School is back, virtually, for now. What will St. Francis be doing about Sunday School?
The BIG NEWS is that we have developed an online Sunday School curriculum, borrowing from and being inspired by our fellow churches, near and far away. We would like to give a special shout out to Debbie Stockert, Director of Family Ministries at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Lake Forest, Illinois and their inspiration, EpiscoPals. Like history, Sunday Schools may not repeat themselves, but they do rhyme. We also want to thank Lynn Fallon, Christian Education Director; Dwight Chewning, Vestry Liaison for Formation and Sunday School teacher; and Larry Pratt, Chair of the Creche Board and Sunday School teacher, for continuing to develop a way to stay connected to our youngest church members.
Via the Internet: Email
As of last weekend (9/12), we began to provide Sunday School by way of our email to Children and Families containing, prayers, the Gospel Lesson for Sunday, and some “I Wonder” questions to reflect on. It is designed for parents and their children to engage with each other and the weekly Bible lessons. Also, we have a Sunday School page with fun lectionary cartoons from The Sunday Paper relating to the gospel reading that week. We hope that by encountering the Bible together, parents and children will build their faith and responses to God’s call not only individually but as a family as well.
Virtual Sunday School: Zoom Meeting
Late September/early October is targeted for “Funday” school, an online interactive experience via Zoom, for children and families. Dwight Chewning and Larry Pratt will be leading weekly lessons and have been working with Lynn Fallon and Patrick Killoran, the Communications & Technology Director, to develop components for an enjoyable and effective online learning experience. Below is the link to the Sunday school Zoom meeting, yet to be scheduled. We will communicating more information about these offerings within the coming weeks.
Not Just for Children or Franciscans:
Knowing that children are experiencing Zoom-brain by the weekend, our intent is to keep the online time short; help the children learn through videos, story-time, at home manipulatives, asking questions, and having parents nearby. This will be a time for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and friends to be together with God in their midst and the stories of our faith in their hearts.
Stay tuned for start date and times. Below are links to the Zoom meeting that will be used for Sunday school and a link to the new church calendar where you can find Zoom information to all public Zoom meetings for St. Francis Franciscans.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy: Emily Kotecki, ©Thinkstock/monkeybusinessimages All rights reserved.