Sunday, September 7, 2008 was the day we rallied together during the 10:30 worship service and met our Sunday School classes and their teachers.  We promised to help our students grow in their faith. 

CLASSES BEGIN

Sunday School classes began on September 14. Beginners class is for 3-5 year olds.  Middles class is for 6-8 year olds. Big Kids and Oldest Kids are for 9 through teen. (We often meet together.) 

The children begin Sunday in worship with a Children’s Story and then have classes downstairs and in the McCollum Building during the rest of the hour.  Our teachers bring them back to the Round Room at the end of classes.

Our curriculum is called Seasons of the Spirit.  It has been developed by several Protestant churches and is used worldwide. All our classes study the same Bible passage on a given Sunday. We learn through singing, looking at artwork, story telling, acting, making crafts, and helping others.  Booklets are available for home use during each church season.

Lois Boericke

 

 

 

 

 This space will have the weekly Sunday School lesson summary, taken from the Spirit of the Seasons.   Parents may want to review the Bible reading with their child before coming to church.  

January 25, 2009  based on Mark 1:14-20  Follow Me:  God calls many different people in many different ways. Jesus calls four fishers to "follow me".  How can we hear God's call in our lives?

February 1, 2009 based on Mark 1:21-28  Power to Do: People are amazed at Jesus' power to teach with authority and cast out demons.

February 8, 2009 based on Mark 1:29-39  Source of Strength: Prayer is the source of strength for following Jesus' call to serve. Prayer keeps us in focus for ministry, making us messengers of Good News.

February 15, 2009 based on Mark 1:40-45  Compassionate Community: Faith and trust are required to risk crying out to God for healing for ourselves and others. With confidence in God we are free to ask for the healing we need.

February 22, 2009 based on Mark 9:2-9  Sense of the Sacred: Mark describes Jesus' transfiguration and, with the disciples, we sense the sacred moment. We will see in a new way from this time forward.

Big Idea -- Veggie Tales activities, coloring pages, wallpaper, etc

Garden of Praise - Children's Bible Lessons and Activities

Keys for Kids Devotional -- from Childrens Bible Hour

Kids Virtual Church -- from virtualchurch.org; Illistrated Bible stories, coloring pages and Christian kids links

Little Lambs Ministry -- Bible Story Coloring Pages

MustardSeed -- Glossary of people, places and things in the Bible

WHAT ARE WE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN?

Our children join the rest of the congregation for the first part or “movement” of the worship service, following which they leave with their teachers for their classes. What are they learning?  What “curriculum” do we use?  Why this curriculum and not another?

These are the questions we need to be asking as our children leave for their classes.

For the past few months, we have been hearing about the “Church Year” and its “Seasons”, seasons based on a particular historical understanding of human beings and which are distinct from the seasons of nature. It was also decided recently that the six major editions of the NEWSLETTER would be based on the seasons of the Church Year.

Our current curriculum is titled SEASONS OF THE SPIRIT, seeing “Spirit” as the thread which ties all of the Seasons together. Beginning September 14, we resume our exploration of the Season of Pentecost, which began on Pentecost Sunday, May 18, and concludes the Church year November 23, followed by the Advent Season which initiates the Church year on November 30. We then move into Christmas and Epiphany.

Prepare for the Season: Lent and Easter

Check out these ideas and links for more information about Lent and Easter:

• The Events of Holy Week -- this page has a timeline of holy week happenings and explains where Jesus was, what He did and what events took place in this important week.

From the Sunday School Superintendent:

We have approximately 20 students who have reached the age to explore their faith as a preparation for Confirmation.  We have  contacted the students and their families, selected a Confirmation curriculum, designed the learning experiences, and started the classes.  We will continue through summer of 2007. Please keep these Confirmation  activities, teachers and students in your prayers.  Thanks!

Vacation Bible School - August 18-22, 2009

Ready to travel back in time?

Learn more about our Sunday School Curriculum:

We use "Seasons of the Spirit" which has weekly lesson plans for teachers. These are coordinated with the revised common lectionary.  The weekly classes have time for Focus Scripture, Gather,  Engage, Respond, Bless and Reflect.

We pray, sing, read scripture, do Bible oriented crafts, view posters and have a small snack together.  It is also a time to talk together about our week and events in our lives in a Christian environment.  We team teach, two teachers for each age group, alternating weeks.  For any questions about the Sunday School, call the church office at (603) 673-3500 and leave a message for Lois Boericke. 

 For more information on the curriculum, go to webpage www.spiritseasons.com