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Calvary Presbyterian Church of Wyncote, PA |
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...How can young people keep their way pure? Calvary Presbyterian is committed to offering Christian Education for all members of the church, from preschoolers through adults. We offer a diverse range of opportunities to learn the Word of God in a variety of creative formats. Learn more about our program for the elementary grades, our youth program, and our Adult Forums. Read more about the current Sunday School unit and current Adult Forum topics. Calvary Presbyterian Church strives to provide a Sunday school program which is warm, welcoming and open to all who come, whenever they come. It is an exciting program which provides children with the tools to use for the rest of their lives, as they explore their faith and develop their personal relationship with God. The program encourages children to use the Bible and their interactions with others as a basis for developing values. Teachers provide not only information, but act as role models to encourage loving and caring behavior in the children. The hope is that the message is so vital and clear that children will apply it to their everyday lives effortlessly. Calvary supports an active Sunday School program for children in preschool through sixth grade every Sunday morning, September through May. The children are grouped into four classes by age - Bulrushes, Olive Branches, Wheat Sheaves and Seekers. Most classes are held in the Fellowship House next to the church on Fernbrook Avenue. Calvary has adopted an exciting new format for Sunday School called the workshop rotation model. The approach is based on Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. It presents traditional Biblical stories in a fun new format that allows the children to experience them through different instructional methods. Workshops include drama, video, art, science, storytelling, games, puppetry, cooking and computers, with an emphasis on fun, hands-on activities. The children rotate to different workshops each Sunday, each utilizing a particular learning style for its approach to the lesson. The year is divided into units, and for each unit, one Bible story or concept is taught in the workshop format over the course of several weeks. Repetition of the story details gives the children ample opportunity to become familiar with the story on which each unit is focused. The units all tie together to address an overall theme for the year. The children of Calvary have responded enthusiastically to this new approach to Bible study. Attendance has grown dramatically since we have adopted this new curriculum design. The church hired Dr. Roseanna Wright to design and implement the program, with the guidance and support of Rev. Wherry and the Christian Education Committee. Parents and other members of the church eagerly donate their time as workshop leaders, and appreciate the flexible scheduling afforded by dividing the year into units. Parents take turns teaching throughout the year, and can choose the workshops they feel most comfortable teaching. We are very excited this year to have a newly updated computer lab that allows us to teach the children with the most current and exciting Christian education software available. Dr. Wright designs each lesson plan and orders supplies for the workshops so teachers need only prepare by familiarizing themselves with the story in advance. Each teacher contributes his or her own passion for passing on the Good News to the children of Calvary. In order to provide continuity for the two youngest groups of children, a “shepherd” will accompany them each week as they rotate through the different workshops. The shepherds’ responsibilities involve helping the teacher with the completion of the workshop activity, helping to keep the children focused, and, most importantly, helping the children feel comfortable with their Sunday school experience. Working in harmony with Calvary’s Chapel Choir program, the Christian Education committee has selected “Humility” as this year’s theme. During the year, we will explore stories from both the Old and New Testament that relate to this theme beginning with an exploration of the life of Moses during the first two units. Each unit will last either four or five weeks with a “Celebration Sunday Activity” at the conclusion of some units. Celebration Sundays are a fun way to review the unit and incorporate a large group activity into the curriculum. They often include a service-oriented activity, like preparing breakfast bags for Aid for Friends, creating seasonal decorations for a nursing home, or creating cards for homebound church members. The success of our new approach in helping our children understand God’s word is reflected by the enthusiasm they show for each new workshop and their ability to remember story details and comprehend the concepts taught in each lesson. This year we will continue our practice of providing a light breakfast (cold cereal, juice, milk, for the children and coffee/tea for parents) each Sunday morning before Sunday school. The breakfast starts at 9:00 and ends promptly at 9:15. All are welcome. It’s a fun way to meet and greet other Calvary families. Read more about the current unit The goals of our Sunday School program are to help each child develop a fundamental understanding of God’s messages for us in the Bible; to mature in their faith and spirituality; to develop positive feelings about being a member of a faith community, and to be able to carry the values they learn in church out into the world with them. Calvary is a close-knit church that values fellowship among its members. Fellowship time for Calvary kids begins at 9:00 a.m. with an optional light breakfast (cold cereal, juice, milk, for the children and coffee/tea for parents) each Sunday morning before Sunday School. Classes begin at 9:15 and run until 10:15. After Sunday School, children have an opportunity to socialize, play games, or make cards for homebound church members from 10:15 until the service begins at 10:45. Children of all ages are encouraged to attend the worship service with their families. Approximately fifteen minutes into the service, Rev. Wherry gathers the children at the front of the church for their own special children’s message. Then they may rejoin their families, or participate in supervised play in the Nursery or Fellowship House. The Nursery is open to all children newborn through first grade, from 9:00 a.m. until noon. Parents are free to attend an Adult Forum class or participate in choir rehearsal before the service begins. You and your children are welcome to drop in and visit our Sunday School on any Sunday morning. If you have any questions regarding the Sunday School program, or would like to discuss how your child’s special needs can be accommodated, please contact Dr. Roseanna Wright, Sunday School Development Coordinator, at 215-886-6732. Youth in fouth through twelfth grade find fellowship in the Junior and Senior Youth Groups, which hold monthly meetings in their own Youth Lounge, on the lower level of the Fellowship House. Both groups enjoy a variety of activities – some fun, some service-oriented – which encourage them to explore their faith and put it into action. As a group, they choose activities like snow tubing, canoe trips, amusement park trips, swimming, laser tag, or sleepovers at the church. Periodically special presentations and discussions are held exploring difficult issues that teenagers face in their lives. Each spring they go on a retreat to the Poconos to discuss issues of importance in their lives and how their Christian faith can guide their decision making. Each June they lead the entire church in a worship service they design and execute on their own. Throughout the year they participate in community service projects. In the past they have included: preparing Thanksgiving food baskets for the needy, writing to service people overseas and sending gift boxes, serving meals at a homeless shelter, preparing breakfast bags for homebound elderly in the community, creating cards for homebound church members, delivering seasonal decorations to the residents of Wyncote Church Home, and preparing Christmas stockings filled with gifts for inner city children. The Youth Groups’ major ongoing mission project is to raise $6,000 to build a school through the Free the Children organization. The informal setting of the Youth Group activities and the camaraderie of the members offer a uniquely successful venue for Christian education for this age group at Calvary. Youth Group encourages friends and visitors to join in their activities. The Junior Youth Group is open to fourth and fifth graders, while the Senior Youth Group is open to all middle school and high school students. If you have questions about the Youth Groups, please contact Donna Benner in the Church Office, at 215-884-5119. The Youth Forum is an opportunity for confirmed youth (grades 8-12) to meet and discuss topics of interest to them, including local and global issues, in a safe and friendly place. The forum takes place on the first Sunday of every month from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. in the Youth Lounge on the lower level of Fellowship House. Some forums will focus on an activity or a movie which will be viewed on Saturday night, to leave plenty of time for discussion on Sunday morning. Leading the group are John Eirdosh and Dave Burton. The Youth Forum offers young members an alternative Christian experience in a relaxed setting as a change of pace from the weekly worship service. Participants are not required to be confirmed or to be members of the church; visitors are warmly welcomed to join us in exploring a new way of experiencing your faith. Traditional Sunday School youth classes and discussion groups are held on Sunday mornings from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m., concurrent with the rotation workshops for elementary grades. The subject of discussion will change each week and will be lead by different members of the church. Confirmation classes are available for youth when they enter their middle school years. There is no set age for confirmation; classes are formed to meet the individual needs of those who express an interest in exploring church membership. Once they have joined the church, youth members are offered opportunities to lend their services to the church as volunteers. They may also choose to join committees to offer their talents in planning church activities. New in 2007 is a knitting class for younger members of the church, ages 7 and up. Once children become proficient knitters they’ll be working on squares to create an afghan for a child in the Presbyterian Children’s Village in Rosemont. The class meets Sunday mornings from 10:15 to 10:45 (between Sunday School and the Morning Worship). Space is limited to 10 participants. Adult help is welcome to assemble and finish the afghan. Adult knitters are also welcome to join the Witty Knitters group, which meets at Rydal Park. Talk to Sally Heimann or Gina Weckel for more information. Adults at Calvary enjoy a diverse and stimulating offering of educational programs taught by Rev. Wherry, Rev. Michael, Rev. Jeanne Radak and many members of the church, as well as outside speakers. Meeting times alternate between Sunday mornings, and Sunday or weekday evenings, throughout the year. The subjects embrace a wide variety of discussion topics of both a spiritual and practical nature. Bible Study discussion groups exploring the Old and New Testaments, led by Paul Schuchert, are held periodically throughout the year. Discussions focus on understanding the historical context of the books of the Bible, and how the messages they contain relate to our modern lives. Current social issues are explored in a lively debate format, starting with a review of current knowledge on a topic and a free exchange of ideas among class participants. Past topics have included a discussion of the death penalty, the justification for war, the depiction of Christ in films, a review of the work of Rene Girard, stewardship, world hunger, end of life issues, global warming, and many other topics. All members are invited to participate in and to lead topics of interest to them. Spirituality in music is explored periodically, in a diverse range of musical genres. Discussions are led by the church’s Music Director, Steven Rowe. Visitors are welcome to drop in on any Adult Forum. Read more about current and upcoming Adult Forum classes. An interesting and unusual ongoing Adult Forum topic is “Social Dreaming.” Calvary’s Parish Associate, Thomas Michael, introduced Social Dreaming to Calvary and has been leading the popular discussions for several years. Social Dreaming is a discipline for amplifying the social meaning and significance of dreams through sharing them with other people. This is done in a Social Dreaming Matrix by the deliberate and sustained method of free association and amplification. Social Dreaming takes place, with any number of people, in a 'matrix'. The matrix makes the world of the infinite, of the 'not-yet-known', the 'waiting-to-be-known', the 'yet-to-be discovered', the 'unthought known', that much more accessible. The unknown is the source of all creative discoveries. Once something is thought of, it enters the domain of the finite known. Social Dreaming offers the opportunities to think afresh, laterally and creatively, around the tensions, paradoxes, and possible contradictions and ambivalence of entering 'not-knowing' as a way to develop new knowledge. Calvary members of all ages are invited to come together and share their dreams. People will begin to free associate to them; some will search for meaning. What follows is a disciplined discussion on the dimensions of the dream in terms of knowledge. Because Social Dreaming takes place in a Matrix, it mirrors the process of dreaming itself. The mind is freed from analytic domination. Social Dreaming is experienced as pleasurable and thrilling as participants learn to think laterally and divergently, to break the mould of goal-orientated thinking. To learn more about Social Dreaming, visit www.socialdreaming.com.
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