'Christian Ed' Tagged Posts

The Church School is celebrating it’s 200th anniversary this year! On Sunday, April 21st, the kids met at Academy Hill at 9am. Deenie Burgess, Church Historian led a walking tour and taught us about our church school history.  Then we walked back down to the church to continue class. Thank you Deenie for sharing our church’s history with us!

The children continue their exploration and understanding of what it means to be part of God’s family.   This past Sunday, Covenant Hall was filled with smiles and â€soft†ball games as the children  focused on the  Families Remember God  unit  memory verse:  “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being and all your strength.† Deut. 6:5  Scheduled for next Sunday, Oct.  22, is the Storytelling and Drama station as we begin a new unit on…

Recommended Resources for Families These resources were written by Rev. Sarah Griffith Lund the Senior Pastor at First Congregational United Church of Christ (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Minister for Disabilities and Mental Health Justice for the National United Church of Christ.  Through vivid and powerful storytelling, Blessed Youth:   Breaking the Silence about Mental Illness with Children and Teens will remove the barriers of stigma and shame associated with mental illness in children and teens. Readers will know they are not alone and be…

e Our Church School is now utilizing a curriculum published by Cokesbury. In the Deep Blue is flexible in the units that are purchased, making it possible for us to support the current year’s theme of Bible Heroes and to fully return to the rotation model of teaching and exploring the     Bible, which has worked for our congregation for many years now.  Rotation church school programs base weekly lessons on a different learning and engagement style (cooking, story-telling, science, art,…

Advent Devotionals Two Advent Devotionals are available as you enter the Sanctuary and near the office. One for families with conversations laid out to have around the dinner table and activities that help children and youth understand the story of Christ’s birth in expanding ways. The second is tailored to adults with a single devotion for each week of Advent and a variety of questions that can be explored as you progress through Advent. These devotionals connect with the Advent…

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…

Have you ever thought about providing Infant & Toddler care in our Church community?   The Christian Education Committee is looking for individuals who would be willing to be a part of a rotation of caregivers in the Nursery during Worship Services on Sunday mornings.  4 or more volunteers would mean committing to once a month, or less.  If you are interested in caring for the youngest members of our congregation or have questions, please contact Carol McGee at  [email protected]

Hi families, Welcome back and Happy Fall! We are off to a great start this year with lots of smiling faces, some old and some new! We will be starting the service together with our church family weekly in the  Sanctuary.  Children are invited to sit with their families and will experience the beginning of the church service including a special message for all ages before being dismissed to church school.  We are asking that parents pick their children up…

This Tuesday, the leadership of Christian  Education and the church staff received a letter from our beloved Christian Education Director. Devon expressed to the congregation that given the current needs of her family and desire to be near her husband as he faces a difficult health diagnosis, she needs to resign from her position. We have known that this might be necessary for her and have wanted to be as supportive as possible in both her life and her ministry…

Intergenerational Sundays Beginning in October, our Congregation is returning to a tradition of first Sundays, Communion Sundays, encompassing all ages (with a new name). These services will be celebratory of our church family and embracing of our neighbors. Messages for All Ages will be a little longer with the Reflection being a little shorter with the messages from each being connected and anchored in scripture. Children and teens will be invited to participate in reading, taking the collection, greeting, lighting…

Hi Families!Welcome back to church school! This year we are excited to start off the year similar to how we were pre-covid! We are going back to the model where children will first be attending the service with their families before being dismissed to church school with the teachers where we will then gather in the lower hall (Covenant Hall) before going to our classes. The first Sunday of the month is going to be Family Sunday.On Family Sunday the…

Hi Families! Happy Summer! I wanted to first start off by thanking everyone who came to support our children in our annual Children’s day pageant.  It was the first one we were able to hold in the last few years due to Covid and it felt so good to be back!  Fun fact: The animals that the children used were all created by hand by them to use for our Christmas pageant.  If you remember, the Christmas pageant had to…

Hi families!I am excited that we will be having the first in-person Children’sSunday in two years on June 12. Practice for this will be taking placein church school during regular class time on May 29 and June 5.The kids have anxiously been waiting to show you their creationsthat they made for the Christmas pageant which we will beincorporating into our children’s day skit. Please join us afterwardon the side lawn for our annual ice cream social following theservice.June 12 will…

When looking up the definition of a Pastor in the dictionary it tells us that it means “a clergyperson serving a local church or parish.â€Â  When I read that line it seems like such a standard description for such an important person.  A basic and even boring statement that could be used to describe anyone that has even the most basic of knowledge of the Bible or just any simpleton who can lead a group of people.  However, with conviction, I…

Hi Families! I am happy to announce that we are officially mask-free at church school!  Families have the option of doing whatever works best for their children, (either in masks or without masks) but now the masking is optional.  We will still continue to keep the windows open to allow for fresh air circulation and we will still social distance whenever possible as well as sanitize all items regularly. This year we will be celebrating Palm Sunday together as a…

Hello church families! As we continue to make our way through these unchartered covid waters, I want to thank you all for bearing with us and allowing us to continue to be flexible with our programming. We are working hard in these ever-changing times to continue to provide accommodations for classes and Spiritual learning for our littlest members of the church. At this time we have decided on meeting in person. Please Continue to follow the church school Facebook page…

Hi families! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas with your families. Keep an eye out as we are still going to have the pageant as planned before! The kids are continuing their work on the nativity animals during church school. We will plan to have a Christmas pageant after the start of the new year. It will be later than planned, but I don’t want to rush it and the children deserve their time to shine.  We will…

Hi families! It’s been so nice to have church school in person and to see all of your smiling faces!! As we head into the advent season we have a few announcements. If you have a child in the nursery or the preschool/ kindergarten classroom we are asking you to please send me a message by Fridays at 6 pm to let us know if your child will be attending church school for that Sunday.  We love to see each…

Hi families! Hope everyone’s school year is off to a great start!  We have transitioned to in person church school again and boy was I thrilled to see all of those happy smiling eyes behind their masks!  A gentle reminder as we start to settle into our routine, the children are being dropped off at the back entrance to the church.  Caregivers will sign them in and staff member will walk them directly to their classrooms.  The children are being…

Hi Families! Welcome back to our church school 2021/2022 year! I am so excited to see all of your faces in the building again!  It was a long journey, but we made it!  I am really excited about our theme for this year.  This year’s theme is based upon 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.”  This will be a year of transformations and new beginnings.  Our stories will be based upon…

I hope you are enjoying your summer together and making great family memories! We are here at the church getting busy for a fun fall start! As of now, this coming September we will be IN PERSON again!!! We are working hard following ever changing state guidelines always with the children’s safety in mind. The classrooms will look a little bit different but will be led with the same familiar smiles, laughter and love. Our theme for this year is…

Hi families!I would like to start off by congratulating both Abby Brogan and Catherine McGee on their confirmation this past April. We enjoyed a special socially distant service with their families at the church. As soon as we are all able we will recognize and celebrate the girls with a coffee hour dedicated in their honor as a church family.  Thank you to everyone who sent in cards for them, it was a nice addition to help us all stay…

Hello families and Happy Spring! I would like to invite our church school kids to an outdoor Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday April 3rd. Between the hours of 10-12 am (weather permitting), there will be eggs located on the side lawn of the church. There will be a scavenger hunt list in the lesson plan bucket at the side entrance to the church guiding you on how many of each color to collect and the significance of the colors. Each…