Coming: A New Church


School Model Plans are under way to renew Sunday morning for children BY NANCY HOFFMAN


It used to be that Sunday mornings were set aside for families to spend time at church.


Tese days, families find it difficult to carve out time to gather as a faithful community because school activities, clubs, and sports no longer avoid scheduling games and such on Sundays. Tis can be a challenge for families who want to raise their children as members of a congregation. But what can the church do to help families meet this challenge?


One answer is to make Church School more creative and appealing, encouraging families to make faith formation a priority. Motivated in part by recent trends, FPCA’s Faith Formation Vision Team has researched these issues along with effective tools for faith formation for the modern era of busy families. Last May, the team presented to Session a list of challenges to faith formation at FPCA and began looking into steps to meet these challenges. Goals included creating faith formation opportunities that:


• Support parents as the primary educators for their children


• Create intergenerational relationships for the purpose of passing on the faith


• Meet families “where they are,” acknowledging the pressures and distractions they face today


One part of their plan to meet these goals is to introduce a new church school model for 2017–2018. So what can families expect for the coming school year? While the team is still working on the details, we do know this: Two areas will remain the same. Children’s Choir will continue to be a part of Children’s Church School, participating periodically in our worship services. And weekly lessons will tie in with the scripture lessons for the sermons.


As for what is going to be different, that’s where it gets exciting. Instead of requiring full-year commitments as part of a single set of teachers, this program will allow a variety of adult leaders to make short-term commitments of five or six weeks at a time.


One advantage is that children will interact with a larger number of adults from our congregation. In a church our size with multiple worship styles and service times, it is sometimes


difficult to get to know people who attend other services or who don’t sit near one another in worship. Tis new model will provide opportunities to form relationships beyond worship styles and create opportunities to form those intergenerational relationships the team set as a goal.


Lessons will come to life through art, music, drama, and mission, allowing students to experience a single lesson in a number of different ways. Te hope is that with all of this variety, the children will be even more excited about Sunday mornings at FPCA.


Participating in this new model for children’s church school is an excellent way for each of us to fulfill the vow we make as members of the congregation every time we baptize a child. At each baptism, the congregation promises, with God’s help, to support children and parents “by providing opportunities for worship, study, service, and relationships,” and to love children and “assist them in becoming faithful followers of Jesus Christ.” Start thinking about your gifts and the ways you could put those talents to use during this coming school year.


HOW YOU CAN HELP


The Faith Formation Team is looking for adults to serve as “shepherds.” As a shepherd, you would be the familiar face who travels with your group from week to week as they learn from different adults. This particular set of leaders makes a commitment to the full school year, but there is no prep work involved.


The team is also looking for those with a gift for dramatic story telling, music, or art or those with a passion for mission who will help share God’s word in engaging ways through different media and formats. Short-term commitments are available and could even be a onetime thing.


All leaders who work with our children and youth must complete Safe Sanctuaries training.


If you are interested in serving during the upcoming school year or would like to learn more, please contact Sunday Morning Faith Formation Design Team chair Erica Simmons at: ericasimmons@ outlook.com


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