St Chad's Church
Learning & Growing
Sunday Club ....Bible Study ....Home Groups ....Courses
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Sunday Club Sunday Club has 3 groups of children with 9 leaders and a network of parent helpers to hold sessions during term time morning services. Most significantly this year we have extended the groups to try to retain children once they move to high school. A year ago Mary Stewart began a small group with the older children – see below. At the time of writing, we have some 50 children registered across the 3 groups. Topics covered this year have included parables of Jesus, King David, Jonah and letters from St. Paul as well as following the seasonal stories around Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. The groups contributed to the Samaritan's Purse Shoebox Appeal in November and our Christingle service was held at St. Michael's, Headingley: it was well attended and the building emerged unscathed. The reordering process which put all of the church family together in one building started the very positive business of an ‘all-age' element at the beginning of the morning service which is greatly appreciated. Children now leave church with their leaders for about 45 minutes of bible-based activities before the adults arrive for coffee after worship. We look forward to the future of Sunday Club and as 3 of the current leaders, along with Peter Johnson who designs the SCSC display board, will be moving on to other roles during the next few months, there is an opportunity for others to get more involved in this part of St. Chad's ministry. Nichola HolmesFor children at school, this group meets each Sunday in the school term-time, except the 2nd Sunday of the month. On these occasions the youngsters join the informal worship in Church Sparklers July saw the end of a busy year for us. We spent the first few months in the Committee Room behind the stage, or ‘in the bar'... much to the amusement of visiting preachers! Being back in the Small Hall has made life a lot easier for all of us, as we have 20 children on roll, though they never all come all together. During the year we have looked at some Old and New Testament stories as well as presenting Christmas, Easter and Pentecost in a way that the under 5s would appreciate. We thank everyone who has helped – parents and carers, leaders and Dorothy for her help and interest in the group. Jan HemmingEspecially for pre-school and nursery class children, this group meets on Sunday mornings during the school term-time, except the 2nd Sunday of each month when many members join the congregation in church for Parish Praise. Bible stories are heard and discussed, songs are sung, models made and cards coloured all in the context of learning about God and his family. |
Dates for Sunday Club and Sparklers Summer 2012: April May June July This was a new group set up which aims to provide discussion based teaching from the Bible for Year 6 youngsters. We started with a cosy chat in bar area of the Church Hall during the refurbishment process. We take a theme, read what the Bible says and then talk about it, what it means to us. We use various tools to discuss the topics – mind maps, brain storming, charades, beetle diagrams, maps of the bible lands and conversation. At the end of the end of the group we pray and ask God's help with what we have learnt and say the Lord's Prayer together. The topics we have looked at this year are – the basic principles of the Christian faith and the life cycle of a Christian. What the bible teaches us about our friends, our relationship with our parents (how we treat then and how they should treat us), coping with conflict and coping with worry. We looked at ‘friendship' and who we chose as role models, through the story of Ruth. We are ending up thinking about how God wants us to live with the help of his Holy Spirit and what is the point of a ‘Church' or as the early believers experienced it – a home group. We have also spent some time memorising bible verses. A key goal that we achieved was to give most of the regulars a Youth Bible to take home. So what about next year? Well ....... we need to see who comes back from the current group. We plan to carry on meeting in the Lady Chapel – let us know if the noise is distracting, or, the drama too interesting. If you would like to talk with the group about your experience as a Christian, provide a bible, pray for the group or if you can help occasionally then please let me know. Mary Stewart Help for asylum seekers' children As you may know, the congregation supports PAFRAS, (Positive Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers), by bringing offerings of tins, pasta, packets and other basic groceries each week. As a spin off from this, it has been suggested that the Sunday Club children might like to widen the range of items we can take to PAFRAS each week by supporting children of asylum seekers themselves. PAFRAS needs pens, pencils, rubbers, crayons and other small stationery items to give to these children. Any contributions you can make can be put in the box with grocery offerings – or left at Sunday Club. |
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