It is with joy, excitement, and gratitude that I announce an official relaunch of Sunday School at Crawford, beginning August 16. If you’ve been attending worship—either online or in person— you may have noticed that we’ve had 3-7 young children in our midst over the last month, some of them older than our current guidance for nursery use.
In order to support their learning, growth, and connections to the Crawford community, beginning Aug. 16, we will offer the following plan for Christian Education in addition to nursery care:
- All children are invited to stay in worship through the children’s time (early in the service)
- After dismissal, kids will go to a downstairs classroom for 10-20 minutes of structured activities, which may include a story, video, craft or game.
- During the remaining worship time, kids will have free play, possibly in conjunction with the nursery
We’ll begin by using the Mini-Revolutions curriculum from Illustrated Ministry. This lectionary-based program comes with several options for engaging with the weekly story, each embracing inclusive theology that centers wonder over fear, and questions over rote, “right” answers.
Sunday School is open to PreK-elementary age children, roughly 4 years through 10 years. We recognize that this is a wide span, and that some younger learners may do better in the nursery than in the Sunday School room.
Part of this “soft launch” from August 16 through September 6 is to experiment and tweak. Families are encouraged to use the nursery or Sunday School as best meets their needs that day. We’ll be making our own adjustments as we go, providing any updates to the format in time for back-to-church Sunday, which is September 13.
Many and great thanks to Kim Burke and Bernadette who have raised their hands to get the program off the ground, but we will certainly need more volunteers in the rotation. We’re hoping that this flexible, first-step format will work well not only for kids and families, but also for potential volunteers. Being in the classroom even once a month will make a huge difference in moving the program forward. Please speak to Kim, Bernadette, or me if this might be a possibility for you.*
Nursery care will continue to be offered each week, beginning at 9:45 and ending at the conclusion of worship. Many thanks to Cindy Slack who continues to provide a consistent presence and coordinate nursery staff. She is also very excited for Sunday School’s relaunch and ongoing connection between the groups.
With gratitude and hope,
Pastor Jen
*Please note that in keeping with Crawford’s Safe Sanctuary policy, all volunteers must submit to and pass a background check.