St. Stephen’s Sonshine Camp! 

St. Stephen’s Sonshine Camp is our very popular vacation bible school day camp, and is scheduled for June 25-29, 2012 from 9am until noon.  Click to download the 2012 Registration Form and the health form.  Both forms need to be filled out for every Camper and Counselor and turned in with the Camp fee to the office at St. Stephen’s.

Sunday Mornings

From early September through May we have Sunday School for Preschool through fifth grade children. Our “family” service is held each Sunday at 10 AM. The children are in Sunday School from 10AM until about 10:45. They will come up and join their families for the Eucharist. We also have nursery care year round on Sunday for babies and children under 3. All children are welcome to attend our Sunday School and activities.

Please know that the worship experience of your children is important to us. Children learn to worship by participating and we value their presence in church. We understand that they may not be quiet or sit still… but children will still be learning from watching their family pray.

Throughout the year, Nursery care is provided for children 3 years and younger from 9:45 am until the worship service is over. Also, we have a ‘Cry Room’ for parents in our Brides Room at the right rear of the church has a restroom, comfortable seating, and a speaker connected to our sound system. Please know that we do not mind having babies in church, even crying ones, but this does provide one more option for parents.

About Sunday School.  Sunday School this year will start on September 11^th.  This will give a chance our children and teachers to meet before the action packed fun of kick-off Sunday on the 18^th.  We look forward to catching up with our families and hearing about your summers.  This fall we have a wonderful program of lessons for children up through middle school.

Opportunity to be of service!  We need volunteers to teach Sunday morning Sunday School.  This is a once a month commitment and you are provided with the lesson plan for your class.  You do not need to be a Bible or Church expert to teach…you will receive background information for your lesson and easy lesson plans to prepare and teach. I have always been amazed at what I learned from teaching the kids! If you would like more information please contact Roxanne Rhoades at 254-3770 x16 or children@ststephensorinda.org

Pre-K and Kindergarten. We start in the fall with Godly Play stories from the Old Testament.  Godly Play is a method of Christian education and spiritual formation for children. In Godly Play we tell Bible stories to encourage them to enter into the stories and relate them to their personal experience. The storyteller uses handcrafted objects to focus the attention on central elements of the story. After the story the children are invited to “wonder” about the story and then are given a “response time” to work on creative projects.  We also introduce a class prayer and enjoy music together.

1st/2nd Grade.  We will have a mix of Old Testament Stories and Lectionary Gospel Lessons.

3rd Grade.  We will start will start the My Bible class. They will learn about the Bible over the first seven Sundays and will be presented with their own Bible in church on October 30^th. This class will walk the children through the Bible and help them connect the stories of our faith together.  They will learn how to look by verses and passages—in a fun filled and active participation class.

4th & 5th Grades.  This class will use a Lectionary based curriculum—so the kids will be learning about the same lesson that their parents are hearing in Church that Sunday. Children in grades five and up can also become lectors for the 10:00 service.

Middle School and High School ~ please see the Youth page for details!

Milestones.  In addition to our regular curriculum for our children we will be having each age level participate in a “milestone” and which will be celebrated in church. The program will celebrate and highlight the children’s faith journey as they grow in age and knowledge.

1st grade: Our first graders will memorize the Lord’s Prayer and will be given a special copy of the prayer in church.

2nd grade: Our second graders will learn about Holy Communion in a six week program in the spring. They will then take part in our Celebration of Communion in early June. This class will take place in Sunday School except one additional day will be scheduled for the behind scenes visit in the church and sacristy with the clergy.

3rd grade: We will celebrate our third graders completion of their Bible Milestone in the Fall. In the Fall, our third grade class will focus on learning about the Bible. How the Bible is put together, how to find a passage or story in the Bible, and we spent time connecting the stories of the people of God in the Bible to other stories in the Bible. In recognition of this milestone, we are presenting our third graders with their own Bible.

4th and 5th grades: Our fourth and fifth graders will support an outreach project during the year.

5th graders: St. Stephen’s values the presence of children in church, and invites parents to consider having your child read a lesson on Sunday during the 10:00a.m. service. Readers sit with parents, and come forward when it is time to read. We are looking for good readers who will feel comfortable reading in public and who are entering grade five or up.

6th graders: Our sixth graders can start Acolyte ministry and become lay readers.  This allows the children to participate in the Liturgy in a more active role.

Middle School and High School youth will continue to have Rite 13 and Confirmation Classes in addition to Sunday morning Sunday School, Youth Outreach, a summer Mission Ttrip, and a Fall Youth Retreat at St. Dorothy’s Rest.

For more information on our children’s Milestones Program, contact: Roxanne Rhoades at 254-3770 x16.