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Church School
The parish Sunday School has enrollment available to
all children from age 3 to grade 9.
For information contact Marielena Cardinale at (908)
359-6873
Our goals
include:
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To
provide a carefully balanced Christian Education program
designed for our children, to reinforce our
Episcopal/Anglican heritage and the practices of worship and
living that accompany it.
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To offer
a supportive and patient learning environment in order to
foster development of these Christian principles and
practices in our children.
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To create
a stronger and more visible relationship between our
parent(s) and their child(ren) in the regular practice of
their Christian faith, in order to bring us all into a
closer personal and corporate relationship with Jesus Christ
our Lord, learning to love God and our neighbors as
ourselves.
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We must be serious about the task of Christian formation (i.e.
Baptism) and Christian Education (i.e. church school) Our
children and youth must come to see themselves in a sort of master
apprentice relationship with older Christians, in which the young
look over the shoulders of those who are attempting to be Christian
in today's world.
Christian education is important. Christian modeling is
important. Christian Baptism is important. But Christian
education in its own unique way, should provide opportunities for
developing believers to model their lives upon those who dedicate
their lives to faith and teaching.
It should also encourage all Christians from this community of faith,
to realize that we have the sacred responsibility to fashion our
lives and thoughts upon distinctively Christian convictions.
Please pray for our Church School program, teachers and children.
How
do we teach our children to be stewards?
Terry Parsons, stewardship officer for
Congregational Development at the Episcopal Church Center, responds:
The occasion was a vestry meeting to
write a stewardship statement. The group was completing a discussion
of 'early memories of money as an offering' that had been so lively,
I couldn't help commenting. "You seem to have really enjoyed talking
about these memories of giving offerings as children. Tell me, what
do the children in this congregation do about offering?"
There was a sudden,
embarrassed silence. Finally, one quiet voice responded with a
mixture of realization and regret, "Nothing, I guess. I really
hadn't thought about it until now."
As we talked, members of that vestry
realized that in their congregation there was no Sunday school
offering. Children left the worship service as soon as the gospel
had been read and returned in time to follow the offering towards
the altar. There literally was no opportunity for them to
participate in any offering at all!
The good news is that the situation
changed for those children on the very next Sunday. The vestry
member, also the children's Sunday school teacher, invited her
students to talk about offering and create their own offering box.
Now, that box is placed on top of the
worship offering and presented at the altar each Sunday by one of
the children. The priest leaves the offering on the altar until the
conclusion of the Eucharist, and the children see their box sitting
there when they come to the altar rail. The children also have
selected outreach projects funded by "the children's offering."
"What are we teaching our children
about stewardship?" is a critical question, especially as we teach
them very little. We teach them to shop but not to share!
We can and must change this. Here are a
few ideas to get you started:
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Make sure there is an opportunity
for children to give an offering each week. The children's
offering can come during Sunday school, children's church or the
morning worship, but it should be an event, part of the liturgy.
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Give offering envelopes to every
child who wants them. Do not be dismayed for the uses children
will find for these envelopes. I will never forget the morning
we had to find an extra envelope for a child who had used his
for the tooth that had come out during Sunday school
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Honor every gift. Record children's
offering and give them regular statements along with adults,
regardless of the amount they contribute. If the cost of keeping
the records and generating the statements exceeds the amount of
the contribution, so what? This is an investment in formation.
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Teach parents how to teach their
children. An adult forum on early memories of money will be
valuable to the adults. End it with the question: "What memories
do you want your children to have?" and it will be valuable to
their children. Anyone interested in a "parents as stewards"
training session, place call for a copy of the outline.
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Invest in Growing a Grateful
Generous Heart, a four-week stewardship curriculum for children
from pre-school though grade six. It includes an excellent guide
for parents.
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Incorporate a discussion of
stewardship into confirmation class. One priest I know includes
it in preparation for baptism, which is an even better idea.
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Include Christian Education
volunteers in planning for your annual stewardship program. They
are a valuable ally and may bring some fresh ideas along with
them. Encourage them to look for stewardship teaching
opportunities.
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Office of Stewardship:
800-334-7626
www.episcopalchurch.org/stewardship
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