November CE Update

Since Devon Murphy’s resignation the Christian Education committee members are assuming some of the director’s day-to-day administrative duties (ie running CORI reports, tracking attendance, reaching out to families to discuss changes, supporting those teaching on Sunday morning). We are working on inviting new volunteers into the program and are excited that Dawn Perron, Emma Barry, and Beth Heckman are jumping into the rotation along with Russell Hertel who continues to be there every Sunday he is available.  Carol McGee is overseeing the Nursery with Catherine McGee and the Duncan’s as volunteers to care for our littles. We continue to ensure that Safe Church policies and procedures are adhered to throughout the duration of Church School.

Pastor Stacey is assisting CE with Sunday lessons by decalcifying her curriculum writing skills and rediscovering her love for this work. Last Sunday she created a lesson focused on David’s song and poetry writing and the ways he was free in his life to spontaneously worship God. The children created a timeline of David’s life and got to move their bodies by choreographing their own dance to praise music. The CE team is looking at exciting new curriculum options from  SparkHouse, We have purchased a year subscription to the online portal, giving us access to their curriculum for Preschool and Elementary School children as well as middle school youth. This resource was recommended by Pastor Stacey who loves the worship connections offered by the curriculum writers. Check it out at: (https://sparkhousedigital.org/)  Our goal is to connect the Church School lessons with the Lectionary each week so adults and the children cover the similar material. 

We will continue with our Bible Hero theme through the end of November. In December we will shift to exploring Advent and the birth of Jesus and preparing for a Christmas Pageant which we are excited to share with the congregation on December 18th. On December 4^th we are also excited to be opening our church doors for a community soup potluck and Advent Craft program. Please help us spread the word about this. 

We will be seeking new Church School volunteers in these next weeks. Our goal is to welcome Debbie Allen, SNEUCC’s Minister of Faith Formation, to the church to provide a training on preparing and teaching a church school lesson and to engage in conversation with her about current trends in effective faith formation programming. You can see some of Debbie’s contributions to our Conference at:               

While this is a time of change, CE is looking to move through this moment of transition by exploring and   embracing opportunities that we know are in front of us. We have heard families in our congregation      seeking connections with the wider faith community and we know that the programming we offer to each other and the wider community can fulfill that request. We will continue to listen and seek to tap into God’s creative energy present here among us to guide us through.