Come to dinner in costume - no scary attire - and afterwards join us in the parking garage for an evening of fun, fellowship and, of course, lots of candy. Want to help? Contact Leila Quinlan and volunteer to host a decorated candy car. 

5:30 p.m. Dinner begins
Parish Center Dining Room
$5 per child; $7 per adult
Fried Chicken for the adults, Chicken Tenders for the kids

6:15 p.m. - Costume Parade
Parish Center Dining Room

6:30 p.m. - Trunk or Treating Begins
Lower level of the parking garage - no cost for admission


A night out with Christ Church friends and free childcare?  Yes, please!  Parents are invited to come together for an evening of fun, food, and fellowship at the home of Dan and Kristin Glunt. Please extend the invitation to friends who may be interested in visiting Christ Church. The registration deadline has been extended to October 22nd. Nursery care is available at Christ Church during the event from 6-9pm for children age 4 months through 5 years with a reservation. Please indicate during registration if nursery care is needed.  


All Souls' Day Family Service
Friday, November 2nd, 5:30-6:00 pm
Contemporary Worship Center

All Souls' Day is an opportunity to remember those who have died -- bringing both our sadness and our thanksgiving to God. Children are more aware of these losses than we sometimes acknowledge -- whether the loss is recent, or a distant loss that we carry every day.

Families are invited (all ages) to this brief come-as-you-are commemoration service. If you like, bring photos or mementos of loved ones to place on the Altar of Remembrance during the service. We will pray  together and light candles, giving thanks for those who have come before us.

Through all things we walk together, in this family of families we call the church.

Please share with friends and family who may find healing in this service.

Nursery care will be available.

Open Prayer for Parents
Every Monday,  8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Church Sanctuary


Parents and caregivers of children are invited to a session of quiet prayer and reflection in the church each Monday morning. Stop in anytime between 8:30 and 9:00.  At 8:45, a brief passage of scripture will be presented for meditation. Come as you are, as we rest in God's love before the start of a busy week. All are welcome.

Curriculum Highlights

Children's Christian Formation meets every Sunday, 10:15 - 11:00 a.m. 
Children are welcome to join us at any time during the year, as they are able.  Visitors are always welcome. 

 

Godly Play

Primary Godly Play
Age 3 (before 8/26/2018 fully potty trained) through Kindergarten
Learning Cottages 1 and 2 (temporary portable classrooms)

Intermediate Godly Play
1st and 2nd Grades
Learning Cottages 3 and 4


The Exodus


Oct. 7 The Exodus -  The story of God's people as they journeyed from slavery into freedom through the water.  The people of God have looked back to this time to sustain them when God is hidden and they feel lost.
Oct. 14
The Ten Best Ways - The story of the gift of the Ten Commandments, given to us by God to help us live in harmony with God and with one another. 
Oct. 21
The Ark and the Tent (Primary)- We now present the other kind of ark, the ark of the covenant. This special chest held the tablets of the commandments. This lesson presents the tabernacle, the tent which housed the ark wherever the people of God traveled.

The Story of Moses (Intermediate) - The larger story of Moses, including his rescue from the river as a baby, the burning bush, the exodus, the golden calf, the ten commandments, and the ark of the covenant.  The story enriches and deepens understanding of the previous stories.  
Oct. 28
The Ark and the Temple (Primary) - The story of the temple in Jerusalem, built by Solomon, where the ark would be kept. God was in that place, but there is no place that can contain God. 

The Ark and the Tent (Intermediate)


Weaving God's Promises

The Parish Center classrooms are beside the dining room.  Please enter from the exterior doors near the courtyard (across from the church office).  

Parish Center Room 111: 3rd Grade
Parish Center Room 112: 4th Grade
Parish Center Room 113: 5th Grade

This Episcopal curriculum is organized in a three year cycle - Weaving Our Faith, Weaving Together the Family of God, and Weaving God's Beloved Community.   Drawing from the best of both Godly Play and Youth Ministry, these in-between years will be rich with learning, holy conversation, prayer, community, fun, and of course, love.

This year is Weaving Our Faith, for children in all three upper elementary grades.  As we experience stories from the Old and New Testaments, the overarching theme is God's love for us and how God stays with us, no matter what, to bring us back to God's divine love. 



 
Oct. 7
The Passover and the Exodus from Egypt 
The stories of the Passover and exodus will continue to illustrate God's desire for the liberation of all who are enslaved or oppressed.  We will explore the words said at every Holy Eucharist, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us."
Oct. 14
Troubles in the Wilderness
The story of God's people grumbling in the wilderness and their idolization of false idols reveals the forgetfulness and shortsightedness in our nature, and reminds us that God always stays with us despite our rebellious tendencies.  
Oct. 21
Into the Promised Land 
This story, of Joshua leading the people into the Promised Land, is a story of war.  But we can relate to Joshua's openness to God's strange methods of guidance.  Episcopalian ethos teaches that Christians do not know all the answers to tough theological questions, nor do they always have the right insights into God's plan for them. So Episcopalians tend to focus not so much on getting the right answers but on prayerfully discerning what path to take, accepting that many situations are ambiguous and unclear, and offering (and
receiving) forgiveness when wrong. 
Oct. 28
Building Israel, Building the Temple of God
The Temple is the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, where the tablets of the Ten Commandments are kept. So it is the Temple that will be the center of worship for Israel and the center of their religious life.  We'll discuss the customs of our church that show reverence for God.


Village Small Groups
Sundays, 10:15 - 11:00
ELC rooms 5 and 6 (beside the Cooper Chapel)
Village

Village Small Groups for parents provide a self-led space for fellowship, support and spiritual growth. Groups choose their own content (bible study, parenting topics, conversation starters, or just a place to connect and talk freely).  Village One includes mostly of parents of babies and preschoolers, and Village Two consists mostly of parents of elementary age children and older (with lots of overlap).   Parents come alone or with partners/spouses, and newcomers are always welcome!  

To learn more about either of these groups, contact  Melissa Johnson (Village One) or  Jennifer Goldman (Village Two), or just show up.  

Save the Date!

Sabbath:  Making the Impossible Possible
An Evening with pastor and author MaryAnn McKibben Dana

November 13th, 6:30 pm
Contemporary Worship Center
Keynote address presented by Christ Church Family Ministry



Work. Home responsibilities. Sunday sports. Mid-week activities. Social media. The demands on today's families seem endless. Is this what "the good life" is all about? Scripture offers an alternative to the endless cycle of activity: an invitation to rest from our work each week. But how is this even possible given the reality of life in the 21st century? Come explore the practice of Sabbath-keeping and how families of all shapes and sizes might make it real in their own lives.
  
For more information, contact:

Catherine Montgomery
Director of Children's Christian Formation and Family Ministries
(904) 285-7390 ext. 227
STAY CONNECTED - "Like" the CEC Children's Formation Facebook Page
 I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding  and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself,  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
 
Colossians 2:2-3 (NRSV)