Christian Education
Christian Education Committee News
Announcements |
| WANTED: SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS! September will soon be here. With September comes the resumption of Sunday School classes. Teaching Sunday School is very rewarding but also takes time and dedication. We would like to have two or three teachers for each age group. Substitute teachers are also needed. Teachers can then rotate teaching dates, thus each teacher will not be committing to teaching every week. This will ensure that there will always be a teacher for each class each week and will also permit teachers to remain in the sanctuary for the entire service. You do not need to be a mom or dad to teach Sunday School. Everyone is invited to consider if God is calling you to fill this special role in our church. There will be a meeting the week of August 16 to plan for fall Sunday School. Please contact Barbara Baker if you have questions or wish to volunteer. |
| Sunday School Schedule
Children leave for class during worship, after the Children's Message.
- Preschool through grade K will meet in room 2 in the Center.
- Grades 1, 2, and 3 will meet in room 3 in the Center.
- Grades 4, 5, and 6 will meet in the conference room.
- Grades 7 and up will meet in a Head Start room.
- Adult class will meet at 11:30am in the Conference Room. (See above for a full description of this course of study.)
NOTE: Throughout the year the children return to the sanctuary for baptisms. Also there will not be classes on the first Sunday of every month so that the children can participate in, and learn about, the Lord's Supper. |
| Children's Worship Service June 20th. This service was led by the Sunday School children with participation from the Youth Group. Art Frackenpohl provided music on the piano throughout the service and Don Borsch taught the children a dance which illustrated the theme of the service. Bibles were presented to six Third Grade students and graduating High School Seniors were recognized. Sunday School teachers were thanked for their work this year and presented with small tokens of appreciation. The Bulletin covers were designed by several Sunday School children and the congregation received small packets of seeds with the bulletin. A sincere thank you goes out to everyone - teachers, other adults, children and youth - who worked on the planning, preparation and presentation of this special worship service.service. |
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Heifer International Project
The children earned for Heifer International this past winter: $435.70. They sold used books and collected coins over the course of several weeks. Their choices for animals to help families were: honeybees, chickens and shares toward a goat, heiger, llama, and pig. Many thanks to the children. They are growing in Mission! |
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Crocodile Dock Vacation Bible School 2009 was a great success!
Forty children from the community enjoyed bible lessons, games, crafts, music, snacks, and more all week. On Friday at 11:30 everyone was invited to a performance of all the songs learned during the week. The materials were supplied through MINC. Cassidy Mattimore and Ranota Hewitson organized, Cathy Frick taught the music; while so many others were teachers and helpers. Just from our church family Barbara Baker, Danielle Grant, Brad Hewitson, Eric Hewitson, Jennifer McDonald, Matt McDonald, Emma Visser, and Heidi Visser contributed. Our mission project was to collect for the renovation project at the Potsdam animal shelter. There are more CD's of the music available for $10.00 each. Many thanks to all for a wonderful week. Ranota Hewitson
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VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL - News
A very successful Vacation Bible School was held the week of August 9 -13. There were 44 children, 8 youth helpers and 13 adults in attendance throughout the week. The children learned new songs and participated in games and crafts and enjoyed daily snacks. Eighty-five dollars was collected to help repair and rebuild water facilities in Haiti damaged by the earthquake. A big thank you goes out to all the helped especially to Ranota Hewitson, Danielle Grant, Jean Dawson, Debbie Shipp, Jennifer McDonald and Vernice Church from our church.
Confirmation Class. If you or someone in you know is interested in a confirmation class, contact Pastor Rich..
The Nursery
During worship, nursery care is provided in Room 1 in the Church Center for infants through 3-year-olds
2009 Christian Education Committee Report
Nursery. Teri Laird has continued to run the nursery, often assisted by Marion Enslow.
Children's Sunday School. We taught Sunday School at four levels – • Preschool & Kindergarten (ages 4-6), taught by Danielle Grant, Debbie Shipp and Louise Heintzelman • Grades 1-3, taught by Ranota Hewitson and Barbara Baker • Grades 4-6, taught by Martin Walker • Grades 7+, taught by Julie Miller For younger children, the more traditional "Seasons of the Spirit" curriculum was used. For older children we used the "Grapple" series, which uses bible-based teaching to help children face problems and contemporary issues. Children assisted in greeting once a month. They stayed in the sanctuary for the full service on communion Sundays and on special holidays.
Confirmation class. An eight-week confirmation class was held during fall 2009, based on the catechism. Two students have completed this and are now ready for confirmation.
Youth group. Pastor Rich has continued to organize youth group for the teenagers in the church on Sunday afternoons.
Adult forum. We began a new series of 4-6 week studies aimed at meeting the Christian education needs of our adult members, held after church/coffee on Sunday mornings. George Davis has led two series so far, one on “Countering Pharaoh’s Production – Consumption Society Today," and another on the Reformation and the Reformers. A variety of leaders will be involved in leading sessions in 2010.
Special events.
(a) Heifer project Our children collected coins early in the year to raise money for farm animals in developing countries. A total of $427 was raised for the Heifer Project - $301 from the "pennies" collection, and $126 from the book sale.
(b) Congregational Book Read Members of the congregation met in April to discuss "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper.
(c) Youth Sunday On June 14th, the youth led the service, with children performing the readings and a song. In place of the sermon, the youth acted out a parable. Three children were presented with bibles.
(d) Vacation bible school Ranota Hewitson and Cassidy Mattimore organized a successful VBS on August 10-14 (9am-noon), with music by Cathy Frick, using "Crocodile Dock" (which had a bayou theme).
(e) Christmas pageant Danielle Grant organized a successful pageant, performed after church on December 13th. We used "God's Gift to us" which contrasted the consumerism of Christmas with the free gift of God's Son.
Respectfully submitted,
Ranota Hewitson and Martin Walker
(see Youth Group Report)
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First Presbyterian Church of Potsdam, New York