Sunday School Worship - about the Eucharist

It was lovely to see so many families and children in the Little Church and a special treat that Lori was able to join us this week.

 During our time together we remembered the story of the Last Supper and Jesus sharing a meal with his disciples, we laid our own table with a cloth, plates, candles and a cup. Lori showed us how when we share communion we are remembering the Last Supper. She also told us about all the things she does to prepare for the Eucharist, including washing her hands and praying on behalf of all of us.

 After we returned to church the children were able to sit up close to the altar so they could see what Lori was doing and try and spot each of the important steps in the service.

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Bringing ALL the stories of our faith to ALL ages.

This year we took on the challenge of bringing those important stories of Holy Week to our children. Sunday School started on Palm Sunday dressing up and processing into church, with a pull-along donkey!
On Good Friday our Stations of the Cross was set up around church offering an interactive or reflective experience for everyone. From a three year old collecting the stamps to complete the prayer to 11 year olds reflecting on Jesus' last day, and on to adults experiencing the stations anew.

Activities included tasting salt to be reminded of Jesus' tears, kneeling on stones to reflect on Jesus' falling on the road to Golgotha and thinking of places to pray for in the world.
If you enjoyed our stations this year, please let us know what you liked best by commenting on this blog.

Also on Good Friday five families gathered for Holy Week for Kids. This was an opportunity to share the stories of Holy Week using crafts, stories and activities as well as to share a meal together. These pictures show a little of the fun we had.









With 40 children hunting for Easter Eggs after church on Sunday the energy was high (and some of the eggs were pretty high up too as the youth group had hidden them!)






If you missed out this time sign up for the St. James' email list or check out our newsletter to keep in touch with what is going on for kids and families at St James'. VBS, Christmas in July will be from July 22 - 26.

New Events for Holy Week and Kids at St James

One of the challenges we have taken on this year as a team serving the children of our community is how we can share the stories and traditions around observing a Holy Lent. This period in the church calendar is not always the easiest to discuss with our children. Shrove Tuesday and pancakes are fine and the resurrection and Easter eggs draw the crowd but Holy Week itself is packed with expectation and imagery we find hard to talk about. It also contains so many stories so close together so we rush from one to the next.

For the third year in a row Lori offered a Children’s Ashes Service after the Pancake Supper on Shrove Tuesday. This was well attended and introduces our children to the important marking of the start of Lent.

New this year we have 2 events on Good Friday, March 29 that will be of interest to our families.

Holy Week for Kids, March 29, 4:30-6pm. Join Lori and Jan for dinner, stories and activities that take us through Holy Week from the Palm waving of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to his death on the cross. We will celebrate together Holy Week with an eye on the knowledge that Sunday brings the resurrection, new life, and Easter eggs! Please sign up for this event in the Parish Hall or at ctfcoord@saintj.com.  A donation of $10 a family is appreciated.

Also on Good Friday between 2-8pm an Interactive Stations of the Cross will be set up in Church. There will be material available for all ages to use to experience this traditional practice in a new way (or traditionally if you prefer!) Children, accompanied by an adult, can experience the stations while reflecting on what happened to Jesus and how it is relevant to them. Walking the Stations can take a little as half an hour or as long as you want. Drop in at a time to suit you, or come before or after joining the Holy Week for Kids dinner.

For more information on any event or any questions about kids and families at St James, please feel free to speak to me any time or email ctfcoord@saintj.com.

Yours

Jan Scrutton

We got a goat!

Well done Sunday School!
Today we found out about Heifer, an organization that supports families and communities in the USA and around the world. By providing livestock and training they enable people to build better, sustainable livelihoods.
We learned that a gift of a goat can not only provide nutritious milk for a family to drink and to sell but the manure they collect can be used to fertilize their soil.
So, today, during the annual meeting we decorated cookies and sold them afterwards to start raising money towards our Heifer appeal. The really great news is we raised more than $120 - enough to send for Heifer to sponsor a goat!

We now have collecting boxes to gather coins for our next fundraising event for Heifer.

Cookies for fun-draising!

This Sunday (January 20) Sunday School will meet at 10am (single service 10am this Sunday) During Sunday School we will learn about how we can help others around the world. We have been talking about bringing in God's Kingdom in Earth as in Heaven so beginning our outreach project this week seems like good timing.
We are planning on raising funds for Heifer help provide animals to transform a family's life. A flock of chicks, geese or ducks can be just $20, providing eggs for a family, income from selling eggs, eating weeds/insects and even providing fertilizer as well as young to be handed on to another family.  This can improve the health, offer opportunities for education and change a family and then a community. A sheep or goat costs $120 and a trip of rabbits $60. Heifer provides training and support to families and communities.
So during this weeks Annual Meeting our kids will be decorating cookies to sell to the congregation. We'll have fun and do something for others at the same time!
We also have small collecting boxes for the children to take home to collect pennies towards our appeal.

Merry Christmas Everyone!
We had a great time this afternoon at our Christmas Eve Pageant - Mary, Joseph,Angels, Wise people, Animals, Shepherds and Stars created a Christmas scene and were reminded of the reason for our celebration.
Sunday School returns on Janaury 6 at 10.20am. Everyone welcome!

Jan

Animals and Kids!

We celebrated St Francis' Day this morning at St James' and it was great to see so many dogs, cats, and soft toys present to receive blessings and share our worship. With children playing outside in a nursery within sight of the altar and pets, and their humans, sitting in the shade on the hottest day of the year.Almost all the animals seemed to enjoy each others company.
As an additional treat we enjoyed a fun performance of 'Joy to the World' from the Children's Choir. Its first line 'Jeremiah was a bullfrog' had us smiling but links nicely to our Sunday School theme of growing our faith in 'leaps and bounds'! The children's choir is a great opportunity for the children to have fun together but also to make a meaningful contribution to our worship.


The link to the audio of the choir performance can be found here. 

Jennifer Carini, our music director, welcomes all children to join the choir. They meet for short rehearsals directly after each 10.30am Sunday Service. Their next performance will be in celebration of All Saints' Day on November 4 when the service will include baptisms. New singers are always welcome!