Post Tagged with: "Crossroads Fellowship Church"

Pastor Appreciation Day Gives ACS Students an Opportunity to Honor, Thank Their Pastors

We love our pastors! Nearly 50 pastors and ministry leaders from churches across South Jersey were treated to breakfast and a student-led chapel for Pastor Appreciation Day on February 16.  It was a special time for ACS students to honor and thank their pastors for the important role they play as their spiritual leaders and mentors. Pastors and students spent time together at breakfast, worshipping in chapel, and posing for group photos after chapel.

Pastor Mat Mouliert of Crossroads Fellowship Church shared an encouraging message with the pastors during breakfast. 12th grader Sam Glancey spoke during the chapel program about the importance of being trained to go out and share the gospel and thanked the pastors for discipling and training the next generation and encouraged them “to do more of what you are already doing.”

During his breakfast remarks, Pastor Mat shared some of the lessons he has learned during his five-year battle with cancer.  “Suffering happens to all of us and God wants us to glorify Him through our suffering,” Pastor Mat said. “Suffering builds perseverance and character and also opens doors that would never be available to us otherwise.”

The chapel also included performances to bless our pastors by the PreK4 students, the Kindergarten students, the 5th Grade Band, the 5th Grade Worship Team, and the High School Worship Team. Students in elementary classes also created several hundred unique, hand-written thank-you cards that were given to the pastors to take back with them.

Thank you to the parent and staff volunteers who donated food and served at the Pastor Breakfast.

 

Student Council Sponsoring Christmas Hat, Headband Day, Other Fun Christmas Activities for Week of December 19

A number of fun, Christmas-themed activities for students and staff, including Christmas Hat and Headband Day, Wear Your Christmas Jammies Day, and Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, are planned for the week of December 19, sponsored by the Student Council.

 

Christmas Hat and Headband Day – 12/19, all-day event
On Monday, December 19, all PreK-12th grade students and staff are invited to wear a Christmas-themed hat or headband.

 

 

Wear Your Christmas Jammies Day – 12/20, all-day event
On Tuesday, December 20, all PreK-12th grade students and staff are invited to wear modest Christmas pajamas. No sweatpants, please.

 

 

Red, White, and Green Day – 12/21, all-day event
On Wednesday, December 21, all PreK-12th grade students and staff are invited to dress in the Christmas colors of red, white, and green. Jeans can be worn, however, with no rips or tears.

 

 

Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest – 12/22, all-day event
Students in K-12th grade and staff can wear your ugliest Christmas sweater to school on Thursday, December 22. Each homeroom will choose one student to be entered in a competition during the all-school Christmas Chapel. Contestants will come up to the front during chapel and the winners will be chosen by applause. If you do not own an ugly sweater, you may wear jeans with a red or green top. Prizes will be given for the best ugly sweater in K-5 and 6th-12th grades.

 

All-School Christmas Chapel – 12/22, 9:00 a.m
The all-school Christmas Chapel for PreK4-12th grade students and staff will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the gymnasium. The chapel will be live streamed over the ACS YouTube channel. Various student groups will perform during the chapel, including the Middle School Band, the High School Worship Team, the 5th Grade Worship Team, and the 2nd Grade Classes. Pastor Matt Mouliert, Senior Pastor at Crossroads Fellowship in Pleasantville, will be sharing a Christmas message. After the message, the Ugly Christmas Sweater winners will be announced as well as the winners of the Early Ed-5th Grade Christmas Tree Decorating Contest and the 6th-12th Grade Christmas Door Decorating Contest.

 

Christmas Parties and Group Activities – 12/19-12/22
Students in our Early Education and Elementary Classes will be holding Christmas celebration parties on various days during the week of December 19. On Thursday, December 22, after the all-school Christmas Chapel, Middle School students will enjoy an Escape Room activity and High School students will participate in a Lip-Sync Contest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High School Students Challenged to Stand Firm in their Faith at October Retreat

What does it mean to stand firm in your faith? ACS students were challenged to answer that question at our day-long High School Spiritual Emphasis Retreat on Friday, October 23 held at the school campus.  A variety of speakers, including Crossroads Fellowship Pastor Matt Mouliert, shared their personal faith journeys with the students in small and large group sessions.

The speakers encouraged the students that spiritual growth comes when we hold fast to the truth in God’s Word and are not swayed by the influences of pop culture, internet influencers, and what friends and other people have to say about you.

Upper School Principal Meg McHale said the one-day retreat was focused on giving the students time to explore more deeply the meaning of our spiritual development theme verse from 1 Corinthians 16:13 — Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. The speakers and agenda for the retreat were organized by Upper School Vice Principal Drew Carney.

“We felt there was a need to recalibrate our hearts and reprioritize who God is in our lives because we see our students being pulled in a lot of different directions,” Carney said. “Our speakers did an excellent job of reaching our students in a very personal way. There was a lot of valuable interaction, especially in the small groups.”

Gabe Connelly, the Youth Director at Coastal Christian, led a time of prayer, worship, and devotions to start off the day, and also led worship before lunch and at the conclusion of the retreat. Six different speakers, three men and three women, led small group sessions in various classrooms, with boys and girls in separate sessions. The six speakers were Pastor Matt Mouliert, head pastor at Crossroads Fellowship Church in Pleasantville; Chief School Administrator Karen Oblen; Pastor Christian Ragland, who is the Operations Pastor and works with the youth ministry at Lighthouse Community Church in Pleasantville; Ariel Richvalsky, a 2005 ACS alumnus and former high school faculty member; Tanner Rigdon, the Youth Director at Fusion Church; and high school faculty member Gina Wilson.

During one small group session, Pastor Mouliert talked about the impact of “labels” — ones that other people place on you and ones that you place on yourself. In another session, Pastor Ragland focused on the importance of staying on guard against the enemy and encouraged the young men to surround themselves with people who will help you stay on guard. In the final session of the retreat, Pastor Mouliert presented a closing devotion that encouraged the students to reflect on what they had learned and to take concrete steps to grow in their relationship with Christ.