Spiritual Formation for Children

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  

Matthew 19:14 

Childcare for Our Youngest

    Between September and May infants and toddlers are warmly invited to play  in our nursery during the Christian Education hour on Sundays (9am to 10am). The room will be newly painted and organized by September 2008 and should be a very welcoming place for little ones. The nursery is located downstairs in the Sunday School hallway.

    During the 10am service, the nursery moves upstairs to the Upper Parish Hall where children can be closer to parents. This space allows parents to come get their children for Communion easier and is a sunny spot for play during the service.

Godly Play for Preschoolers and Kindergartners

     Rooted in the fundamental human experiences of storytelling and of rituals, Godly Play provides young children with an opportunity to use their own God-given creativity to explores the sacred stories of our faith. 

"The use of Montessori’s approach to education has been adapted to Godly Play in order to stimulate children’s active participation in story and ritual and to awaken their creativity for the learning of the language ,sacred stories, parables, liturgical action and silence of the Christian tradition. This is the most appropriate kind of language to cope with the existential limits to our being and knowing." from Godly Play (http://www.godlyplay.org/view.php/page/research)

This image from www.godlyplay.org.

    The Godly Play room is a special room with special features--desert box, bookshelves with story and parable boxes, "work space," and a banquet table. Children are enthralled with this program.

Spiritual Formation for 1st through 6th Graders

    In the past we have followed "Living the Good News Curriculum," however, fall of 2008 marks the beginning of a new program that will focus more on a whole-Bible curriculum rather than just the Gospel.