Our Christian Formation Program is on hiatus for the summer. What a great year it has been! I wanted to take a moment on the blog to thank our catechists, youth, and adult teachers. At a time when many Churches are struggling to find volunteers to teach quarterly or once a month, we at Christ Church are blessed with ELEVEN adults who work with our children and youth every Sunday of the program year! We also have a regular Nursery teacher and three teachers working with adults each week. Christian formation is a vibrant, relational ministry at Christ Church!
Thank you catechists for the big commitment you make - meeting with children on Sunday mornings for two hours, planning out our year and each presentation, making and caring for materials and our atria, gathering for learning as adults, and all of the thinking, praying, and collaborative work you do to meet the specific needs of our children is greatly appreciated. Our catechists this year have been Deb, Kate, Lynette, Leslie, Dennis, Lynn, and Melissa.
Thank you Youth Leaders for your commitment as well - meeting weekly with our young people, planning lessons and our year, leading special events like our 30 Hour Famine and Confirmation preparation, and joining in on our monthly outreach trips to Shaker Gardens. We are so grateful for your ministry! Our Youth Leaders this year have been Justin, Mischelle, Jenn, Brad, and Katie.Thank you to the many adults in our parish who have served as Substitute Teachers when regular catechists and youth leaders needed to away. We are grateful to Marion, Anne, Lisa, Sabrina, Deidre, Frances, Julie and Kate for all of your help this year!
Thank you to our Education For Ministry (EFM) Leaders, Greg and Hilary, and to Rev. Peter who leads Bible Study, Adult Forum, seasonal classes, and preaches all year long! Thank you also to all of the lay people who led Adult Forums this year!
I pray that all of you have been blessed by your ministry this year, just as you have been a blessing to so many others! Thank you teachers for a wonderful year!
A HUGE thank you to YOU, Leslie, for being the glue that keeps everything with regard to Christian education together at CEC! You inspire me. :)
ReplyDeleteA very special thank you to Deb and Kate, two wonderful women who have educated my 5 year old over the past year. She loves Atrium (something I must confess - I never loved "CCD" as a child - we used to refer to it as "Central City Dump"!)and regularly brings practices from Atrium home and into our daily routines. In a year that saw a lot of loss for my only child - mom losing her job, beloved nanny walking out without saying goodbye, the death of her godfather and the knowledge of the divorce of a friend's parents, she remains grounded in the truth that God loves all of us, always. She also knows things about liturgy that I never learned until I was in my Inquirers class. Bless you both, for your patience and knowledge but most of all for your love and faith.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Leslie! Enjoy your summer break from the normal routine! I think it's great, by the way, that your program takes a break. Many churches don't do that for fear of losing membership, but I think breaks are important to let things learned "sink in" a little more.
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful for Katie and Marvin's incredible committment to the Youth Program. As a mom, I so appreciate Katie's devotion to provide such meaningful experiences for my son. Countless hours, immeasurable patience and always an open ear. I was always amazed, too, and thankful to see Marvin during his period of recuperation, still providing guidance and support when he could.
ReplyDeleteThe Sunday morning meetings between Katie and Josh, and/or Andrew were times he will cherish forever. In many ways these times strengthened his tether to a deep and fulfilling Christian life. With so many distractions of youth, I couldn't ask for a firmer foundation. Thank you.