Sunday September 27, 2026

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Quick Links

• An Introduction to Godly Play
• Church School @ Christ Church Needham
• Church School Wish List
• Wiggles & Wonder, Bird's weekly formation Substack

Highlights


• Church Calendar Highlights for Fall 2026 Below
• 2026-27 Church School Registration Here
• Faithful Families at 9:15 This Sunday
• Church School for PreK-Gr. 3 this Sunday

Dear Church School Friends,

It wasn't an apple that Eve took from the tree when she was tempted in the garden. Apples didn't grow in ancient Mesopotamia, after all. And the Bible doesn't say apple. Instead, we've all collectively hallucinated apples onto the tree through decades of illustration and translation.

This Wednesday was a day a few folks here at Christ Church know a lot about: Mountain Day, a special Smith College holiday marked by a surprise day off. It's a day marked, often, by apple picking, and is a particularly dearly held tradition. As autumn truly rolls in here (for now), apples are all joy and another fond reminder of God's glorious creation and how even secular spaces find a way to pause and reflect on that wonder.

Primary Godly Play: The Falling Apart

Think back to when you were a child. Your Sunday School classes probably began most years with Adam and Eve – I know mine did. But if you've been around here for a while, you've probably noticed that, while we do often begin with Creation, it's not *that* creation. No, in Godly Play, we begin with the Seven Day Creation, and that's where we stop for a while.

This year I'll share a story called "The Falling Apart" in our primary classroom since most of our group is well familiar with the the Seven Day Creation that comes before, and this is the story we typically know as being about Adam and Eve. It's different than the way you might have come to know it – less about a fall from grace than about a separation from God and from each other.

Of course, even that separation is not the end. Things fell apart, but with God, we continue to make new things together.

Scripture & Storybooks: Reading the Bible as a Family

Over the last few years, there has been a serious influx of new Storybook Bibles on the market and, unsurprisingly, I have strong opinions about them. (Maybe also unsurprising: I have collected picture book Bibles since I was a kid.)

For this session of Faithful Families, we'll talk about some of the many options available in the Storybook Bible space, as well as how to put those books in conversation with a more "standard" Bible – with a special look at some of the Bible styles our youth choose amongst.

How do we pray with and play with scripture? Come explore this Sunday morning!

Adam & Eve's First Sunset by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

When we reflect on the Seven Day Creation and the Second Creation with Adam and Eve, we encounter some conflicts and some parallels. In particular, Adam & Eve's First Sunset isn't the first day – but it is their first day!

Adam & Eve can't know that when the sun disappears, it will come back, even though this is perhaps the simplest reassurance the rest of us can turn to when things are hard. The sun will rise in the morning and we will try again. When the new day comes and Adam & Eve learn this, they discover an important truth that even we, familiar as we are with this rhythm, also forget: The night is good and holy too.

Sunday September 27:

• Faithful Families Breakfast Program at 9:15 in UPH
• Church School for PreK-Gr.3
• Childcare available during Braver Angels Sunday School

Sunday October 4:

• Church School for all ages
• Childcare available during Braver Angels Sunday School
• Feast of Saint Francis: Blessing of the Pets

Sunday October 11

• Church School for PreK-Gr. 3
• Childcare available during Braver Angels Sunday School

Sunday October 18:

• Church School for All Ages
• Childcare available during Braver Angels Sunday School

Sunday November 1: All Saints Day:

• Faithful Families Breakfast Program at 9:15 in UPH
• Church School for PreK-Gr. 3

Tuesday November 3 (Election Day - No School):

• Sacred Order of Acolytes Training & Refresh

Christ Episcopal Church

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