“No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!”

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION:

Infants to Grandparents

Nursery Care | Sunday School | Adult Education

• Nursery Care:
  Christian Education starts with nursery care each Sunday throughout the year for children whose parents feel comfortable bringing them to the nursery. A pleasant atmosphere exists for infants to four year olds. Volunteers Needed! Nursery care, which becomes all child care during the summer, is provided year-round. Christian Education is once again seeking help to provide this care. If everyone able signed up for one Sunday, coverage would be provided without taxing the regular volunteers. If you would like to help us, there is a sign up sheet in the Vestry.
  
• Sunday School
  Sunday School for children ages 5 to 14 is held from 10am to 11am each Sunday during the school year. Rally day kicks off Sunday School the Sunday after Labor Day and Sunday School ends the first week in June with an all church picnic. Our class rooms are divided by school class: Kindergarten through first grade, second and third grade, fourth grade through eighth grade.Each Sunday at the end of class we hold a short worship service to familiarize the children with portions of the church service. We have developed our own hymnal that combines very contemporary songs along with some old traditional hymns.We are charged with providing the Word to your children through the stories of the Bible. We ask that you reinforce these teachings in your daily lives. The Bible holds amazing stories that need to be told and discussed to be understood. We hope you and your children will want to come and share the experience with us each week.

  The Sunday School prepares a Christmas Pageant which is presented to the congregation on the second Sunday of December. The pageants have run from contemporary to traditional. Each year the Christmas Pageant features a different way to tell the story of Jesus’ birth.

  Children, in grades two through eight, share acolyte duties each Sunday from October to June. Additionally, the second Sunday of the month is Children’s Story time during the worship service and on the third Sunday of the month children in grades six through eight read the scripture lesson during the service. These activities help the children to understand the importance of the worship service.

  Sunday school is not the only activity that Christian Education has for the children and adults. Once a month from June through October we go on a hike in the area. Parents, children and other adults enjoy these wonderful outdoor hikes. We also visit Sherman Farms in October for the traditional pumpkin ride. This year we also enjoyed the maize.

  Christmas Family night is held the first Sunday in December. We all make decorations for the Christmas tree that stands in the sanctuary, eat a brown bag dinner and sing carols. It is an event enjoyed by all and gets everyone into the spirit of the season.

   

• Adult Education
  Adult education classes are held twice a year in the fall and in the spring. The usual time for these six week classes are Tuesday evenings from 7-8pm. (see calendar for exact dates and time of classes).
  One of the foremost theologians of our time has said that the primary task of the church is the re-education of adults. He states this because he believes that most adults stopped their spiritual development before they began asking some of the basic questions of life. Therefore many adults’ education in the Christian faith is at a grade school level and much deeper, wider, higher appreciation of the faith is needed in the world in which we live today.It is also very true that like many churches our church now has members that come from a vast variety of religious backgrounds. We have ideas, questions, thoughts, and doubts that need to be addressed. We have found that small group settings are good because there is safety, confidentiality, and trust that develop. People have been set free to ask questions. We are all stretched. Our faith has expanded. Our understanding has grown. We don’t have all the answers, but we provide a safe place to ask questions and to grow in strength to live honestly with our questions.

  We have consciously used curriculum that uses a variety of means to touch us. We use the written word, DVDs with a variety of people expressing their views, and music and stories that can touch us. We have used “Living the Questions”, “Saving Jesus”, and are in the midst of using a three part “Living the Questions 2.0”. We have also used a longer-term study using the book “The Heart of Christianity” by Marcus Borg.

  We hope to keep growing, expanding, and stretching our minds so that we can better follow the Way that Jesus has set before us.