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20th-Card-v3In August 2017 members posted birthday messages and memories to celebrate Rotation.org's 20th Birthday. Many of them contain inspirational stories of how Rotation.org has helped their Sunday School.

This forum topic is now "read-only" but we know you'll enjoy reading these stories!

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Last edited by Neil MacQueen
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Happy Birthday Rotation and greetings from Oklahoma City!!

In 2000, I was searching for ways to create a "VBS-like" experience for Sunday mornings and began researching what others were doing. I discovered I didn't have to invent it, it was already in place through rotation.org.

In 2001, St Luke's UMC in OKC launched "The Great Adventure" Rotation Sunday School. We were the first United Methodist Church in our conference to begin rotation and also hosted a conference to share the good news with not only United Methodists but other denominations.

I truly believe the best way to teach God's stories is in ways that keep God's story memorable, meaningful and fun. There was a noticeable improvement as kids enter youth years in the knowledge and understanding of the Bible because of rotation. Our youth director was challenged by the rotation kids to offer more in confirmation and other studies. 

I moved to my current position as Associate Pastor of Good Shepherd UMC in Yukon, Oklahoma 5 yrs ago, and YES, I'm doing the Rotation Model there again too.

Looking forward to many more years of Rotation.org energizing us in our local churches.

Happy Birthday and Blessings!

Rev. Dr. Charlotte Teel, Good Shepherd UMC, Yukon, Oklahoma


Two pictures from our Sunday School workshops:
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Last edited by Neil MacQueen

FPCBIRMMIHappy Birthday Rotation.org,

I first learned about the Workshop Rotation Model in 1996 attending conference led by Neil MacQueen about using computers in Sunday School. He mentioned Rotation in his presentation and it intrigued me. Shortly thereafter I attended a Rotation Model conference and was inspired to begin in my home church and did so in 1998. Soon area churches were wanting to know how they could do it, too, so we formed a group called Detroit Net-Worm which still meets today. In 1999 I moved to First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Michigan where we began again Rotation.

Twenty years later, I am still committed to using the Workshop Rotation Model, and kids and teachers still love it! Engaging kids through Rotation.org's multiple intelligence-informed approach has transformed my ministry in ways that extend beyond Sunday school, and I am so grateful for this grass roots movement.

I've participated with the lesson writing team and regularly use material at rotation.org. I continue to be amazed and delighted by the creativity and commitment of educators around the country and the world! Equally important is the community of people I have come to know and love through rotation.org. 

A final word of deep gratitude and kudos to the Rotation.org Board of Directors who have so willingly given of their time and talent to not only maintain and update the website but have formed a community of people passionate about passing on the stories of God and God's people in ways that instill them in the hearts and minds of our children, youth and adults.

~Cindy Merten, Director of Christian Education and All Abilities Inclusion Ministry, First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham Michigan.




Editor's Note:  Cindy was an original member of our site's first Board. Her church gave us a grant to hire a coordinator and lead Rotation.org to incorporation and a full-fledged Board of Directors.

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Last edited by Neil MacQueen

Hey, Happy 20th Birthday, Rotation.org!

I'm responsible for children's ministries at Algoma Blvd United Methodist in Oshkosh, WI. I came into this job seven years ago with zero background in children's ministry. My predecessor left me info about Rotation.org, THANKFULLY, and I've been using it ever since.

Rotation.org has been super helpful and we've done some pretty cool lessons. Sure, we've had a few flops, but that would probably be the case with any program, am I right? Anyway, I plan to continue digging through Rotation.org to find more awesome stuff. Thanks much to all the amazing volunteers!!

Lisa-Marie Wesenberg
Director of Children's & Youth Ministries
Algoma Blvd. United Methodist Church
Oshkosh, WI 

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Happy Birthday Rotation.org

Our church, United Methodist Church of Geneva, Illinois, was already using the Rotation Model when I started there 14 years ago. I was thrilled with this program from the beginning. But being new to this method, I would never have been able to continue without the lessons and information found at rotation.org. It is always my first stop when looking for anything.

I am so appreciative of all the work that goes into keeping this site up and running for the good of Christian education, and for the benefit to the future of God's children. Thank you.

~Jodi Borger, Dir. of Children’s Education, UMC of Geneva, Geneva Illinois

Jodi-GenevaUMC

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Happy birthday rotation.org, may you continue to be a blessing to children and teachers all around the world for many years to come!

Years ago, sitting in the Dallas Ft-Worth airport, I was told by a chaplain about Rotation-style lessons and rotation.org. I had no idea how much that simple concept would change my life!

And I wish I knew who he was so I could hug his neck and really thank him.

Over the past almost 18 years, I have used lessons from rotation.org as a minister, volunteer and even as a homeschool mom. I can't thank you all enough for this website (Luanne, Anne, Carol, Jaymie, Cathy, Amy, Heidi, Neil, and everyone who contributes to this site) ...and this way of teaching in general.

JenksCofCEven now, even when I make up my own stuff, the lessons I teach use the concepts I learned from rotation.org. And when I introduce it to others, I love seeing the light-bulb go on as people realize, that yes, kids can have FUN and dig deep into a Bible Story! That they will love being able to have the same story more than once. That they can learn facts without worksheets, and that larger-scale projects make for lasting memory (and memories) so much better than cut and paste or coloring pages.  We didn't know how to break away from a different--story-every-week curriculum. You have led the way!

Pictured: One of our students learning to "go the extra mile" in our Sunday School.

~Staci Woodruff, Jenks Church of Christ, Jenks OK

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Last edited by Neil MacQueen

Happy Birthday, Rotation.org! I have been with  you for 16 years. Rotation.org has been my go-to site for all things Sunday school. Thank you for all you are doing!

 

20 years!!!!!!!!!  That’s incredible! Congratulations.

There have been so many changes, not least in technology, and in that time you have provided resources for the Rotation model of Sunday groups which reflect these changing times.

Thank you for your ministry.

Mary Hawes
National Children & Youth Adviser for the Church of England
The Education Office, Church House
Great Smith Street
London England

Last edited by Neil MacQueen

I became the youth coordinator at a church that used the Workshop Rotation Module. It became what I used and still use today!

What I like best is letting the kids explore the themes and stories over several weeks and in different ways.

Thanks for making a huge difference for our church family!

Happy 20th birthday!

Last edited by Neil MacQueen

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY Rotation.org!!!

I’m the Junior Sabbath School Leader (for ages 10-12) at the Apison Seventh-day Adventist Church in Apison Tennessee.  I first discovered Rotation.org last April when I was an assistant leader in the Junior room.  They were using a 3-year cycle of Bible story lessons for the kids at that time, which covered multiple stories every week.  Whenever it was my turn to teach, I’d pick just one story to focus on, and I’d go to the internet searching for ideas to make the story more interesting. One day in April of 2016, I happened across the Rotation.org website while I was searching for ideas, and I was blown away by all the awesome ideas on this website!  I loved the idea of the rotation model.  I immediately signed up as a Supporting Member so I’d have access to everything on the website, and even though we weren’t actually doing the rotation model, your website became the place I always went to for great ideas to supplement my lessons.  

AdamEve-Snakes-BetsyBurgdorff -2In January of 2017 I became the Junior Sabbath School Leader, and I decided to stop using the 3-year cycle of Bible lessons and just go with a modified version of the Rotation Model, since I loved the rotation concept so much.  The Juniors are the only ones doing this right now, so they don’t rotate to different rooms and teachers, but I’m hoping someday the Primaries and Kindergarten kids might get involved in this also.  I figured for now we’d experiment with it in the Junior room.  We study one Bible story for four weeks, using different workshops each week.  The hardest part is only being able to pick four of the workshops, because they ALL look awesome! The kids are really enjoying it, and I’ve had several parents tell me how much they appreciate what we are doing with the Juniors.  One girl told me that when we were using the old lessons, she used to really want to move up to Earli-teens because she thought the Junior Sabbath School was boring.  But now that we are using Rotation.org lessons, she doesn’t want to leave because she’s having so much fun. And I’m having a lot of fun teaching these lessons too!  I only wish I had found Rotation.org 20 years ago when my own children were still young, so they could have benefited from these lessons as well.
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I invested in some nice Adventure Bibles for our class so we could all be reading from the same version, and I love that the kids now read the Bible story each week straight from the Bible!  The $30 yearly membership fee to be a Supporting Member is money well spent, and is far cheaper than the money our church was spending on teacher’s helps for the 3-year cycle of Bible lessons, not to mention lesson papers for each of the kids.  It was always challenging trying to decide how many lessons to buy, because some of the kids wouldn’t come very regularly.  I felt that a lot of money was wasted every quarter on lessons and teacher helps that hardly got used, but now I don’t have to worry about that. The money saved on lessons and teacher helps gets put back into the class for supplies for the workshops.
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I especially appreciate the fantastic Writing Team lessons!  Special thanks to Neil, Louanne, Anne, Carol, Jaymie, Cathy, Amy, and Heidi for the countless hours and the careful thought you have put into writing these lessons, and then going back and updating and improving them!  I love these lessons, because they make my job so much easier.   It’s all spelled out for me, what to say, what to do, what materials I need to get.  Yes, I still have to spend time preparing, and sometimes I tweak things a little to make them fit our particular class; but having all this information at my fingertips is wonderful!  I believe that God led me to this website, and I wish I could meet each one of you in person and give you a big thank-you HUG for letting God use you in this way, and for sharing this information with all of us.  I really appreciate being able to comment and share ideas on lessons I’ve done, and reading comments from others as well.  And I also appreciate the way that you respond to those comments.
Thanks again for this awesome website.
Betsy Burgdorff

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Last edited by Luanne Payne

I can hardly believe it has been 20 years! Time flies when you are having fun. I have so enjoyed working with countless congregations around the country to support their efforts to get WRM programs up and running.  I know that our children (and adults) are learning more about the Bible than with more traditional methods as well as how to respond to the world in light of their faith. Thank you to all the coordinators who make the calls, the shoppers who get the supplies, the crafts persons who create the spaces and the congregations that support such an amazing and powerful way to share the faith one generation to the other. 

Happy Birthday to Rotation.org!

We found this site when we were developing our RSS in 2009. We gleaned the site for workshop room ideas and names. Now as we enter the fourth year of our second cycle, we still use Rotation.org regularly for workshop and “extra” ideas.

There are so many creative ideas and we are so thankful for the Board Members who contribute their time and talents to make it successful!  

Jennifer McRae, RSS Coordinator (Layperson Volunteer)
Central UMC, Meridian MS
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Last edited by Luanne Payne

20 years... I didn’t realize how long it has been that we have been doing rotation. We have loved it from the beginning and the material you provide just gets better and better. 

I first heard about Rotation at the International Children’s Pastor Conference.  I was very excited and came back home and began to implement it right away. We just completed the rotation on Pentecost from the Writing Team.  Everything is always so creative, we love it. 

Thanks again for all your organization does to help us teach children in fun, creative ways.

Stephanie Humphrey
Director-Children’s Ministries
Churchill Baptist Church
San Antonio, TX

Happy Birthday Rotation.org.  You are the greatest.  Long, long ago, a volunteer from Wyoming introduced me to Rotation.org and I have been a supporting member ever since.  You are the best.  I love your ideas and the rotation model and it has been a blessing to me personally and to all of the kids in our church.  Thanks for your hard work and caring.  God bless you all.

 

Happy Birthday to everyone who's made Rotation.org what it is today.

To "The Ladies" who make up our Board. You are THE reason this site is what it is today. You are great educators, faithful leaders, and even better people. 

To everyone who has ever posted an idea or lesson. You've filled my brain with a thousand great ideas and inklings. I have learned so much from you.

To the fearless Sunday School teachers, pastors and educators who dare to teach in special ways. I am that kid whose heart and soul you reached. 

Thank you, and 20 more!

~Neil MacQueen

A favorite song that says how I feel...

Last edited by Neil MacQueen

FUMC Slidell, Lousiana loves Rotation.org!  Thank you for providing a creative way to help us develop our relationship with Jesus!

We used the rotation model during the summers before Hurricane Katrina and it was fun!  After the storm, rebuilding our church from the inside out required intentional planning and we wanted the best for our children who had been through so much.  It took years to rebuild the classrooms, yet now we enjoy workshops in each one!  

Rotation model excites the children to learn in their preferred way, the adults love to lead the area they feel most comfortable teaching, and everyone has fun with the creative things we do!

May God continue to grow and bless Rotation.org all around the world!

(Our kids threw you a party.)

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROTATION.ORG from First Presbyterian Church Jackson, TN!  

Next year marks our 10th year using the rotation model!  We got started when our pastor's wife mentioned that she had seen this "new" type of Sunday School at a church in SC.  Our CE committee found they were using the rotation model and we decided to try it!  Many, many thanks to Jaymie for sharing her 6 years of lessons with us!  

First Presbyterian Jackson, TN

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Happy Birthday from another United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI! 

I first learned about Rotation.org from Carol when I was attending Ann Arbor First. I love the concept of rotation because it really gets kids into the Bible Story. Unfortunately, I only have two Elementary aged kids, so we don't rotate. Though I love using this curriculum because it gives so many options and angles to look at the Bible Stories. This fall, winter and spring my kiddos want to study the life of Jesus, so I have been able to go through the lessons and pick and choose what will work for them. I am having a lot of fun choosing things they will like, they love hands on crafts and project, especially cooking for others. Thanks for all that you do! I'll take some pictures this year!

Rev. Mary Hagley, Deacon serving as the Minister of Children & Youth www.dixborochurch.org.

Happy Birthday Rotation.org

and  to all those who have blessed this site

with your support over the years

be it posting your great ideas or lessons

assisting with forum reviews, platform upgrades

moderating, editing, writing

board member, webmaster

membership or donation

It's definitely a group party!


Wow, how time has flown!  This September will be the start of my 17th year using rotation.  I first heard about rotation and rotation.org at a local seminar on curriculum options in early 2000.  When a local minister stepped up and started talking about the Rotation Model and then demonstrated using the software David (Kid's Interactive Series) I was sold, and of course all the other workshops were icing on the cake! We took the plunge and have never looked back and use rotation.org for our main source of teaching material.

Besides blessing our small rural Sunday School, over all these years, it's been a blessing to me personally.  It's grown my faith and on that journey blessed me with so many new friends across Canada and the United States,  I get to volunteer with a wonderful inspirational group of ladies on the board (Carol, Anne, Jaymie, Cathy, Amy and Heidi), and of course Neil our phenomenal webmaster.

I'm inspired and my imagination sparked everyday upon reading new (and older) posts throughout the site — so keep them coming and THANK YOU!   

I mean really ..... a Lego workshop, how cool is that! 

This past Easter - in our "God's Story Table" Workshop: the kids recreated Jerusalem - Jesus Last Week (Garden of Gethsemane area pictured) using Lego and Mega Blocks (Jerusalem/Temple).
They benefit so much from rotation.org!

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Luanne Payne
(Volunteer) Rotation Coordinator & Teacher
Hampton United, Hampton, ON Canada

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Happy 20th Birthday Rotation.org!

Wow...20 years... it really is amazing! I first learned about this model from another children's director back in 1999. Our elementary SS was struggling -- that summer we had a couple Sundays with only one student  attending. Yikes! She gave me the address of the website and I came home and spent all afternoon (the site was MUCH smaller then!) looking at everything and getting more and more excited! I took the idea to our children's council and they all were on board. We sent the staff program director to a Rotation conference in Chicago and she came back SUPER pumped. Our team decided in April to just "go for it" and on September 10, 2000, we launched our very first rotation. We're starting our 18th year and have never looked back. This year we complete our THIRD cycle of our six year scope of lessons.

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As so many people have said already, my favorite thing about this model is the creativity and excitement it brings to the kids. How can we possibly bore kids with the greatest adventure book every written??? Bringing the stories to life, creating memorable ways to engage them with the stories, helping them really dig deep... it's the foundation of Rotation Model SS.

One of the BEST things about Rotation.org is that we are always striving to do better. Better platform for the site, better organization, better lessons. Supporting members make that possible through their memberships and all the people who post make it better with their input. I remember thinking as we were writing/developing our lessons those first years that I would be so relieved when we were done writing. But the lessons here just keep getting better, so we keep tweaking our old lessons with new ideas and new activities. Because of Rotation.org our lessons keep getting better and better too.

P1060675I'm grateful to have discovered this site all those years ago. I'm grateful to serve you on our board. I'm grateful to a community of people who are passionate about passing on the faith to the next generation!

Jaymie Derden
Director of Children and Family Ministries (about to retire though!)
State Street UMC, Bristol VA
Rotation.org Board secretary

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Last edited by Luanne Payne

I guess it’s about time I wished the community a Happy 20th Birthday!

I’ve been involved since I stumbled (literally) onto this site, in July of 2001. God has led me to a series of “yeses” since that date. At first the affirmatives came fast and furious…

  • Yes! We must start using this new form of Sunday school at our church, First United Methodist in Ann Arbor, Michigan... Right away!  (In September 2001 for our 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.)
  • Yes, I’ll be brave and share with the Rotation.org community my Art Workshop using fish prints. The first lesson I ever posted. (In February 2002.)Fish prints
  • Yes, absolutely we should extend the Rotation Model for 1st through 6th graders. (In September 2002)
  • By all means, yes, the preschoolers and K’s should be included in our Rotation journey! (September 2003)
  • Really, you think I should be on the Board of directors? Okay, I’m honored. I’ll say yes! (August 2004)
  • Yes, I’ll host the historic Board Meeting where Rotation.org is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. (In August 2005)
  • Yes of course (I think??) I’ll agree to be President of the Board. (In December 2006)

The yeses became a blur... and how did this happen?

Next week we’ll start our 17th year of using the Rotation Model.

It has been quite a journey. From the start, I saw the need to write our own curriculum, to tailor to our kids and our congregation. I started off doing this writing all by myself. Eventually it became obvious that I needed to get more folks to help. And folks stepped up, and continue to be involved. I always point all of our writers to Rotation.org. The Writing Team lesson sets are superb.

My guiding assertion about the Rotation Model at our church comes from a longtime Rotation mentor, Cindy Merten, who says:

'The Rotation Model is a whole church ministry disguised as a children's program.

This leads to one more resounding Yes.

indeed, the Rotation Model and with it, Rotation.org, have been a rich blessing to a lot of people.
Happy Birthday Rotation.org. Here's to another 20.

-- Carol Hulbert

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Happy Birthday Rotation.org!

I was part of a team at Westwood Presbyterian Church in Wichita, KS, that began using the Rotation Model in 1996.  I can so relate to those who say they "never looked back" after making the transition!  And now, I have recently moved to a new town, new church and am hoping to help the transition happen here as well. The resources available on rotation.org are such a blessing! Thanks to all those who have taken the time to contribute to this site!

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