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We
are all Children of God, but we at Peace United Church of Christ
believe our “little ones” need special attention and
nurture.
More about our Children’s Ministries
Sunday School –
What’s Up??
Fall schedule
: Updated 10/2/08
ü November (2, 9, 16
& 23) “Dress
the Turkey”
fundraiser to help feed people for Thanksgiving. All proceeds goes to S.A.F.P.A.R.C.
(Shawano Area Food Pantry and Resource
Center)
Help feather the turkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Purchase feathers after worship for $1.00. You may add a name to the feathers you
purchase in honor or in memory of a special person.
ü November 9th ~ Teacher training following Sunday school – The gospel of
Mark.
11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. – pot luck –
all welcome
ü November 16th
~ Pizza and Game Day following Sunday school for 4th
through 6tht grades. Games will relate to hunger and poverty in keeping
with our Dress the Turkey
emphasis for November.
ü November 30th ~ We will have class this Sunday with the
possibility of combining some classes if families are away for the
Thanksgiving weekend. Theme this
week will be “celebrating Advent”.
ü December 6th~
Cut the tree youth event – (see youth events)
ü Christmas giving tree ~ Christmas is not YOUR
birthday project.
ü December 20th ~ Saturday morning
rehearsal for SS Christmas program
ü December 21st ~ Sunday school Christmas program – “gifts” for
children and birthday party for Jesus.
ü CHRISTMAS EVE
SERVICES ~ 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Make this a family
event!!
ü December 28th ~ No Sunday School
ü February 13 –
15 ~ Make your reservations and mark your
calendars now for our annual all church winter retreat at Moon Beach!
Our Board for Christian Education
made a decision for the 2008 -2009 Sunday school year. They decided that 10% of all the money
collected through the Sunday school would go to mission.
Through
October 12th – $34.02 went to CROP WALK. Before Thanksgiving 10% will go to SAFPARC
as part of the SS “Dress the Turkey” effort.
Sunday
School – regular meeting times
10:15 – 11:15 a.m. Sunday mornings –
September through May
Music practice
for selected age groups is 11:15 to 11:30
Songs learned
during this time will be sung by the children at worship services
throughout the year.
Children should go directly to their
classrooms. Parents not
participating in regular classroom activities (you are always welcome)
should wait in the Library for their children to be dismissed.
This year we will be using Seasons of the
Spirit as our regular curriculum.
Seasons allows us to coordinate our Sunday school lessons with the
lessons read in worship on Sunday morning.
Our goal is to nurture the faith of our kids – and their
leaders within a caring community. We want to instill knowledge and also
encourage kids to respond with their hearts and lives.
Chapel Time
–
children 5
through grade 4
Chapel
worship for children age 5 through 4th grades will be from 11:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
How it works:
- Settle in and
Prayer of invocation
- Theme for the week
(3-5 min)
a.
Teams: We are on God’s team!!!
b.
Our first mission as God's Team:
“Crop Walk."
c.
Second Mission: Dress the turkey
d.
Third Mission: Giving Tree: Christmas is not
YOUR birthday
- Dedicating and
blessing our offerings (2-3 min.) - One child from each class will come
forward with that classes offering.
- Song or reading
from our Faith at Home lessons.
- Children will be
dismissed to their classrooms to get their things.
Sunday School
offering and mission
giving
Our Board for Christian Education
made a decision this year. They
decided that 10% of all the money collected through the Sunday school would
go to mission. 10% is a traditional tithe. It is the amount Abraham gives to
Melchizedek, King of Salem and priest of the Most High God, as a thank offering after God has
delivered Abraham from his enemies.
(Genesis 14:19-29) It is the
amount that God expects the
people of Israel
to give in thanksgiving for God’s goodness to them and for the
welfare of those in need.
The missions to which our
children will give ten percent of their offerings will vary throughout the
year. Through the 12th of
October, 10% of the offering will go to feed the hungry through our CROP
WALK involvement. Before
Thanksgiving 10% will go to SAFPARC as part of the SS “Dress the Turkey”
effort. In December we will have in
the Great Room our Christmas Giving Tree.
See “Christmas is not your Birthday.”
The
Sunday school is modeling for us one gracious way of giving thanks for
God’s generous grace – one gracious way of sharing God’s
grace
Christmas is
not YOUR birthday!
Christmas Giving tree
Rather than business as usual where we designate a
particular place for our Christmas Giving tree collection,
the Sunday school at Peace United Church of Christ is issuing a challenge
to the whole congregation. Our pastor mentioned a church last summer that
has given over 2 million dollars to develop water projects in the Sudan. They have collected that money by asking
members of their congregation to give to the project an amount equal to
what they spend on family and friends at Christmas. They call this effort “Christmas is
not YOUR birthday.” We are borrowing the name and challenging
everyone in the congregation to tithe
their Christmas giving – to give 10% of what they spend on family and
friends to do something for someone who is in need. We are challenging everyone to be bearers
of God’s grace to someone else.
We
will have lots of ideas for the places you can send that 10%. The tree will be decorated with those
ideas and you will be invited to add to the idea list. But how and where you give your 10% is up
to you. There will even be some
ideas for “in-kind” giving for those of you who don’t
think you can afford the monetary gifts.
When
we celebrate Christmas in the church, we celebrate the gift of God’s
presence with us. We celebrate the
coming of God into our world in Jesus. We
celebrate the coming of God’s grace in the flesh. God’s grace in the flesh who walked
around telling some demanding
parables and showing us what
grace is all about – giving his life to show how far grace will
go. Now is our opportunity to give
back in thanksgiving for God’s wondrous gift.
Faith-at-Home
Program
PARENT DIRECTED MEMORY WORK FOR
Peace United Church of Christ Sunday school
2008 – 2009
1. 3 AND 4 YEAR OLDS
Psalm
23 and Psalm 100
2. 5 YEAR OLDS AND EARLY CHILDHOOD
The
Lord’s prayer
3. KINDERGARTEN AND FIRST GRADE
Books
of the New Testament
4.
SECOND AND THIRD GRADE
Beatitudes
5. FOURTH GRADE (and FIFTH)
10
commandments
Great
commandment
6. SIXTH THROUGH EIGHTH
Books
of the Old Testament and UCC Statement of Faith
Faith at Home packets have been distributed to parents for each of their
children. Packets are available upon
request for other interested parties.
Nursery
While children are
welcome and encouraged to participate each Sunday during worship, we
recognize that it is often difficult for little ones to stay still and pay
attention for long periods of time.
Therefore we provide for your convenience a nursery.
The
“nursery” is located on the North side of the sanctuary (left
if you enter through the main doors.)
The two room area has been decorated and equipped to make them a
welcoming and hospitable place for the children of our members and children
of those who visit with us. There is an infant area with portable cribs, a
changing table and age appropriate toys.
There is another area for toddlers with play space, learning
resources, and a craft table. The
nursery is open during worship for infants through age 5. Trained
volunteers staff the nursery each Sunday.
(Copy the Ark picture here)
Children’s times during worship
Each week during worship a
special time is set aside to talk with the children. The message during children’s time
is designed to welcome and include as well as introduce the children to the
theme of the worship at a level they can understand. Many adults find these messages fun and
instructive, but they are not designed for adult entertainment. The focus is on the children and their
growth in faith and understanding.
Children in Worship
Children are welcome in
worship and encouraged to attend.
Though young children may not understand everything that happens
during a service of worship, they do understand that this is time set aside
for God. Taking your children to
worship reinforces their understanding that God is important to you.
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