Religious Education
Dear Parents:
Welcome back from your summer adventures near
and far!
Bring a friend or a new family to catch the
spirit of our religious education program for children of all ages. Because we
are a small, family oriented church, parents help direct us to the parts of
scripture they want their children to be taught.
Below are some of our plans for this Sunday
school year. Please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.
CURRICULUM
While the U.S. Supreme Court was considering
cases on the display of the Ten Commandments in different venues, the Religious
Education Committee of the First Church questioned if the children knew the Ten
Commandments or knew what they are and what they mean. Often, we can
recite something very familiar (the Lord’s Prayer) without thinking about what
it means.
So this year we will be hearing the Bible
stories that focus on many of the basic tenets of our faith, delving into their
meaning and retelling the stories. We will begin with the Ten Commandments and
the Lord’s Prayer.
One of the joys of our small Sunday school is to
easily provide choices for families. Some of the children choose to go to Morning
Prayer for the first part of the worship service and come to Sunday school at
the end of the first hymn. Others decide to attend Sunday school for the whole
morning. One teacher will attend Morning Prayer with the children and the other
teacher will be in the classroom for those who prefer to come directly to
Sunday school.
SAVE THE
DATE: Sunday, October 30th, 2pm-4pm
Games,
crafts, refreshments and a special, life sized puppet show for all ages.
Ideas and helping hands are
most welcome!
early church
Families meet in the minister’s study from 10:00
to 10:20 a.m. for Early Church, a participatory worship service in which
children ring the bell, read the day’s psalm, hear a lesson, learn a hymn and
take a collection. Each year the children vote on the organization to which
they want to contribute their
Again, in response to discussions with the
Religious Education Committee, stories will focus on Paul’s Letters and what
they tell us about the early Christian churches, the variety of issues,
questions and responses. This will lead us into the stories of how Christianity
became a world religion.
music
Continuing with our musical endeavors, we have a
set of hand bells and will be teaching the children to ring out the Good
News. Special thinks to enthusiastic music teacher Pat Timothy who has
been teaching the teachers how to be bell ringers and what fun it is. It’s not
the same old regular way to ring a bell! We have Pat’s expertise, bells, books
and CD’s and can’t wait to start ringing with the children (ages @ 5 and
older).
We will pay special attention to hymns and folk tunes that sing about the
morning lesson. How does the music emphasize the words? What accent does the
author of the words give to the story? Special seasonal music is always part of
our Christmas pageant and Easter breakfast hymn sing preparations.
Sunday School begins
on Sunday, September 11, 10:00 a.m. for
Joan Hunt Chair, Religious Education Committee
Lesley Frankel, Director of Religious Education