Welcome to Our New Year in Religious Education!
Our program for 2017-2018 begins in September. Registration is open. Please help us get to know you and your children by completing the registration form. See Mary West and Julia Sexton, the fabulous cochairs of the Religious Education Council, for information.
The Nursery provides care for children through age 3 during the 9:30am-10:45 education time. At this point the Nursery also includes the younger elementary children, our Chalice Children, for free play after they attend the beginning of worship.
Become Part of Our Program If you are interested in teaching, or have any questions, comments, concerns, etc. about the religious education program, please see Mary West or Julia Sexton.
Registration is Open!
Registration helps everyone keep track of children and youth from the nursery up through high school. Please complete a form for the new program year even if you registered in previous years. Also, the second part of the form includes the general behavioral covenant we agree to as a program. Please discuss the covenant with your child(ren), too.
To help with materials needed to run the program, we ask for a voluntary donation of $50 per child. We understand that resources vary from family to family. Every contribution is gratefully received. Thank you for your support!
Forms are available in the main office and in every classroom.
General Information – Sunday Mornings
Sunday Morning for Children:
9:00am – Volunteers open the building and start coffee. Nursery workers arrive.
9:15am – Nursery is open. Volunteers arrive to prepare for class.
9:30am – Adventures in Religion begin. Classrooms are open for early arriving children and youth.
9:45am –Adult Forum and classes for children and youth (August–May) begin.
10am – End of late arrival window for children and youth. See Sunday Coordinator for information. Choir rehearsal begins.
10:30am – End of Adventures in Religion
10:45am – End of children and youth classes. Parents/guardians sign them out. End of Forum.
11:00am – Worship begins
12:30pm – Nursery begins to wind down.
1:00pm – Nursery closed.
*A Note about 10am: Parents are asked to bring children and youth to class no later than 10am. The Children and Youth Religious Education Council and I are trying to encourage a strong community of children with fewer interruptions and to respect the preparation of our volunteers. After 10am, the Religious Education Coordinator of the day can help families find refreshments in Coleman Hall, introduce them to greeters and other friends and members, and set up activities that can be found in the bins outside the supply closet. Remember: Children age 3 and under can be brought to the Nursery at any time. Children and Youth Religious Education Council and I are available for questions related to the new schedule.
Sunday Morning Worship: We encourage family worship here at First Jefferson – our community expectation is that children and youth will join their parents and the rest of the congregation in the 11 a.m. worship service. We offer nursery care for infants and toddlers, and Chalice Children for younger children who cannot remain in service, but if your family wishes to worship together, children of all ages are always welcome in our worship services, in whole or in part. Worship ends at 12:10pm. Parents can pick up children from Chalice Children or the Nursery.
Chalice Children: Younger children may stay in church with their families or may participate in Chalice Children, a program for our children who are too young to attend an entire worship service. Chalice Children are included in the first half of the worship service, and leave for supervised playtime following the Story Time typically at 11:25 (Listen for the song, “As We Leave this Friendly Place”) Typically, our children graduate from the Chalice Children program in the 3rd grade. Chalice Children is run as a parent co-op, overseen by Rachel Hawkins. If your child(ren) attend regularly, please plan to volunteer. Please pick up your children immediately following the service
Nursery: Babies and toddlers through age three Please bring diapers and a change of clothing in a labeled bag. Please label bottles and toys as well. We ask nursing mothers to let us know where they will be sitting in church so that we can find them with a minimum of disruption to the church service. If you have any questions, please see one of our nursery staff.
Our religious education department is a volunteer and parent coop driven entity. It is even more important than ever that we get parent volunteers. Please sign up for three events (in order of preference) to help our RE be the best possible — we need you!
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