Church School
Church School Schedule
Church School at All Souls is scheduled concurrently with Sunday Worship Services (10:00 am). While parents of infants and children younger than four years old may drop those children off in the Nursery before the worship service begins, Church School students go to the Meetinghouse with their parents for the first part of the service. On most Sundays during the Church School year there will be a time when children gather at the front of the Meetinghouse for a moment with the pastors, after which the children will be dismissed to their Church School classes. Parents are welcomed and encouraged to help younger students find their way during this process, which can at times resemble the historic Exodus.
When children are dismissed, students up to the High School level gather in the Vestry (immediately below the sanctuary) for songs, an offering, and announcements. Students then move to their respective classrooms for study and activities. High School Students adjourn directly from the Meetinghouse to their class spaces.
Church School class activities continue until church is over (approximately 11:15 a.m.- times can vary from week to week). For the safety of younger children during this transition time, teachers in classes up to grade three will not dismiss students until parents actually come to the class to pick them up. Parents of students in these classes are reminded that it is important to pick up your children immediately after church before joining in fellowship activities.
Church Family Sundays
Several times during each Church School year regular Church School classes are not held in order that children may join their parents for regular worship services. The Children’s table in the back of the Meetinghouse will be supplied with extra, quiet activity materials. Pew pals (stuffed animals), story books, coloring and activity sheets, and crayons will be available for children to borrow during the service. Young children who may not have developed the patience to sit through an entire church service are welcome to leave the worship service at a certain point (listed in the worship bulletin) in order to participate in a special quiet storytime, usually held in Room A. Parents are encouraged to escort young children to the storytime area and return to the worship service.
Summer Sunday Fellowship Program
Our own church school year will come to a close, ending with a wonderful Youth Sunday service on May 21st.
But the ministry of our church does not end in the summer months. All summer (and also any Sunday’s during the school year that do not have structured classes), the Children’s table in the back of the Meetinghouse will be supplied with extra, quiet activity materials. Pew pals (stuffed animals), story books, coloring and activity sheets, and crayons will be available for children to borrow during the service. These are quiet type activities that children can borrow to use during the worship time.
We also offer a Summer Activity Program entitled, Summer Sunday Fellowship. Each Sunday through the summer months, children who prefer not to remain in church, will be dismissed at the usual time from the Meetinghouse to gather downstairs in the Vestry. Children in preschool and Kindergarten will have age-appropriate activities in the Nursery. Older children will enjoy supervised activities in the Vestry. These activities may include crafts, puzzles, and movies, with even a quiet space to read. Unlike church school, the purpose of the Summer Activity Program will be to meet in Christian fellowship to play, relax, and maybe even work on some simple service projects for the church.
If you have any puzzles, Bible games, movies, books, stuffed animals, or other activities to suggest, please share your ideas with us. We are also looking for adult volunteers to help us monitor this relaxed fellowship program. The Summer Sunday Fellowship will begin Sunday, May 28th and continue through September 2006.
Special events
Kindergarten Blessing
On Sunday, September 25, we will be giving the kindergartners their first Bibles. It is a special time for the children and for us. This seems a very important time to acknowledge once again the great gift these children are to us all. There are critical times when publicly blessing these gifts of God is valuable for the child, the parent and the congregation. We believe that as our children begin his or her school career, we have arrived at another opportune moment.
3rd Grade Race Through the Bible
All Souls Congregational Church traditionally presents Bibles to third graders. Two years ago we established a new practice, where together, children and parents learned about this great book before the gift from the church. Mrs. Garrett and Mrs. Hall host a series of workshops we call “Race through the Bible”. These workshops will help students get to know their new Bible; how to use their Bible and have a better understanding of what is in the Bible. Parents (or guardians) are included because they are the primary faith educator for their child. Faith education is a family practice, and we want this to be part of that parent-child effort.
These workshops will be held, before church, from 8:45 to 9:45am, on October 2, 9, 16, and 23. On October 30th, we will be presenting students with their new Bibles in our worship service. This will reaffirm to the student, parent and congregation that we recognize that this is an important step in the students’ faith journey.