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CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Children & Youth Ministries Newsletter
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Sharing news about our Children and Youth Ministries and providing a glimpse of our Sunday School program is one of the ways we hope to build community and participate together in our children's spiritual formation.
Sunday School students fingerprinted leaves onto a tree in a welcome card for Fr. Robert and Anne Harvey. The children presented them with the card and a CYM tote at the luncheon on Welcome Back Sunday. The framed card hangs at the entrance to Fr. Harvey's office.
It's been exciting to see so many young faces at Sunday School this past month. We hope you are enjoying the Welcome Bag that was silkscreened by teacher Cinda Stone and given out in the Sunday School classes. Included in the bag were a box of children's offertory envelopes and the United Thank Offering (UTO) box. Please use these boxes as ways to reinforce lessons about stewardship and gratitude. Calvary's UTO Ingathering will take place on the weekend of October 14-15. During the 10 am service on Sunday,
October 15
, children and youth can place their UTO boxes into baskets at the altar.
On Sunday, October 22, all youth 4th grade and older interested in being acolytes should attend the Acolyte Training Session after church.
If you have not already done so, please download, complete and return the photo waiver
here.
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On a recent trip to Target, Anne and I were in the checkout line when we overheard a young girl and her father talk about a Disney Cinderella doll she saw in line. Without asking her father, she took it off the shelf and put it in the cart. The father took the doll out and put it back. "But, Daddy," she said, "I need that."
Part of what we do as we raise our children is to help them understand the difference between wants and needs.
That's not a bad thing for us as adults to reflect upon that difference either, since kids aren't the only ones who get the words "want" and "need" mixed up. I do it all the time too.
Sometimes it helps to talk about the difference between wants and needs with children. The father started having that conversation about what we really need in life - food, shelter, clothing and love. But the little girl clearly wasn't ready to understand the difference between wants and needs standing in line at Target. "Okay," she said, "Then I really, really want it!"
That father said to his daughter, "I sometimes really, really want things too. But I think you already have plenty of Disney princess dolls. Therefore, I'm not going to buy you this doll," he said. "You have enough."
That got me thinking about when is enough enough? In our consumer-driven economy, "enough" might be the most important word for our children to learn. I'll spare you the statistics on how many advertisements our children receive each day - you're already well aware of this, especially with Black Friday quickly approaching and advertisers telling us that we do not have enough.
There is a powerful stewardship message to learn here: when is enough enough? One way to address this issue is to make "enough" a positive word by focusing on gratitude rather than scarcity. The goal is to create a culture where we can enjoy something, but realize that having more of whatever doesn't make it better. It makes us appreciate what we have been given and willing to share with those in need.
"I like the jeans you've picked out, but we're not going to buy them all. One pair is enough."
"That dinner was delicious and I'd love to have dessert, but I think I've had enough."
"I will get that doll for you, but I'd like you to pick one of your dolls at home to give away to someone who doesn't have one."
As the holidays approach, I encourage us to take time to think about the concept of "enough."
Talk to your kids about it. As the holidays approach, this time of year is perfect for this discussion considering how it's often filled with unhealthy and sometimes insane amounts of excess. Realizing that we have enough will help us and our children refocus on building an attitude of gratitude.
Father Robert Harvey
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CYM now has an online sign-up sheet for Volunteer Opportunities! Students in the Intermediate or Junior Youth classes can sign up to help Miss Ellie maintain the Children's Chapel Birthday Calendar. In addition, parents or high school students can sign up to decorate the CYM bulletin board downstairs in the Sunday School Hallway or to sort and return the bottles and cans for the CYM bottle drive. High school students can use these volunteer opportunities to earn community service hours.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to our returnable bottle & can drive. Please check that all bottles and cans are labeled "NY 5ยข REFUND." Iced tea, juice, and wine bottles or cans are generally not refundable in New York state. Funds raised through the bottle drive support CYM programs and events as well as outreach projects.
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I will go to the altar of God / To the God of my joy and gladness.
Acolytes
Acolytes actively assist the clergy in leading the worship of God. Acolytes often find their service is not only fun, but also spiritually fulfilling. They learn to serve with dignity, humility, and care, always with love of Christ. We welcome you to this ministry if you are in 4th grade or higher. We work with your schedule: it's not an "every Sunday" commitment, and you will get training and practice so that you will feel comfortable at the altar.
The acolyte schedule for the next few weeks may be found
here. There will be a
mandatory Acolyte Training Session with Fr. Harvey on Sunday, October 22 after the 10 am service.
If you and your parents would like to learn more, please contact Doug Sandburg II at
[email protected]
. Patrick Brown will also be guiding our acolytes on Sundays this year.
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Children's Chapel
Ellie Yuhasz and Carol Mayo
Sunday School Chapel is off to an amazing start. How wonderful on our first Sunday there were more adults, more children, more singing voices and we even needed more chairs than we expected. How blessed we were.
Father Harvey has joined our service and will lead us in some words from the Gospel along with a little something for us to think about during the week.
This Sunday October 1st, we will begin to acknowledge children's birthdays with a song, a poem, and a blessing. This week will be those children who had a birthday in September. As a child, I fondly remember my birthday being made special by my church family.
This month we will be learning the song "Jesus loves The Little Children". Our children are quickly volunteering to participate in our little service. Mike Way has recently encouraged more volunteers by assembling a speaker system for our children. It helps them to be heard when they volunteer to read in Children's Chapel.
Thank you for getting your children to Chapel by 9:30 and feel free to join us. We love having you.
Ellie Yuhasz
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Nursery (infant - 3 years)
Kelly Blackey and Kiernan Hayward
The Nursery is available from 9:45 - 11:30 a.m.
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Beginners Class (Pre-K & K)
Assistant: Andria McCarthy
Greetings from the beginner class! For the past three weeks our group has been talking about the story of Noah and the flood. Our class learned about Noah bringing the animals on the ark, the sending of the dove and the rainbow as God's promise that a flood like the one they experienced would never occur again. As we end September and begin October we will start discussing the story of Abraham and Sarah and their travels to the land of Canaan. All of our lessons at this time focus on the idea of promise and commitment to God. We are looking forward to continue our learning and having a wonderful time together!
Dr. Sarah English
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Primary Class (Grades 1-3)
Cinda and Wes Stone & Natalie Bottomley
Class Parents: Brian and Christina Donaghy
We have another excellent month coming our way in October! September was a HUGE success! We have an outstanding group of students, which will make it for a wonderful Sunday school year!!
We will continue to learn about people from the Old Testament. Samuel, Ruth, David, Solomon and Josiah will all be taught around our "campfire" in our "tent". The student's will focus on these specific people, their families, their actions and the events in their lives.
Dates to Remember
- Blessing of the Animals October 1st at 4pm in the Kryder Courtyard
- UTO Offering To be collected October 15th
Your primary class teachers,
Natalie Bottomley, Wes and Cinda Stone
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Intermediate (Grades 4-6)
Mr. George Mayer & Mr. Brian Donaghy
During the month of October, we will be learning about the Old Testament Prophets. Elijah and Elisha were the two most important prophets who lived and served God in the 9th century, BCE.
About a hundred years later, around 760 BCE, the prophet Amos came on the scene. He was called the Prophet of Justice. Here are some of the ideas that are central to the Book of Amos: 1) There is only one God, the God who brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt and established her as a new nation. 2) God cares for all nations of the world and desires what is good for them. 3) God wants justice among people, not just ceremonial rites. The poor are in greatest need of just treatment. 4) Military preparedness will, in the end, be of no benefit to God's people. 5) God's Will and intentions are revealed to prophets, and God does not act without first telling appointed prophets what is about to happen.
Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah were also 8th century BCE prophets. Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk prophesied during the 7th century BCE.
The three Major Prophets are: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
Mr. George Mayer
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Junior Youth (Grades 7-9)
Christina McCormick
Rotating Assistant
In October we will continue to learn about the Prophets through lecture, Bible readings, and printed material. We will learn all about Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isiah. In September the youth made a craft that showed all the books of the Bible. This will aid them in looking up Bible verses as we learn about the prophets. We also started coloring and filling in our poster on the Old Testament. This month the students will make a booklet craft where they can keep their notes on all they learned in class from last month and the months to come.
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Class Parents
The role of class parents is to "shepherd" new parents through Sunday School and Calvary, to be a link between teachers and parents and Calvary and parents, and to take leadership in organizing family/social events and signups.
We are still looking for class parents! If your child is in the Beginner Class, the Intermediate Class, or the Junior Youth Class, and you would like to be a classroom parent, please let the teacher or Emily Sityar know.
Wondering what a class parent does? The Primary Class has organized a
Class Apple Picking Trip! This pay your own way event on Saturday, October 14, is an opportunity for Primary Class parents and kids to get together outside of church and have fun.
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Rotating Teaching Team
Jim Marshall, Jim Greno, Carl Zebrowski, others tba
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They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper. [Psalm 1:3]
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