St. Martin's Episcopal Church
CHRISTIAN FORMATION -- CHILDREN
NURSERY CHILD CARE
St. Martin's Nursery is open from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Sunday of the year and is located downstairs next to the Choir room. The age range in the Nursery Room covers babies through 4-year-olds. There are two screened and Safe Church trained adult child care providers in this room at all times. A brochure is available at the nursery which every parent should receive on their first visit. It has important information regarding health guidelines for nursery care and allergy information that is essential for our caregivers to know to insure the safety of your child. Please click here to also download the brochure.
The Christian Formation offered in the nursery is experiential in that consideration for one another is practiced. Sharing toys and taking turns is explained, modeled and rewarded with praise when accomplished. Stories from the Bible and other sources are read to the children, and the room is filled with toys that appeal to a child's imagination as well as puzzles and manipulatives that test their ingenuity. If there are any questions about the nursery, contact Ann Meyer at 229-1111 of click here to email her.
SUNDAY SCHOOL occurs most Sundays at 10am
The Christian Formation offered in the nursery is experiential in that consideration for one another is practiced. Sharing toys and taking turns is explained, modeled and rewarded with praise when accomplished. Stories from the Bible and other sources are read to the children, and the room is filled with toys that appeal to a child's imagination as well as puzzles and manipulatives that test their ingenuity. If there are any questions about the nursery, contact Ann Meyer at 229-1111 of click here to email her.
SUNDAY SCHOOL occurs most Sundays at 10am
TEACHERS in each of the four elementary classrooms are hand-picked and are up-to-date with their Safe Church training requirements. There are 4 teams per classroom who are scheduled on a rotating basis approximately every four weeks. Teachers, parents and children are all encouraged to access the Christian Formation Director and Clergy with suggestions, observations or grievances. All comments are welcomed, respected and responded to by SMEC staff.
STORY SUNDAY
The 2012-2013 school year saw St. Martin’s implementing a new way of doing Formation for all ages. The emphasis will be on God’s Story is My Story. During the academic year eight Bible stories will be told on one Sunday and then re-told three more times the following three Sundays in various age-appropriate ways and engaging all learning types and preferences. Each module (4 week period) will begin with everyone (age 3 through age 103) coming to Miles Hall to hear the story—kids, teens, parents, grandparents, friends (single, married, widowed, divorced, engaged, whatever!!!). After the story is told, there are learning stations set up around Miles Hall. These stations host activities appropriate to the very young right up to the oldest member present. The activities are designed to enhance the story so a person can make or take something home to help him or her remember. During the following three Sundays of the module, children go to their own classrooms while adults are invited back to Miles Hall.
CHILDREN'S SUNDAY SCHOOL
Our Sunday school teachers follow up each module’s story with 3-weeks of activities designed to help the children remember the story. These activities will include art, drama, music, cooking, games, outreach—whatever will be fun and engage the children in the elements of the story. To accomplish this and aid the continuity of the story, each team of teachers teach for the entire module. This means that each team teaches 4 weeks in a row both in the fall and in the spring.
PRE-KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE THREE
These children use three classrooms downstairs near the church offices and our nursery. These classrooms are used during the week by the Williamsburg Parent Cooperative Preschool and we use their rooms on Sundays.
GRADES FOUR AND FIVE (AND EVERY OTHER YEAR--GRADE SIX TOO)
These young people meet in room 10 of the Zig-Zag building which is furnished with tables and chairs as this age group still prefers to keep their hands busy with crafts and projects while hearing Bible stories and lessons related to the same Scriptures introduced during Story Sunday. The adult leaders of this age group frequently use the children’s ability to act out Bible stories and their students offer to plays as formational education to the lower grades.
Our Sunday school teachers follow up each module’s story with 3-weeks of activities designed to help the children remember the story. These activities will include art, drama, music, cooking, games, outreach—whatever will be fun and engage the children in the elements of the story. To accomplish this and aid the continuity of the story, each team of teachers teach for the entire module. This means that each team teaches 4 weeks in a row both in the fall and in the spring.
PRE-KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE THREE
These children use three classrooms downstairs near the church offices and our nursery. These classrooms are used during the week by the Williamsburg Parent Cooperative Preschool and we use their rooms on Sundays.
GRADES FOUR AND FIVE (AND EVERY OTHER YEAR--GRADE SIX TOO)
These young people meet in room 10 of the Zig-Zag building which is furnished with tables and chairs as this age group still prefers to keep their hands busy with crafts and projects while hearing Bible stories and lessons related to the same Scriptures introduced during Story Sunday. The adult leaders of this age group frequently use the children’s ability to act out Bible stories and their students offer to plays as formational education to the lower grades.
PAGEANTS AND PLAYS
St. Martin's Christmas Pageant takes place at the 4:00pm service on Christmas Eve. The pageant offered in 2012 was billed as our first NO-FUSS NO-MUSS CHRISTMAS PAGEANT because is required only one rehearsal. That rehearsal took place at 2;30pm on Christmas Eve and involved the attendance of anyone, any age (children, parents, grandparents, non-parent adults, etc.) to hear the Christmas story, followed by a light snack. Then those participating in the pageant choose their parts and were costumed in time to participate in the 4:00pm Family Service and Eucharist.
In addition to our annual Christmas Pageant, at Christmas time our middle school youth take part in a Living Nativity, sometimes outside the church for church attendees to see before entering the service, and sometimes inside the church right before the pageant.
