The start of 2022 saw our small, but mighty group of church school children meeting with me in the dining room. This allowed us the space to spread out, just in case the cursed COVID was a lingering issue. As with the rest of the congregation, we were ready to pivot to remote meetings should the county COVID numbers require it. And we did need to do that, occasionally.
We spent the winter and spring months continuing to work on creating a book in response to the We are the Church banner. We spent time talking about the banner phrases, watching videos connected to the themes, writing poems and stories, and creating artwork in response to the words on the banner. We also set personal goals related to each phrase. While the book is not yet ready for publication, it will be soon!
After the summer break, church school started up again in September. Because of questionable COVID numbers in the spring, we moved Children’s Day to the fall. We were treated to the wonderful storytelling of Simon Brooks. Simon had been with us a few years ago, and I think that everyone enjoyed his return visit. It was a great way to cap off last year’s church school theme of “Story.”
In October and November, we moved our meeting space to the third floor and continued working on our book. I was thrilled to see a few new kids joining us. Hopefully, we can build upon this to get even more families to worship with us.
In December, as every year, we focused on Advent and Christmas. On December 4th after worship, we hosted an Advent craft activity for families where we made Advent calendars of kindness. Each day on the calendar was a pocket where you would find a suggested kindness activity, such as:
- Compliment 5 people today.
- Walk your neighbor’s dog.
- Call a relative or friend who lives far away.
The idea is that these actions would be easy ways to create kind habits and think of others during the Advent season. It was a wonderful afternoon filled with felt, glitter, hot glue, laughter, and pizza!
We were able to continue the tradition of a live nativity on December 16th. We had a full cast with at least a dozen children, and three adults filling in some crucial roles. The weather did not follow tradition; it was actually warm enough to stay outside for the entire show without kids crying because of the cold. Thanks to all who came to hear the words, sing Christmas carols and watch the story come to life. A special thanks to the parents who got all the children into costumes and ready to go while I was locked out of my house and car.
As we begin a new calendar year, I am hopeful for the future of our church school. We have had some weeks where, for various reasons, numbers were quite low and I wondered if we could continue. However, recently, attendance has been up. The children who do come are generally happy to be there, and always willing to go along with my plans. I am excited to finish our book and then start a new project that will show our kids that being a good and caring person can be fun. If you know of any families with school-age children who might be looking for a church to call home, I encourage you to suggest that they give us a try.
I must thank Peter and the Board of Christian Education for their support and encouragement. A special thank you goes out to CE Board member Dan Senning who has been staffing the nursery for months. Thanks to all the parents who allow me to spend Sunday mornings with their children and who show up for every event that we plan. My sincere thanks to all the members of this congregation who, in spite of relatively few children, recognize the importance of committing to a church school program.
Respectfully submitted,
Lori Morse