Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
Our Sunday School program, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, honors the child’s natural closeness to God. Rather than “teaching” about faith, this religious formation program protects the young child’s sense of wonder and nurtures children’s innate spirituality with environments that give access to liturgy, the Bible, geography, and history.
Email Sarah Jennings, Director of Children’s Formation, if you have questions or would like to volunteer.
Nursery
Free nursery care is available for infants during the 10am worship service every Sunday. The nursery is a safe and nurturing place for young children to play while their parents and older siblings participate in Christian formation and worship. Our paid caregivers are mature teens who are supervised by the Director of Children’s Formation. We ask that parents remain in the building and pick up their children promptly at the end of the service before heading to coffee hour.
Good Shepherd
preK-grade 1: Children who are four years old through first grade are introduced to the rich and layered experience of Catechesis in the Good Shepherd Atrium. They practice independent exploration of kids-sized worship and Eucharist materials, hear parables and the Birth of Jesus, see basic maps of Israel, and more - all focused on the person of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and his love for us, his sheep.
Mustard Seed
grades 2-4: The Mustard Seed Atrium welcomes students who are in 2nd-4th grade, now ready to work both independently and cooperatively in Level II of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. They learn to prepare services at Prayer Table, choosing opening blessings and dismissals, practicing The Lord’s Prayer, Silent prayer passing a small cross, learning music from songbooks that match the themes of the liturgical year. Projects, moral parables, celebrations of holy seasons and feast days, are all part of this atrium experience.
People of God
grades 5-7: Our 5th-7th graders meet in an atrium named “People of God.” Recognizing both the social and analytical nature of this age group, this Level III CGS curriculum offers practice in reading stories from Hebrew Scripture. Students explore the typologies of Creation, The Flood, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the prophets, and their own questions about common threads of faith and practice between God’s People, past and present, communal and personal. We also encourage each other to lead and serve in our parish as acolytes and outreach teams.
