St. John’s Christian Education
Christian Education at St. John’s is both a Sunday and a week day activity. Most of the groups are small but the discussions are lively. We enjoy hearing about each others views and experiences. It is, after all, about learning, expanding our horizons, and fellowship.
Sunday Adult Education: The Adult Christian Education class meets weekly at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings throughout the regular school year in the Parish Center. We start with fellowship and good coffee at 9:30; the actual class begins at 9:45. The program resumes in the fall on the 2nd Sunday in September.
Each lesson or presentation stands alone, and we have outside speakers as well as members of St. John’s lead our adult group. Classes this past year have included a variety of topics including personal prayer, the miracles of Jesus, the nourishment and discipline of our spirituality, environmental stewardship as seen in the Bible, an inside look at Africa, the work of therapy dogs, our own outreach programs, and the scripture lessons for the day. We are looking forward to September for new perspectives and insights, rich discussions, and seeing old and new friends.
Please join us, everyone is welcome.
Children’s Education: The Children’s Educational Program meets every Sunday morning during the regular school year at 9:30 a.m. at the same time as the adult classes. It resumes the 2nd Sunday in September. All the children meet together in the Parish Hall for the first 15 minutes to celebrate God’s Love through music and then break into their classes in the Parish Center and the Nursery Building. Sunday School is offered to Pre-K, Primary, Intermediate, and Young Teens.
Children’s topics include learning about special events celebrated throughout the Christian year, reading and interpreting stories of the bible, participating in holiday performances and events, and sharing in hands-on activities and role playing. The lessons are, generally, but not exclusively drawn from the series, Living the Good News, an Episcopal lectionary based program. The teaching is shared by an active group of St. John’s members that all have one thing in common - their dedication to offering Sunday School to the children of the parish. Those of us who teach the children have discovered that we learn more than they because of the excellent materials provided to the teachers.
We hope you will bring you children to share in this program.
Women’s Bible Study: Our group meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. for a casual gathering for prayer, fellowship, and discussion of different excerpts from the Bible. The group is presently reading Fredrick Buechner’s, The Magnificent Defeat. Please call the Parish Administrator at 649-7938 if you would like to join this group or obtain more information.
St. John’s Book Group: Our group meets once a month in the evening at 6:30 PM to discuss a book about the Bible or Church History and Theology. Past books have included Desire for the Everlasting Hills by Thomas Cahill and Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene and Misquoting Jesus; Who Changed the Bible and Why, both by Bart Erhmann. We are beginning to read Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis in July. We typically enjoy a light supper in someone’s home and our discussions and fellowship are lively. For more information, please call the Parish Administrator at 649-7938.