The Church School Program Year runs from September 11th , 2022 – June 11th, 2023

We meet on Sundays during/after the 10am service.

We serve children aged 3-18 years old with in-person classes on Sundays. The Church School programming is supported by the generous pledges of our members and there is no cost to attend.

All of our volunteers are CORI checked and complete Safe Church Training.

If you would like to join us, we would love to have you!! Email the Director of Religious Education, Laura Marshall, at churchschool@allsaintschelmsford.org to learn more and get connected.

Register for the 2022/2023 Church School Year HERE: 

https://forms.gle/5BGTtopQfaB1LwUC9

View our Church School Calendar of Classes and Events:

WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

The Church School Program for the year 2022-2023 is full of exciting plans. Here are some of them:

All classes are moved back into our beautiful spaces! We are deeply grateful for the work of the Living Stones and the commitment of our community to making the spaces we worship and learn in so intentional and accessible.

On normal Sunday mornings, our Church School programs are scheduled:

Discover Class (pre-K) A gentle time for play, prayer, stories and art. 

Explore Class (K-2nd) Bible stories told with the felt curriculum from Beulahland. Crafts and prayer.

Wonder Class: (3-4th) Godly Play curriculum: the stories, traditions and prayers of our faith shared with wonder and grace.

Weavers Class (5-7th grade) Using The Way of Love curriculum, modified for their age.

Connect Class (8-9th grade) Also using The Way of Love curriculum. Special emphasis on pre-confirmation work, especially in the spring.

We have planned special programming each month for both the Lower (pre-K to 4th grade) and the Upper (5th-9th grade) and Youth Group: it meets both the needs of the children and youth and the volunteer leaders.

In the Lower School, once a month the children will meet with the Children’s Chapel Team: Maggie Marshall, Laurie Bestvater, and myself. We will be teaching them about worship and then worshiping together in the Chapel as part of a Children’s Chapel service. On those Sundays, all Lower School Teachers will be free to worship with the congregation at the 10am. We will bring the children back to the service at the Peace as normal.

In the Upper School, their class time will be split into 2 Sundays of in-class learning and study, followed by a Sunday Colloquium/Service Sunday. On the Colloquium Sunday a ministry leader from the church will be the focus of conversation. They will share how their work is connected to their faith, and also share with the youth the service project that they will all be doing the following Sunday. Here is the schedule for the year: Oct: Emily Strunk and the Church School Carnival, Nov: Rohini Pola/Laura Barry and the Gingerbread Village, Dec: Darren Collins and the Angel Tree Ministry, January: Danielle Wigmore and the Food Ministry, Feb: Debbie Psilopoulos/Andrew Barry and the Pancake Supper, March: Dave Kuzara and Outreach Ministry, April: Benton Burgess/Frank Oullette and the B&G, May: Betsy Hirst and the Memorial Garden.  Not only will the youth be learning how to lead the Colloquium and learning from our members about their faith, but they will spend one Sunday a month in service. For those 2 Sundays the Church School leaders will be free from leadership responsibility. The Youth Group will be joining the Colloquium and Service Sundays, and also meet one other Sunday a month for their own program.

We have a brand new curriculum for the Upper School based on The Way of Love, created by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. It has been developed for use in the Upper School classes by Amy Hunter, with help from the two class leaders, Emily Strunk and Joan Thomas. We feel blessed to have this gift in our program and are deeply grateful to Amy, Emily and Joan for their work.

We plan to have a Holy Communion Class this year. Date TBD. We plan to start Confirmation Class work in the spring.

We have exciting events planned: the Fall Bulb Planting, The Fall Carnival, The Halloween Party, Holiday Card Making, Christmas Pageant, Advent Food Drive, Christmas Parties for the Upper School and Youth, Christmas Stories and Duckies for the Little Ones, Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, Lenten Pretzels, Palm Sunday Doves, Easter Egg Hunt, 4 Square Sundays, Strawberry Shortcake Festival, Church School Sundy and Summer Mystery Club.

We also hope to have overnight retreats at BCH Camp for our older youth. And to continue to encourage attendance of Summer Camp at BCH.

CLASSROOM SPACES

• The spaces in the church which we will be using for the Sunday program:
  • The youngest kids (Discover Class) will be in the long room off of Steve’s Corner. This will also be a self-serve nursery space.
  • The Explore Class (k-2) will be in the Rainbow Room (the classroom next to the downstairs meeting room.
  • The Wonder Class (3-4th) will be in the classroom off the Parish Hall
  • The Weavers Class- which meets after the service- will be in the Downstairs Meeting Room
  • The Connect Class- which meets after the service- will be in the Cranberry Room
  • The Youth Group will be in the Grotto.
  • The Children’s Chapel will start in the Parish Hall and use the Chapel/Memorial Garden
  • The Colloquium will be in the Downstairs meeting room.

CHURCH SCHOOL NOTICES- WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

PAST PROGRAMMING…

Flat Jesus Fun! Download one of these files and print Jesus out for your child to cut out and color! Then take photos and keep a journal of Flat Jesus time in your family...email it to me at churchschool@allsaintschelmsford.org. each week by Friday to be part of Sunday’s short video, “Flat Jesus is With Us.”

We have three options for Jesus: 

Check out Flat Jesus among us!

2020 HOLY WEEK AT HOME

Click here for a breakdown of each day of Holy Week and Easter…crafts and coloring pages, simple worship ideas for the home…

Resources for Families for Holy Week and Easter at Home

Maundy Thursday at Home

Good Friday Stations of the Cross Live Worship

6:45pm room open/ 7pm service. See Sunday’s email with the subject line; “Holy Week Service and Prayer through ZOOM” for zoom link…here is the Order of Service: