Page last Published 4/7/2023
Ministry for Children and Youth
Our ministry to children, youth and their families is a critical part of our mission to nurture all people in their spiritual growth, in their Christian education, and in their relationship with God.
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The Impact of COVID
One of the biggest impacts COVID had on our parish community was on our ministry to children and families. Before the pandemic we had a strong primary school program, Godly Play. Our older youth were acolytes, readers, and nursery caregivers. With in-person services suspended during COVID we found other ways to support the spiritual needs of our families. One was "The Sunday Paper" and "The Sunday Paper Junior" which was sent out to families each week. Our head of Christian Formation retired in 2021. We are working on ways to reengage these families as we welcome them back to parish life. Ministry to our children remains a top priority for St. Johns. |
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The Godly Play® method is a curriculum of spiritual practice exploring the mystery of God’s presence in our lives. Godly Play is a creative, imaginative approach to Christian formation and spiritual guidance that nurtures participants to larger dimensions of belief and faith through wondering and play.
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The Sunday Paper
“The Sunday Paper is informal, whimsical, faithful to Scripture... [that] helps children to acquire a vocabulary of crucial Scriptural images, and to relate the Gospel to the Old Testament, the life of the Church, and their own lives.”* "The Sunday Paper" is for youth age 9 and up and "The Sunday Paper Junior" is for children age 3-10. * Excerpt from The-Sunday-Paper.com; copyright 2003. THE SUNDAY PAPER --- 19 Colony Road --- New Haven, CT 06511 |
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