Hope our world for the sake of others.
Welcome to Hope.
Hey, how you doing everybody?
This is Jeff Bills and welcometo this episode of the Meet Hope
podcast, and I am reallyexcited to be joined today by
members of our family ministryteam, and so let me just go
(00:47):
around and introduce who's inthe room.
I've got Kasey Cornforth to myleft.
How you doing, Kasey?
Kasey Cornforth (00:54):
Good Jeff, how are you?
Jeff Bills (00:55):
I'm doing great.
Next to Kasey, we have JasonShinn, who is our director of
youth ministry.
How you doing, jay?
Jason Shinn (01:03):
I'm
Jeff Bills (01:06):
my right is Amanda Cavaliere, who has two roles she
is our Preschool Director andMarriage and Parenting
Coordinator.
Amanda Cavaliere (01:16):
You got it Lots of words.
Jeff Bills (01:17):
That's a lot.
Your business card I want tosee your business card.
It's very full.
So, as we get started, we'regoing to be talking about part
of the Hope in Motion priority.
But before we do that, just ifyou're new to Hope or you're not
really engaged in family lifeministry, I want you to know
(01:40):
what each of these folks do hereat Hope.
So, Kasey, tell us a little bitabout how do you spend your
time here at Hope?
Kasey Cornforth (01:48):
Hi everyone.
I am the Hope Kids director, soI'm usually in the kids wing
with kids ages preschool throughfifth grade, and I'm here
Sunday mornings.
We do two services and we dofamily events throughout the
week or kids' choir differentthings like that, yeah.
Jeff Bills (02:08):
Yeah, all right, jason, tell us about what you
guys do.
Jason Shinn (02:13):
I corral 6th to 12th graders.
We have Sunday nights is ourbig focus.
We have an hour and a halfprogram with games and teaching
and small groups, and thenSunday morning we have a Sunday
school class for middleschoolers.
And then we do events,especially a lot during the
summer, and we do mission tripsand retreats and stuff like that
(02:33):
.
Jeff Bills (02:34):
So you're on the move a lot.
Jason Shinn (02:36):
A lot yeah.
Jeff Bills (02:38):
Fantastic, all right , and Amanda, you've got these
two roles.
Tell us about each one.
Amanda Cavaliere (02:44):
So during the week I'm always a Tomorrow's
Hope preschool director, butduring the week I'm with our two
and a half year olds throughkindergarteners in the preschool
wing, and then I also work withparents, with children of all
ages and couples, through smallgroups and date nights and
workshops and such.
With the other role Great.
Jeff Bills (03:05):
How many children are in the preschool these days?
Amanda Cavaliere (03:08):
We have almost 80.
Jeff Bills (03:09):
Okay, yep, it's a big group of kids.
Yes, and this is not the fullteam.
In fact, the person who headsthis up is Pastor Heather.
She is currently on leave,otherwise she'd probably be
doing this interview, but I'mthe lucky one who gets to do
this Part of our hope in motiongoal.
(03:33):
We've got three priorities forthis capital campaign we have an
LED wall for our worship space,we're investing in Langezu
University in Malawi, and thenwe're talking about these two
classrooms.
Somebody asked me if we'rebuilding new rooms.
We're not actually building newrooms.
We're outfitting two existingrooms for two very special
(03:56):
priorities.
So, Kasey, give us an idea ofwhat these two rooms are going
to be.
What are we envisioning here?
Kasey Cornforth (04:07):
Okay, so we are .
It's basically, I like to say,a redeveloping of the room.
So we have a small office spacethat's in the kids' wing,
that's right outside of thepreschool, that we use often on
Sunday mornings and that'sbecome our buddy's room.
So when we have a child who hasspecial needs or just needs
that are different from the rest, we usually take them into that
(04:30):
space.
It's calming, it's quiet, it'ssecure, it's a great space for
kids who need a break from thelarge group, who need a quiet
place to go, and so we wouldlike to redevelop that into a
sensory room.
Our special needs population isgrowing here at Hope.
We have a lot of new families,a lot of kids at different ages,
(04:50):
from preschool through fifthgrade, with different needs, and
we have a lot of great ideas ofwhat we can do with that space
to make it more accommodatingand great for the leaders as
well as the kids, because itgives the leaders more of a
purpose in what they're doingwith the kids.
And the other space that wewant to redevelop is room 10,
(05:11):
which is kind of over in Jason'swing, over by Jason's office,
by the activity space.
Youth uses that wing a lot.
Jason Shinn (05:17):
I have a wing.
Kasey Cornforth (05:18):
Yeah, a whole wing yeah a whole wing, it's
Jason's wing of the building,your whole wing, it's Jason's
wing of the building.
So we would like to redevelopthat and use that space for
youth group as well as ourfourth and fifth graders on a
Sunday morning They've kind ofoutgrown the kids wing a little
bit physically, but also, Ithink, mentally, spiritually and
(05:38):
using that space in a new wayto make Sunday mornings more
exciting, offer them new ways toconnect with each other, with
their leaders, and just bringnew tools into the room, and the
tools that we want to bring inneed a space to be Okay.
Jeff Bills (05:58):
So when we were putting together the Hope in
Motion, these priorities, and Iwas asking the family ministry
department to highlight somepriorities, these were the two
that came up.
Why these two?
Why are these two specificallythe things that have been
highlighted, would you say?
Jason Shinn (06:18):
Well, I could speak to one of them.
The fourth and fifth grade Imean that's not quite my area
but as someone who's worked inmultiple churches, like this is
a hole at a lot of churches isfourth and fifth graders kind of
get they're too old to be inthe kids ministry but they're
too young to be in the youthministry and there's a lot of
times where curriculum kind offails them and you know,
(06:40):
facilities kind of fail them.
They feel they don't want tocome to church anymore because
they feel it's too childish.
So there's an opportunity here.
I love the passion that Kaseyand Heather and Amanda and
Family Ministries team have forthis Because this is a space
where fourth and fifth graderscan have their own kind of
little space.
(07:01):
Room 10 is not the biggest roombut it's a good size room but
it's where they can feel likethey belong and like we can
tailor stuff specifically forthis age group in a way that I
think it helps build youthministry up.
You know, if we can hold on tofifth graders, it only enhances
what we do with our sixthgraders.
But more importantly, there'skids that just they're ready for
(07:26):
bigger things in their faithand they're just we're swinging
and missing, and this is not a,this is a multi.
I've seen this in multiplechurches and to have a church
see the need and address it isreally a powerful thing.
Amanda Cavaliere (07:40):
And you know, as a parent of two kids have
gone through Hope Kids and noware in Hope Youth.
I noticed this when my son wasin middle school Sunday school
doing all these fun, interactivethings.
My daughter was in fifth grade.
She outgrew what they weredoing in Hope Kids.
It felt too babyish, but shewas not old enough to be doing
what the bigger kids were doing,and so a lot of times she ended
(08:01):
up in church with me, whichisn't bad, it's fine, but it's
not also appropriate for herneeds either in her own
spiritual development.
So I would have loved for her tohave had this opportunity Would
you say second semester.
she was chomping at the bit toget to.
She was every week begging toget into that class with her
brother.
And he held it over her head too, this room 10 might be the
(08:25):
coolest classroom.
You know the way we've designedit might be the coolest
classroom in the cave.
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
So I definitely can say as aparent, I would have loved for
her to have had that opportunity, both of them.
Jeff Bills (08:39):
Yeah, so one of the things we're talking about is
this hope in motion is aninvestment for now, but it's
also an investment in the future, and so we're not talking about
just future, like years fromnow.
We're talking about the futureof the church, and these kids
certainly represent the futureof the church.
(09:00):
So this is a transition time,it sounds like, and so we want
them to feel like the church.
So this is a transition time.
It sounds like Um and uh.
So we want them to feel likethe church is for them and uh,
and then they'll go through thisnext transition when they come,
uh, become sixth graders, andthen, uh, oh, what a transition
it is oh boy.
Amanda Cavaliere (09:19):
It's a tough age in general.
These are kids that arepre-teen.
They're going through changes,they're awkward, they don't feel
like they fit in anywhere, andthen they come to church and
they feel like well, where's myspace?
Kasey Cornforth (09:32):
Our wing is so bright, but it's so kid-focused,
like the graphics.
We use the videos and even themusic at times.
I think you know it's toocringy for the preteens?
Amanda Cavaliere (09:44):
Yes, the word that comes up weekly is cringe,
everything is cringe.
Kasey Cornforth (09:49):
So yeah, to have a space with different
graphics or different things onthe walls, or, you know, a couch
.
You know, for some reason, acouch is just so appealing.
Amanda Cavaliere (09:58):
And across the hall for the big kids.
Jeff Bills (09:59):
Yes, you know, the big kids are across the hall
when we're headed, yeah, solet's let's talk some details
for a moment.
Talk about this sensory room.
What?
What will be in there?
What will that room look like,would you say?
Kasey Cornforth (10:18):
We have a lot of great ideas for the sensory
room and it's definitelysomething I feel we're kind of
lacking right now with the righttools for these children and
for you know, things that helpcreate the calming environment,
like the lamp.
There's a certain lamp withdifferent features that you can,
or different what's the?
(10:39):
word.
I'm looking for Settingslighting Settings yes.
Different mood lighting andcolors yes exactly.
You can change the color, youcan set the mood.
Jason Shinn (10:45):
It's frequencies, isn't it?
Kasey Cornforth (10:46):
It's something to do with light frequencies
help calm the brain.
Jason Shinn (10:49):
There's different frequencies that calm the brain,
which is a crazy cool science.
Kasey Cornforth (10:53):
Yeah, it is, it's really and it makes
nonverbal and needs a way tocommunicate.
But it's getting worked upbecause they don't know how.
You know if we're, if aleader's trying to work with
them and and trying to, you know, get them to just be calm and
see what the need is, um, Ithink that space is just going
to be, it's going to be reallypowerful.
(11:13):
And there's other things like asensory wall.
Um, there's stuff that we canactually add to the walls that
are.
It's almost like an activitycenter that you kind of Mount on
the wall that has differentsensory features for kids.
And that can be calming, thatcan help kids who are nonverbal,
and just a way to communicateand get them to listen.
(11:34):
There's definitely chairs.
I know the chairs we have nowin the preschool and, amanda,
you might be able to add to this.
Some of our friends the chairsgo have now in the preschool and
, amanda, you might be able toadd to this.
Some of our friends the chairsget flipped or get pushed.
It could be a safety hazard.
So there's certain chairs thatwe're looking into getting.
I think they're called fidgetchairs.
Is that right?
Amanda, yeah, so a fidget chairis something where, if a child
(11:56):
is bouncing around or moving orjust a little bit clumsy in a
moment, that chair would besafer for that child to be on.
So I know that's definitely atthe top of our list.
Amanda Cavaliere (12:07):
And I'm excited because the preschool
wing is going to benefit fromthat too during the week.
So we have little guys who havebig emotions and sometimes
aren't sure how to manage those.
So in the preschool classroomswe have what we call calm down
corners, which is really just alittle space with maybe a bin of
fidgets or sensory toys to helpcalm down but to be able to
(12:29):
let's go into another room for afew minutes to just if we're
feeling dysregulated, to helpthem bring down those emotions,
so that they can reenter theclassroom calm and ready to
learn.
Because oftentimes if a kid ishaving a tantrum or struggling,
everybody down the hallway knowsthat it's happening and so now
(12:50):
no one is learning or focusingbecause someone's just having a
tough moment.
So giving them a little spaceto work it out and calm down and
then reenter.
Jason Shinn (13:00):
Kasey , would you say that there's
also the added gift to theparents when they see a sensory
room and they see a church thatis going out of its way to make
sure that their child is feelingsafe and that allows them to go
worship, and there's a gift inthat too, I think.
Kasey Cornforth (13:19):
I really feel we have so many new families
coming to hope and so manyexisting families who are, you
know, their kids are getting toa certain age where they're
realizing certain you know, um,you know developmental needs.
Right, the needs are shiftingand changing for their own
children, whether they're anexisting family or new, and I
think when they see that we'renot just welcoming to their
(13:40):
child but that we're supportiveand that we're able to kind of
walk with them, I think it addsto that like village mentality
that I know we try to create inHope Kids, where we're in this
with you.
You know you, the parent, cancome here on a Sunday morning,
can leave their children in safeand keepable hands, as well as
a safe and keepable environment,and then they can go worship
(14:00):
and breathe for 45 minutes andknow that their child is being
safe and attended to but alsostill developing a faith and a
spiritual connection in a waythat reaches them, because not
every kid learns the same.
My oldest has auditoryprocessing so he hears things
differently.
So loud spaces, big rooms arereally hard for him.
Auditory processing, so hehears things differently.
(14:21):
So it takes him, you know, soloud, loud, you know spaces, big
rooms are really hard for himbecause he can't retain what's
going on.
So he would do great in a calm,you know quieter space where he
can talk maybe one-on-one witha leader about God or pray
one-on-one versus in a largegroup.
So there's definitely I think.
Amanda Cavaliere (14:39):
I think you know you used the word
supportive.
I feel like Hope has developedan environment of support.
We're equipped now I think thiswhole campaign is about taking
this next level to be equipped,whether it be the fourth and
fifth grade room is equipped toreach the fourth and fifth grade
at a very specific spot intheir development.
(15:00):
And then also this sensory roomis we are equipped to support a
child who may need a next levelcare.
And it's not just hey, we havethis side room with a couple of
toys in it.
This room is specificallydesigned and specifically
equipped to handle, to work andhave this kid have a great
(15:21):
experience at church.
And that also goes like I saidto the parents that they have a
great experience at church andthat leads to people connecting
and sticking at hope, which is amission of hope.
Connection is a huge missionfor hope.
So these are two amazingcampaigns.
Kasey Cornforth (15:36):
It's like planting the seeds and letting
the roots dig in and building itup.
And helping the leaders andvolunteers who work with these
kids of any age of having anappropriate space for them.
Yeah, and I really also feel,when we're given the right
resources, I think that willhelp develop and attract leaders
who want to come work withthese children, because they
(15:56):
know that they'll be able to domaybe what they're trained to do
.
Like I don't have a specialneeds background.
I've kind of learned as I havegone and as a parent I'm
learning.
But I know there are peoplethat come here that are trained
and that are specialized incertain areas and would benefit
from resources because they'd beable to jump in and use their
gifts to help kids develop.
Jeff Bills (16:19):
Wow, kids develop, wow, and so that's a great space
, it sounds like, and reallyimportant for all of the reasons
that you guys have justarticulated.
Thanks for that.
Now we've got the second spaceFor the fourth and fifth graders
.
We've talked about why this isa priority and how this is going
to serve in the ministry, butgive us a vision of what.
(16:39):
What do we, what are we talkingabout doing in this room?
What, what, what's some of theequipment, I guess?
Jason Shinn (16:46):
Can I speak to the cool factor?
Kasey Cornforth (16:47):
Absolutely, you are cool, so please take.
I'm cringe.
It's in your wing, jason.
It's in my wing.
Miss Kasey is cringe.
Jason Shinn (16:54):
Mr Jason is cool.
We want to have an openenvironment and so we want to
kind of collapse the tables andwe want to have, like case you
mentioned, a couch kind ofenvironment kind of a lounge
feel.
Yes, absolutely, we want to putin some video games so when kids
get there and it's something Ican use on sunday nights, it's
(17:14):
one of the things we do onsunday nights is we have we have
games going, but we don't forcekids to play games.
We have a kind of a crafthangout room and a lot of the
girls like it, but I know someof the guys are, hey, can we
have a space for our own?
And that would be reallybeneficial.
It's also we also use it for.
We would also use it for smallgroups and our breakouts and on
Sunday nights, but having anenvironment where you know they
(17:35):
can come in and we can use theterm chill.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but where I?
I think one of the things thatfourth and fifth graders are
looking for is conversation, andthey're looking to be heard,
and so creating an environmentwhere the the teacher, is not
necessarily in a lectureposition but is in a hangout in
(17:57):
front of the, you know, likesitting with the students as
they do their lesson together,and so we've talked about a
number of different ways todesign that, but a couple of big
things is the couch kind of,you know, kind of changing the
colors of the room, kind ofthrowing some rugs down to make
it feel more like a living roomas opposed to another classroom.
(18:17):
They're in classrooms Mondaythrough Friday, and then we kind
of throw them in a classroomand they they're not responding
well to that, and so that's oneof the things they're looking
for is a place where they can beon the same level as the
teacher, they can be heard bythe teacher, they can share
their ideas.
Fourth and fifth graders havebig ideas and they're thinking
about big things, and so theyneed a space where they can
(18:37):
process with a safe person, andso we want to give them that
space.
So true, and they want to theywant to help too.
Kasey Cornforth (18:44):
like I know there's been a lot of fifth
graders that, because they feellike they've outgrown hope kids,
they're like, what can we do?
Like, like, give us somethingto do, can we help?
Can we sit with a little so wetry to repurpose them as much as
we can in our wing, um, but Ithink this opportunity will just
just with the music alone too,because our music is more tuned
for, honestly, probably evenlike kindergarten, it's very
(19:06):
cringy Kasey.
Yeah, it's just not.
I mean the motions are not cool.
They don't want to dance but tobe able to put a speaker in a
room and put on, you know, musicproofed by Mr Jason and Mr
Andrew, who are much cooler, youknow, like they could give us
some good song racks and wecould play.
Jeff Bills (19:22):
I know good songs.
All right, Pastor Jeff.
Kasey Cornforth (19:24):
We'll get you in there too.
Jeff Bills (19:26):
The Beatles.
We'll do a.
Kasey Cornforth (19:27):
Pastor Jeff playlist I like that.
Jeff Bills (19:30):
That will empty the room.
Kasey Cornforth (19:32):
But to give them their own songs that are
more of, maybe, adult worshipsongs, not like the kid ones.
I think those little touchesmake a huge difference and then
they can have, like Jason said,those conversations where
they're learning okay, what canI do?
Where's, what's my role here atHope?
You know now that I can be moreinvolved in different ways and
they learn differently.
Jeff Bills (19:53):
So we're talking about um.
One of one of the values we tryto bring to ministry is make it
better.
We do, what we're doing now isgood and fine, and so forth.
How can we make it better?
And so we're talking aboutthese two specific areas to make
it better.
What's going on right now?
(20:14):
So we do have kids in both ofthese groups that are currently
involved in the ministry.
So what is going on right nowfor these kids with special
needs, as well as our fourth andfifth graders?
What's happening?
Jason Shinn (20:33):
I think the term is I think the overarching term is
outgrow.
Both are outgrowing what wehave now.
We need to create more spacefor them.
Jeff Bills (20:47):
So we want to catch up to where we already are.
Yes, yeah.
Amanda Cavaliere (20:51):
And then with an eye on having space to grow,
yeah, absolutely yeah, I wouldagree.
Kasey Cornforth (20:59):
I feel like we already have such a community
built up in these areas.
I feel like we already havesuch a community built up in
these areas.
We already have a smallpopulation of kids with needs
that we're trying our best toget through each week.
How can we serve them and servethe parent and keep the parent
coming back and feeling welcomedand supported?
And definitely with the fourthand fifth graders, like right
(21:20):
now, we have such a boy-heavyfifth grade class, so we have a
lot of boys in fifth grade, Um,and you know we're just looking
at what can we, what can we doto help?
You know, keep connecting withthem and and, um, keep giving
them a space where they want tocome to on Sunday by making
these spaces available, we'remaking room for more kids on the
(21:42):
younger end too.
Jason Shinn (21:43):
So pulling out the fourth and fifth grade, giving
them their own space, gives usmore opportunity to serve those
K through three kids.
You know who might be in there.
Kasey Cornforth (21:52):
Well, especially too that's a good
point Like we have the, the wecall them the bigs and hope kids
.
So it's usually third, fourthand fifth, usually more fourth
and fifth, cause our third gradepopulation right now is a
little bit smaller, but we keepthem in room 100, which is back
in the kids wing, which is likeright next to where we're hoping
to do the sensory room, andthat's our probably our biggest
(22:13):
room, because we use also usethe preschool classrooms and if
we're able to shift fourth andfifth grade out of that room
into a different room, thatallows, because our, our younger
, our littles population is huge, right now.
And that keeps growing when alot of our new families that are
coming have small children andthat does create more physical
(22:33):
space for the numbers that aregrowing in other age groups as
well.
Got it, I think, with thesensory room.
That allows us to be successfulLike right now it's we're kind
of getting by.
we're getting by, yeah.
Amanda Cavaliere (22:45):
But by having the sensory room, there are a
lot of tools that we will beable to use which could
hopefully calm kids down quickerand giving them a better
experience, which with the hopeof reconnecting them with the
other groups.
But these tools are necessaryand needed because there are so
(23:06):
many families coming and that isa big priority for families
Like can you help me with my kid?
Can this church come alongsideto help me, as I am just barely
making it through this week.
Kasey Cornforth (23:18):
Yeah.
Amanda Cavaliere (23:18):
And so to have a room like a sensory room.
So a parent sees all the stuffon the wall, they see the fidget
chairs, they see all thesetools and they're like, oh my
gosh, this church gets me.
Kasey Cornforth (23:29):
That's huge, yeah, and I think parents, when
you have a child who's specialneeds and mine is very high
functioning, so I know he can gosomewhere and he can get
through, but some aren't, somekids aren't high functioning and
you don't want to leave, youknow you don't want to even
leave your house, let aloneleave your child right, so I
think it keeps parents fromcoming to church Isolated.
Amanda Cavaliere (23:50):
Yes, it keeps all just, and that's the gift
that the whole church can give.
Kasey Cornforth (23:53):
Yeah, I'll just stay home or I'll listen online
, and online's great, but thereis a benefit to having that
in-person connection that theseparents really need, as well as
the children.
Jeff Bills (24:03):
Yeah, exactly yeah.
So what we're talking about isresourcing, right, and the
church this church has somewonderful resources.
I hope what I'm feeling in thisroom you're feeling, as you're
hearing this podcast, this roomyou're feeling, as you're
(24:27):
hearing this podcast, thepassion of these three members
of our staff for kids andfamilies who are a part of the
church, and both those who arehere and those who are yet to
come, and so Hope in Motion isall about that.
It's about creating newopportunities, new spaces, new
creative outlets across ourministry, as you can go there
(24:50):
directly, to our Today page, andlook for Hope in Motion, and
there will be a breakdown ofeach of the priorities and more
(25:13):
details about that.
You can, of course, always talkto me, or you can talk to Kasey
, jason, amanda about theseprojects.
We'd love to tell you more.
Most of all, I would encourageyou to support it as you are
able.
One of the things that we'resuggesting is, if you're
thinking about how much youshould give, if you look at what
(25:36):
your annual giving is to hope,if you can increase that by 10%
and direct that toward this hopeand motion, that would get us
to our goal of $125,000.
Not everybody can do that.
Some can do more.
We're asking everybody to dotheir best so we can continue to
(25:56):
resource this church, to reachkids, to reach adults and to
reach people beyond our campus.
Thanks a lot for tuning in tothis episode of the Meet Hope
podcast and we'll see you nextweek.
Intro (26:17):
Thanks for being a part of the Hope community as we
continue our conversations aboutfaith and hope.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
You can learn more atmeethopeorg or find us on
socials at Meet Hope Church.
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Jeff Bills (00:22):
Welcome to Hope our world for the sake of others.
Welcome to Hope.
Hey, how you doing everybody?
This is Jeff Bills and welcometo this episode of the Meet Hope
podcast, and I am reallyexcited to be joined today by
members of our family ministryteam, and so let me just go
(00:47):
around and introduce who's inthe room.
I've got Kasey Cornforth to myleft.
How you doing, Kasey?
Kasey Cornforth (00:54):
Good Jeff, how are you?
Jeff Bills (00:55):
I'm doing great.
Next to Kasey, we have JasonShinn, who is our director of
youth ministry.
How you doing, jay?
Jason Shinn (01:03):
I'm
Jeff Bills (01:06):
my right is Amanda Cavaliere, who has two roles she
is our Preschool Director andMarriage and Parenting
Coordinator.
Amanda Cavaliere (01:16):
You got it Lots of words.
Jeff Bills (01:17):
That's a lot.
Your business card I want tosee your business card.
It's very full.
So, as we get started, we'regoing to be talking about part
of the Hope in Motion priority.
But before we do that, just ifyou're new to Hope or you're not
really engaged in family lifeministry, I want you to know
(01:40):
what each of these folks do hereat Hope.
So, Kasey, tell us a little bitabout how do you spend your
time here at Hope?
Kasey Cornforth (01:48):
Hi everyone.
I am the Hope Kids director, soI'm usually in the kids wing
with kids ages preschool throughfifth grade, and I'm here
Sunday mornings.
We do two services and we dofamily events throughout the
week or kids' choir differentthings like that, yeah.
Jeff Bills (02:08):
Yeah, all right, jason, tell us about what you
guys do.
Jason Shinn (02:13):
I corral 6th to 12th graders.
We have Sunday nights is ourbig focus.
We have an hour and a halfprogram with games and teaching
and small groups, and thenSunday morning we have a Sunday
school class for middleschoolers.
And then we do events,especially a lot during the
summer, and we do mission tripsand retreats and stuff like that
(02:33):
.
Jeff Bills (02:34):
So you're on the move a lot.
Jason Shinn (02:36):
A lot yeah.
Jeff Bills (02:38):
Fantastic, all right , and Amanda, you've got these
two roles.
Tell us about each one.
Amanda Cavaliere (02:44):
So during the week I'm always a Tomorrow's
Hope preschool director, butduring the week I'm with our two
and a half year olds throughkindergarteners in the preschool
wing, and then I also work withparents, with children of all
ages and couples, through smallgroups and date nights and
workshops and such.
With the other role Great.
Jeff Bills (03:05):
How many children are in the preschool these days?
Amanda Cavaliere (03:08):
We have almost 80.
Jeff Bills (03:09):
Okay, yep, it's a big group of kids.
Yes, and this is not the fullteam.
In fact, the person who headsthis up is Pastor Heather.
She is currently on leave,otherwise she'd probably be
doing this interview, but I'mthe lucky one who gets to do
this Part of our hope in motiongoal.
(03:33):
We've got three priorities forthis capital campaign we have an
LED wall for our worship space,we're investing in Langezu
University in Malawi, and thenwe're talking about these two
classrooms.
Somebody asked me if we'rebuilding new rooms.
We're not actually building newrooms.
We're outfitting two existingrooms for two very special
(03:56):
priorities.
So, Kasey, give us an idea ofwhat these two rooms are going
to be.
What are we envisioning here?
Kasey Cornforth (04:07):
Okay, so we are .
It's basically, I like to say,a redeveloping of the room.
So we have a small office spacethat's in the kids' wing,
that's right outside of thepreschool, that we use often on
Sunday mornings and that'sbecome our buddy's room.
So when we have a child who hasspecial needs or just needs
that are different from the rest, we usually take them into that
(04:30):
space.
It's calming, it's quiet, it'ssecure, it's a great space for
kids who need a break from thelarge group, who need a quiet
place to go, and so we wouldlike to redevelop that into a
sensory room.
Our special needs population isgrowing here at Hope.
We have a lot of new families,a lot of kids at different ages,
(04:50):
from preschool through fifthgrade, with different needs, and
we have a lot of great ideas ofwhat we can do with that space
to make it more accommodatingand great for the leaders as
well as the kids, because itgives the leaders more of a
purpose in what they're doingwith the kids.
And the other space that wewant to redevelop is room 10,
(05:11):
which is kind of over in Jason'swing, over by Jason's office,
by the activity space.
Youth uses that wing a lot.
Jason Shinn (05:17):
I have a wing.
Kasey Cornforth (05:18):
Yeah, a whole wing yeah a whole wing, it's
Jason's wing of the building,your whole wing, it's Jason's
wing of the building.
So we would like to redevelopthat and use that space for
youth group as well as ourfourth and fifth graders on a
Sunday morning They've kind ofoutgrown the kids wing a little
bit physically, but also, Ithink, mentally, spiritually and
(05:38):
using that space in a new wayto make Sunday mornings more
exciting, offer them new ways toconnect with each other, with
their leaders, and just bringnew tools into the room, and the
tools that we want to bring inneed a space to be Okay.
Jeff Bills (05:58):
So when we were putting together the Hope in
Motion, these priorities, and Iwas asking the family ministry
department to highlight somepriorities, these were the two
that came up.
Why these two?
Why are these two specificallythe things that have been
highlighted, would you say?
Jason Shinn (06:18):
Well, I could speak to one of them.
The fourth and fifth grade Imean that's not quite my area
but as someone who's worked inmultiple churches, like this is
a hole at a lot of churches isfourth and fifth graders kind of
get they're too old to be inthe kids ministry but they're
too young to be in the youthministry and there's a lot of
times where curriculum kind offails them and you know,
(06:40):
facilities kind of fail them.
They feel they don't want tocome to church anymore because
they feel it's too childish.
So there's an opportunity here.
I love the passion that Kaseyand Heather and Amanda and
Family Ministries team have forthis Because this is a space
where fourth and fifth graderscan have their own kind of
little space.
(07:01):
Room 10 is not the biggest roombut it's a good size room but
it's where they can feel likethey belong and like we can
tailor stuff specifically forthis age group in a way that I
think it helps build youthministry up.
You know, if we can hold on tofifth graders, it only enhances
what we do with our sixthgraders.
But more importantly, there'skids that just they're ready for
(07:26):
bigger things in their faithand they're just we're swinging
and missing, and this is not a,this is a multi.
I've seen this in multiplechurches and to have a church
see the need and address it isreally a powerful thing.
Amanda Cavaliere (07:40):
And you know, as a parent of two kids have
gone through Hope Kids and noware in Hope Youth.
I noticed this when my son wasin middle school Sunday school
doing all these fun, interactivethings.
My daughter was in fifth grade.
She outgrew what they weredoing in Hope Kids.
It felt too babyish, but shewas not old enough to be doing
what the bigger kids were doing,and so a lot of times she ended
(08:01):
up in church with me, whichisn't bad, it's fine, but it's
not also appropriate for herneeds either in her own
spiritual development.
So I would have loved for her tohave had this opportunity Would
you say second semester.
she was chomping at the bit toget to.
She was every week begging toget into that class with her
brother.
And he held it over her head too, this room 10 might be the
(08:25):
coolest classroom.
You know the way we've designedit might be the coolest
classroom in the cave.
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
So I definitely can say as aparent, I would have loved for
her to have had that opportunity, both of them.
Jeff Bills (08:39):
Yeah, so one of the things we're talking about is
this hope in motion is aninvestment for now, but it's
also an investment in the future, and so we're not talking about
just future, like years fromnow.
We're talking about the futureof the church, and these kids
certainly represent the futureof the church.
(09:00):
So this is a transition time,it sounds like, and so we want
them to feel like the church.
So this is a transition time.
It sounds like Um and uh.
So we want them to feel likethe church is for them and uh,
and then they'll go through thisnext transition when they come,
uh, become sixth graders, andthen, uh, oh, what a transition
it is oh boy.
Amanda Cavaliere (09:19):
It's a tough age in general.
These are kids that arepre-teen.
They're going through changes,they're awkward, they don't feel
like they fit in anywhere, andthen they come to church and
they feel like well, where's myspace?
Kasey Cornforth (09:32):
Our wing is so bright, but it's so kid-focused,
like the graphics.
We use the videos and even themusic at times.
I think you know it's toocringy for the preteens?
Amanda Cavaliere (09:44):
Yes, the word that comes up weekly is cringe,
everything is cringe.
Kasey Cornforth (09:49):
So yeah, to have a space with different
graphics or different things onthe walls, or, you know, a couch
.
You know, for some reason, acouch is just so appealing.
Amanda Cavaliere (09:58):
And across the hall for the big kids.
Jeff Bills (09:59):
Yes, you know, the big kids are across the hall
when we're headed, yeah, solet's let's talk some details
for a moment.
Talk about this sensory room.
What?
What will be in there?
What will that room look like,would you say?
Kasey Cornforth (10:18):
We have a lot of great ideas for the sensory
room and it's definitelysomething I feel we're kind of
lacking right now with the righttools for these children and
for you know, things that helpcreate the calming environment,
like the lamp.
There's a certain lamp withdifferent features that you can,
or different what's the?
(10:39):
word.
I'm looking for Settingslighting Settings yes.
Different mood lighting andcolors yes exactly.
You can change the color, youcan set the mood.
Jason Shinn (10:45):
It's frequencies, isn't it?
Kasey Cornforth (10:46):
It's something to do with light frequencies
help calm the brain.
Jason Shinn (10:49):
There's different frequencies that calm the brain,
which is a crazy cool science.
Kasey Cornforth (10:53):
Yeah, it is, it's really and it makes
nonverbal and needs a way tocommunicate.
But it's getting worked upbecause they don't know how.
You know if we're, if aleader's trying to work with
them and and trying to, you know, get them to just be calm and
see what the need is, um, Ithink that space is just going
to be, it's going to be reallypowerful.
(11:13):
And there's other things like asensory wall.
Um, there's stuff that we canactually add to the walls that
are.
It's almost like an activitycenter that you kind of Mount on
the wall that has differentsensory features for kids.
And that can be calming, thatcan help kids who are nonverbal,
and just a way to communicateand get them to listen.
(11:34):
There's definitely chairs.
I know the chairs we have nowin the preschool and, amanda,
you might be able to add to this.
Some of our friends the chairsgo have now in the preschool and
, amanda, you might be able toadd to this.
Some of our friends the chairsget flipped or get pushed.
It could be a safety hazard.
So there's certain chairs thatwe're looking into getting.
I think they're called fidgetchairs.
Is that right?
Amanda, yeah, so a fidget chairis something where, if a child
(11:56):
is bouncing around or moving orjust a little bit clumsy in a
moment, that chair would besafer for that child to be on.
So I know that's definitely atthe top of our list.
Amanda Cavaliere (12:07):
And I'm excited because the preschool
wing is going to benefit fromthat too during the week.
So we have little guys who havebig emotions and sometimes
aren't sure how to manage those.
So in the preschool classroomswe have what we call calm down
corners, which is really just alittle space with maybe a bin of
fidgets or sensory toys to helpcalm down but to be able to
(12:29):
let's go into another room for afew minutes to just if we're
feeling dysregulated, to helpthem bring down those emotions,
so that they can reenter theclassroom calm and ready to
learn.
Because oftentimes if a kid ishaving a tantrum or struggling,
everybody down the hallway knowsthat it's happening and so now
(12:50):
no one is learning or focusingbecause someone's just having a
tough moment.
So giving them a little spaceto work it out and calm down and
then reenter.
Jason Shinn (13:00):
Kasey , would you say that there's
also the added gift to theparents when they see a sensory
room and they see a church thatis going out of its way to make
sure that their child is feelingsafe and that allows them to go
worship, and there's a gift inthat too, I think.
Kasey Cornforth (13:19):
I really feel we have so many new families
coming to hope and so manyexisting families who are, you
know, their kids are getting toa certain age where they're
realizing certain you know, um,you know developmental needs.
Right, the needs are shiftingand changing for their own
children, whether they're anexisting family or new, and I
think when they see that we'renot just welcoming to their
(13:40):
child but that we're supportiveand that we're able to kind of
walk with them, I think it addsto that like village mentality
that I know we try to create inHope Kids, where we're in this
with you.
You know you, the parent, cancome here on a Sunday morning,
can leave their children in safeand keepable hands, as well as
a safe and keepable environment,and then they can go worship
(14:00):
and breathe for 45 minutes andknow that their child is being
safe and attended to but alsostill developing a faith and a
spiritual connection in a waythat reaches them, because not
every kid learns the same.
My oldest has auditoryprocessing so he hears things
differently.
So loud spaces, big rooms arereally hard for him.
Auditory processing, so hehears things differently.
(14:21):
So it takes him, you know, soloud, loud, you know spaces, big
rooms are really hard for himbecause he can't retain what's
going on.
So he would do great in a calm,you know quieter space where he
can talk maybe one-on-one witha leader about God or pray
one-on-one versus in a largegroup.
So there's definitely I think.
Amanda Cavaliere (14:39):
I think you know you used the word
supportive.
I feel like Hope has developedan environment of support.
We're equipped now I think thiswhole campaign is about taking
this next level to be equipped,whether it be the fourth and
fifth grade room is equipped toreach the fourth and fifth grade
at a very specific spot intheir development.
(15:00):
And then also this sensory roomis we are equipped to support a
child who may need a next levelcare.
And it's not just hey, we havethis side room with a couple of
toys in it.
This room is specificallydesigned and specifically
equipped to handle, to work andhave this kid have a great
(15:21):
experience at church.
And that also goes like I saidto the parents that they have a
great experience at church andthat leads to people connecting
and sticking at hope, which is amission of hope.
Connection is a huge missionfor hope.
So these are two amazingcampaigns.
Kasey Cornforth (15:36):
It's like planting the seeds and letting
the roots dig in and building itup.
And helping the leaders andvolunteers who work with these
kids of any age of having anappropriate space for them.
Yeah, and I really also feel,when we're given the right
resources, I think that willhelp develop and attract leaders
who want to come work withthese children, because they
(15:56):
know that they'll be able to domaybe what they're trained to do
.
Like I don't have a specialneeds background.
I've kind of learned as I havegone and as a parent I'm
learning.
But I know there are peoplethat come here that are trained
and that are specialized incertain areas and would benefit
from resources because they'd beable to jump in and use their
gifts to help kids develop.
Jeff Bills (16:19):
Wow, kids develop, wow, and so that's a great space
, it sounds like, and reallyimportant for all of the reasons
that you guys have justarticulated.
Thanks for that.
Now we've got the second spaceFor the fourth and fifth graders
.
We've talked about why this isa priority and how this is going
to serve in the ministry, butgive us a vision of what.
(16:39):
What do we, what are we talkingabout doing in this room?
What, what, what's some of theequipment, I guess?
Jason Shinn (16:46):
Can I speak to the cool factor?
Kasey Cornforth (16:47):
Absolutely, you are cool, so please take.
I'm cringe.
It's in your wing, jason.
It's in my wing.
Miss Kasey is cringe.
Jason Shinn (16:54):
Mr Jason is cool.
We want to have an openenvironment and so we want to
kind of collapse the tables andwe want to have, like case you
mentioned, a couch kind ofenvironment kind of a lounge
feel.
Yes, absolutely, we want to putin some video games so when kids
get there and it's something Ican use on sunday nights, it's
(17:14):
one of the things we do onsunday nights is we have we have
games going, but we don't forcekids to play games.
We have a kind of a crafthangout room and a lot of the
girls like it, but I know someof the guys are, hey, can we
have a space for our own?
And that would be reallybeneficial.
It's also we also use it for.
We would also use it for smallgroups and our breakouts and on
Sunday nights, but having anenvironment where you know they
(17:35):
can come in and we can use theterm chill.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but where I?
I think one of the things thatfourth and fifth graders are
looking for is conversation, andthey're looking to be heard,
and so creating an environmentwhere the the teacher, is not
necessarily in a lectureposition but is in a hangout in
(17:57):
front of the, you know, likesitting with the students as
they do their lesson together,and so we've talked about a
number of different ways todesign that, but a couple of big
things is the couch kind of,you know, kind of changing the
colors of the room, kind ofthrowing some rugs down to make
it feel more like a living roomas opposed to another classroom.
(18:17):
They're in classrooms Mondaythrough Friday, and then we kind
of throw them in a classroomand they they're not responding
well to that, and so that's oneof the things they're looking
for is a place where they can beon the same level as the
teacher, they can be heard bythe teacher, they can share
their ideas.
Fourth and fifth graders havebig ideas and they're thinking
about big things, and so theyneed a space where they can
(18:37):
process with a safe person, andso we want to give them that
space.
So true, and they want to theywant to help too.
Kasey Cornforth (18:44):
like I know there's been a lot of fifth
graders that, because they feellike they've outgrown hope kids,
they're like, what can we do?
Like, like, give us somethingto do, can we help?
Can we sit with a little so wetry to repurpose them as much as
we can in our wing, um, but Ithink this opportunity will just
just with the music alone too,because our music is more tuned
for, honestly, probably evenlike kindergarten, it's very
(19:06):
cringy Kasey.
Yeah, it's just not.
I mean the motions are not cool.
They don't want to dance but tobe able to put a speaker in a
room and put on, you know, musicproofed by Mr Jason and Mr
Andrew, who are much cooler, youknow, like they could give us
some good song racks and wecould play.
Jeff Bills (19:22):
I know good songs.
All right, Pastor Jeff.
Kasey Cornforth (19:24):
We'll get you in there too.
Jeff Bills (19:26):
The Beatles.
We'll do a.
Kasey Cornforth (19:27):
Pastor Jeff playlist I like that.
Jeff Bills (19:30):
That will empty the room.
Kasey Cornforth (19:32):
But to give them their own songs that are
more of, maybe, adult worshipsongs, not like the kid ones.
I think those little touchesmake a huge difference and then
they can have, like Jason said,those conversations where
they're learning okay, what canI do?
Where's, what's my role here atHope?
You know now that I can be moreinvolved in different ways and
they learn differently.
Jeff Bills (19:53):
So we're talking about um.
One of one of the values we tryto bring to ministry is make it
better.
We do, what we're doing now isgood and fine, and so forth.
How can we make it better?
And so we're talking aboutthese two specific areas to make
it better.
What's going on right now?
(20:14):
So we do have kids in both ofthese groups that are currently
involved in the ministry.
So what is going on right nowfor these kids with special
needs, as well as our fourth andfifth graders?
What's happening?
Jason Shinn (20:33):
I think the term is I think the overarching term is
outgrow.
Both are outgrowing what wehave now.
We need to create more spacefor them.
Jeff Bills (20:47):
So we want to catch up to where we already are.
Yes, yeah.
Amanda Cavaliere (20:51):
And then with an eye on having space to grow,
yeah, absolutely yeah, I wouldagree.
Kasey Cornforth (20:59):
I feel like we already have such a community
built up in these areas.
I feel like we already havesuch a community built up in
these areas.
We already have a smallpopulation of kids with needs
that we're trying our best toget through each week.
How can we serve them and servethe parent and keep the parent
coming back and feeling welcomedand supported?
And definitely with the fourthand fifth graders, like right
(21:20):
now, we have such a boy-heavyfifth grade class, so we have a
lot of boys in fifth grade, Um,and you know we're just looking
at what can we, what can we doto help?
You know, keep connecting withthem and and, um, keep giving
them a space where they want tocome to on Sunday by making
these spaces available, we'remaking room for more kids on the
(21:42):
younger end too.
Jason Shinn (21:43):
So pulling out the fourth and fifth grade, giving
them their own space, gives usmore opportunity to serve those
K through three kids.
You know who might be in there.
Kasey Cornforth (21:52):
Well, especially too that's a good
point Like we have the, the wecall them the bigs and hope kids
.
So it's usually third, fourthand fifth, usually more fourth
and fifth, cause our third gradepopulation right now is a
little bit smaller, but we keepthem in room 100, which is back
in the kids wing, which is likeright next to where we're hoping
to do the sensory room, andthat's our probably our biggest
(22:13):
room, because we use also usethe preschool classrooms and if
we're able to shift fourth andfifth grade out of that room
into a different room, thatallows, because our, our younger
, our littles population is huge, right now.
And that keeps growing when alot of our new families that are
coming have small children andthat does create more physical
(22:33):
space for the numbers that aregrowing in other age groups as
well.
Got it, I think, with thesensory room.
That allows us to be successfulLike right now it's we're kind
of getting by.
we're getting by, yeah.
Amanda Cavaliere (22:45):
But by having the sensory room, there are a
lot of tools that we will beable to use which could
hopefully calm kids down quickerand giving them a better
experience, which with the hopeof reconnecting them with the
other groups.
But these tools are necessaryand needed because there are so
(23:06):
many families coming and that isa big priority for families
Like can you help me with my kid?
Can this church come alongsideto help me, as I am just barely
making it through this week.
Kasey Cornforth (23:18):
Yeah.
Amanda Cavaliere (23:18):
And so to have a room like a sensory room.
So a parent sees all the stuffon the wall, they see the fidget
chairs, they see all thesetools and they're like, oh my
gosh, this church gets me.
Kasey Cornforth (23:29):
That's huge, yeah, and I think parents, when
you have a child who's specialneeds and mine is very high
functioning, so I know he can gosomewhere and he can get
through, but some aren't, somekids aren't high functioning and
you don't want to leave, youknow you don't want to even
leave your house, let aloneleave your child right, so I
think it keeps parents fromcoming to church Isolated.
Amanda Cavaliere (23:50):
Yes, it keeps all just, and that's the gift
that the whole church can give.
Kasey Cornforth (23:53):
Yeah, I'll just stay home or I'll listen online
, and online's great, but thereis a benefit to having that
in-person connection that theseparents really need, as well as
the children.
Jeff Bills (24:03):
Yeah, exactly yeah.
So what we're talking about isresourcing, right, and the
church this church has somewonderful resources.
I hope what I'm feeling in thisroom you're feeling, as you're
hearing this podcast, this roomyou're feeling, as you're
(24:27):
hearing this podcast, thepassion of these three members
of our staff for kids andfamilies who are a part of the
church, and both those who arehere and those who are yet to
come, and so Hope in Motion isall about that.
It's about creating newopportunities, new spaces, new
creative outlets across ourministry, as you can go there
(24:50):
directly, to our Today page, andlook for Hope in Motion, and
there will be a breakdown ofeach of the priorities and more
(25:13):
details about that.
You can, of course, always talkto me, or you can talk to Kasey
, jason, amanda about theseprojects.
We'd love to tell you more.
Most of all, I would encourageyou to support it as you are
able.
One of the things that we'resuggesting is, if you're
thinking about how much youshould give, if you look at what
(25:36):
your annual giving is to hope,if you can increase that by 10%
and direct that toward this hopeand motion, that would get us
to our goal of $125,000.
Not everybody can do that.
Some can do more.
We're asking everybody to dotheir best so we can continue to
(25:56):
resource this church, to reachkids, to reach adults and to
reach people beyond our campus.
Thanks a lot for tuning in tothis episode of the Meet Hope
podcast and we'll see you nextweek.
Intro (26:17):
Thanks for being a part of the Hope community as we
continue our conversations aboutfaith and hope.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
You can learn more atmeethopeorg or find us on
socials at Meet Hope Church.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.