Roundtable 1: SUNDAY SCHOOL

 

 

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Rapid City, South Dakota

 

June 22, 2014

Roundtable Discussion:

SUNDAY SCHOOL

 

On Sunday, June 22, 2014, an open-forum discussion was held at Emmanuel Episcopal Church for the purposes of planning the future of our Sunday School program. The meeting was well attended by Sunday School and Youth Group leadership as well as interested parishioners, parents and volunteers.

 

Though extensive in content and participation, a very brief outline of the discussion follows:

 

1.       What is Sunday School?

a.      Foundation for Spirituality

b.      Translating the Faith Understandably

c.       Teaching the Basics of the Faith

d.      Relating the Faith to Everyday Life

e.      Companionship/Relationship with our Family of Faith

 

2.      What does a successful Sunday School look like?

a.      Commitment of teachers and families and congregations

b.      Fulfilling our Baptismal Vows

c.       On the children’s level:

                                                              i.      Colorful

                                                           ii.      Loud

                                                         iii.      Active

                                                          iv.      Happy

                                                            v.      Fun

                                                          vi.      Lots of Kids

1.       (however): Quality trumps Quantity

d.      Children  who take ownership

e.      Youth Sundays throughout the year:

                                                              i.      Children participating in the liturgy:

1.       Readers

2.      Ushers

3.      Acolytes

                                                           ii.      Children’s Sermons periodically

f.        Strong Leadership

 

3.      What does an UNsuccessful Sunday School look like?

a.      Empty

b.      Quiet

c.       Inconsistent

d.      Boring

e.      No Participation

f.        No Curriculum

g.      No Leadership

h.     Disorganized

 

4.      What do kids want?

a.      Fun

b.      Popcorn (We have a popcorn machine which has been used in the past to generate excitement and curiosity to draw children downstairs to the Sunday School activities)

c.       Feel Connected

d.      Hungry to Learn

e.      Acknowledge Different Learning Styles

f.        Music

 

5.      What do Parents want?

a.      Children Educated in the Faith in collaboration with Parents, not in place of parents who have the primary responsibility

b.      Lead to further discussion at home

c.       Help raise the children with parents

d.      Faith perspectives to the world

e.      Relationships between Sunday School Teachers and Children to be life-long.

f.        Set Curriculum that is age/grade appropriate

 

6.      How do we attract Parents, Kids, Volunteers?

a.      Website

b.      Word of Mouth – Direct Invitation

c.       Enthusiasm

d.      Substitute Teachers identified and on stand-by

e.      Use current ministry schedule software

f.        Short sessions leading to short commitment times by volunteers

 

7.      First Things First (prioritizing the plan):

a.      Build Curriculum

b.      Identify volunteers in advance of the fall term

c.       Market Sunday School early

d.      Schedule interfaces between Sunday School and Church Calendar for children’s liturgies

e.      Plan and Host an Autumn Kids Kickoff with Sunday School Registration

f.        Get kids registered!

 

A recommendation was made that the computer room be restored. Investigation, planning and coordination is necessary to ensure maximum utilization of the space considering that the space has been repurposed into the Family Fun Library.

Archbishop of Canterbury Links

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby spoke recently at a Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast. It was well received and reviewed.

He spoke, in part, about the universal nature of the Church as a suffering Church as well as a loving Church, reminding us that the inward divisions and battles that garner much of our time, effort and energy are nothing more than inward foci. To be an agent of God's love, we must be outward focused, being truly present (not merely helpful) to those who are suffering in our world. We must participate in the cross of Jesus Christ.

An article on the talk can be found at Christianity Today here: Archbishop of Canterbury Article.

For a full text of the address, find the link here: Archbishop of Canterbury Speech.

Quality NOT Quantity

The Holy Spirit is alive and active at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapid City, South Dakota! The positive energy experienced on Sundays and every other day of the week is so noticeable that everyone who walks through the doors seems to mention it!

It is difficult to put into words exactly what this means since it's more of a sense of the spirit than an intellectual recognition. Furthermore, it's about quality NOT quantity, so statistics, graphs and quantitative comparisons are not as important as the qualitative realities experienced by those attending services, workshops, educational seminars, classes, meetings and even clean-up days.

None of this is new at Emmanuel. The oldest continually operating church in Rapid City (since 1887), the Holy Spirit has been alive and active for a very long time. It is new to me, however, since I myself am relatively new to Emmanuel as their Rector.

I remain in awe of the people of God here. From the Outreach Committee's commitment to the impoverished of our community to the one-third of our members who are registered to minister at our weekend liturgies on a rotating basis, I am continually overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude. The Confirmation Class is engaging and our Adult Education Forums, though on break during the summer months, is highly attended. Our Celebration Dinners draw a huge crowd twice per month for food and fellowship.

All of these things draw the human soul into a community of faith that deepens our experience of God's Son, Jesus Christ, in and through each other. It's wonderful to know in our minds and hearts that we are never alone, that it's really not about us individually, but that it's about us collectively! As St. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13a: "May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all...so as to strengthen your hearts..."

Our Mission Statement is simple: To Know Our Lord and To Make Him Known. It is apparent that the people of Emmanuel Know Jesus. In their daily lives, by the testimony of their words and actions, they are making Jesus known to others.

We are committed to prayer, the celebration of the sacraments, preserving tradition while being open to new revelations, studying and living scripture, being hospitable, educating our young people in the ways of the faith, serving our community, and being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in our world. These soul-stirring desires aren't new. They're part of our ancient history as a Christian people. And we're not doing it any more (quantitatively) or any better (qualitatively) than any other Christian community in the world, so we don't pretend that we've got it all figured out. Instead, we simply acknowledge with gratitude that God has blessed us, is blessing us and will continue to bless us in a spirit of love, peace and joy. It's the kind of experience that compels us to shout from the rooftops!

I don't know why I felt compelled to write this post today, except that I'm proud to be among these hard-working, devoted, spirit-filled people of God. It's a privilege that I don't take lightly. I pray that those who live and work in Rapid City as well as tourists and visitors might find their way to experience God's love alongside us.

It's a shared journey. We're not there yet, but we're closer today than we were yesterday and, with God's abundant Grace, we pray that we'll be closer tomorrow than we are today!

In Christ's Love,

Fr. Chris+