CHILDREN'S CHRISTIAN EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Contact: Laura Dolch, Children's Ministries Coordinator, 273-5971, lauradolch@stpaulsithaca.org
"Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." Matthew 19:14
INFANTS AND TODDLERS
Infants and toddlers are welcome in the Sunday morning worship service, and in age-specific childcare rooms. Childcare is available from 9:30-12:00. Infants are in the room near the restrooms, 1-2 year olds are in the first room to the left after passing the kitchen area.
FAITH DISCOVERY GROUP (ages 3-4)
The Faith Discovery Group class explores Bible stories in the context of some weekly routines that provide a safe, predictable setting for preschoolers. In addition to a Teacher, who is with the class from week to week, the class is visited by a Storyteller who brings the specific story for a given Sunday. Bible stories are presented with hands-on activities that engage the children using a variety of learning styles.
FAITH EXPLORERS (grades K-6)
Faith Explorers is the exciting Christian Education program that uses a variety of learning paths to help reinforce Bible stories for our children. They hear storytelling in the Caravan Camp, create art projects in the Carpenter’s Workshop, and view videos in the Oasis Theater. They also visit the Temple, the Mission Well, the Promised Land, and the Our Daily Bread Café for music, drama, nature, and cooking projects that enable them to experience Bible Stories using all of their senses.
This fall, the children are learning about the anointing of David in a unit called David: God's Chosen King. Workshops include storytelling, making pop-up puppets to show that God sees what it inside when others just see the outside, playing games, writing poetry similar to the Psalms that David wrote, and reenacting the anointing of David in the drama class.
When: Sunday mornings during the 10:30 worship service. Children go to worship with their families, leaving for their classes after the Time with Young Christians (~10:45). On Family Worship Sundays (about every 6 weeks) children remain in the worship service allowing intergenerational worship as a community. Faith Explorers classes end at about 11:45 and the children will be reunited with their parents in the Memorial Rooms, or parents can find their children outside their workshop space in the Bible Village.
Faith Explorers and Faith Discovery Group
2008-2009 Unit Topics
Unit 1: David: God’s
September 7: Family Worship
September 14: Session 1
September 21: Session 2
September 28: Session 3
October 5: Session 4
October 12: Family Worship
October 19: Session 5
Unit 2: Good Samaritan “Healing Across Boundaries”
October 26: Session 1
November 2: Session 2
November 9: Session 3
November 16: Session 4
November 23: Session 5
November 30: Family Worship
December 7: Session 1
December 14: Session 2
December 21: Session 3
December 28: Family Worship
Unit 4: Jesus Calls the Disciples “Hearing God’s Call”
January 4: Session 1
January 11: Session 2
January 18: Session 3
January 25: Session 4
February 1: Session 5
February 8: Celebration Sunday
February 15: Family Worship
February 22: Family Worship
March 1: Session 1
March 8: Session 2
March 15: Session 3
March 22: Session 4
March 29: Session 5
April 5: Celebration Sunday
April 12: Family Worship (Easter)
April 19: Family Worship
Unit 6: Healing Stories of Jesus and the Disciples
April 26: Intro Session
May 3: Session 1
May 10: Session 2
May 17: Session 3
May 24: Family Worship
May 31: Session 4
June 7: Session 5
June 14: Celebration Sunday
June 21: Memory Verse Sunday