Youth Education
Sunday mornings in the Church School wing (Godly Tweens) and the Swift Bird Room (High School Youth), 9:40–10:20
A big leap takes place as the child moves headlong into adolescence. The wondering and questioning for which Godly Play has prepared the child now takes place on the real playing field of life. The relationships that the children have formed with each other and with God in the Godly Play circle, together with the language of the Christian people honed there, provide an anchor for exploring their own existential issues. The middle school and high school adolescents gather around their respective tables on Sunday mornings, buoyed by the tools of wondering and exploring the mystery, to make sense out of an often perplexing world. This is what Godly Play prepared them for—a personal spiritual journey in community with others.
Godly Tweens, for middle school students, continues to explore Godly Play stories developed for the growing faith of older children, as well as Living the Good News—a lectionary-based curriculum that allows families to share together the lessons that are read in church each Sunday. Godly Tweens also explore the ministries of the church, such as acolytes, altar guild, bread baking, reading and ushering.
The high school youth program includes young people beginning their journey to confirmation and older youth who take a stronger role in such ministries as lectors, acolytes, and Eucharistic ministers. Participants relate the biblical story to daily life and continue to develop a life of prayer and service.
