Education - Adult Bible Study

Adult Bible Study has been conducted on weekday nights in the spring and fall seasons. Some years during Lent a study group has met for brief noon study sessions followed by Holy Eucharist and a soup lunch. This past Lent, a small group met for prayer and meditation between the 8 and 10 a.m. services.

Education - Sunday School

The Sunday School program at Church of the Good Shepherd is organized and taught by a small but dedicated group of parent volunteers. We have one Coordinator, two Assistant Coordinators and three Instructors. The program is styled on a one-room school philosophy with a wide mix of student ages all participating at one time.

There are 18 students enrolled in the program ranging in ages 3 to 13. The class is made up of a group of younger students ranging from ages 3 to 7 and another group of older students in the 9 to 13 age range. This diversity is often an asset since the older students assist the younger children when they are working on arts and crafts projects.

Our schedule is organized into units of six lessons each. The students are taught three regular weekly Sunday school lessons from 10 to 11 a.m. On the fourth week, they attend the regular 10 a.m. service. In the past, this monthly "child friendly" service has been popular with the adults and children alike.

We follow the curriculum from the "Seedlings" program developed by the Rev. Betty Fuller. Our regular weekly lessons begin with a short prayer at our junior altar, followed by a recitation of the Nicene Creed or the Lord's Prayer. Next, we review previous lessons from the current unit and then proceed to read and discuss the story for the current lesson. After this, the students write (or draw) an entry in their journals, and finally we work on the current lesson's arts and craft project.

The younger children work on a Seedlings craft project while the older children work on more advanced projects that often span an entire six-week unit. At the end of each unit, the art projects are displayed in the parish hall.

Our Sunday School program has grown over the last few years from six students to our present size. As the number of students has grown our curriculum has become more structured. In addition, we have added our monthly "children's" service. As the Sunday School program continues to evolve, and as our students mature and grow, we are looking forward to the future and the introduction of new programs and challenges. These programs include First Communion classes, district-wide Confirmation classes and the establishment of a full-time Youth Group.