I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."
                --  Jesus  (John 13:34)

We at St. Anne’s have always held this commandment as an integral part of who we are.  Beginning this fall, St. Anne’s is going to put love at the center of all we do with our children as well.  This summer there has been a flurry of excited conversation, books read and ideas exchanged, and on October 5^th, St. Anne’s will kick off the all new… St. Anne’s Sunday Club!

What is Sunday Club?  It’s Sunday School.  But more hands-on, more fun.  Less talking and more doing (for active little bodies that don’t always want to sit).  Sunday Club will focus on stewardship and outreach:  on teaching children how to love each other, our neighbors and the world.  And we’ll have fun as we go.

 

 What does Sunday Club look like?  Sunday Club is for children of St. Anne’s (and any friends they might want to bring along!) ages 3 through 5^th grade. 
 

It begins at 9:15 with gathering time…
     Sunday Club will begin each Sunday at 9:15 am, with a gathering time in the sanctuary.  Children from preschool through 5^th grade will meet together to sing old Christian Sunday school songs (Kumbaya, anyone?), recognize birthdays or special events, hear a story, and to say a prayer together.  It will be an informal meeting time.  If you can’t make it by 9:15, then come at 9:20 or 9:25.  The gathering time is designed to be a gentle and warm way to open our Sunday mornings together.

 If you miss gathering time, come at 9:30 for the next part…
     At 9:30, the larger group will break into two smaller groups:  pre-school and kindergarten in one room and 1^st – 5^th grades in another.
     Each month, Sunday Club will focus on a different theme  and each Sunday of the month will use a different approach to teach the month’s message.  Service projects to St. Anne’s and service projects to the world will be a large part of what happens at Sunday Club, with plenty of stories, spiritual  messages, singing and game-playing in the mix.

 

The Sunday Club theme for October is
Caring for Our Planet.  We’ll focus on the responsibility we’ve been given to protect and care for animals and the environment.  On Sunday mornings through the month of October, we will:  make birdfeeders to hang at St. Anne’s, discuss what it means to be responsible for the animals and the planet, read stories, pick up garbage on the gravel road.  We’ll sing and we’ll play.

 Sunday Club for the rest of the year is structured into the following themes:

November:  Grateful Hearts
December:  A World of Peace
January:  Family and Community
February:  Love
March:   Social Justice
April:  New Life/Spring/Awakening
May:  Growth

 Weekly, Sunday Club looks like this:

Week 1 of the month:  How the month’s theme impacts each of us

Week 2 of the month:  Service to St. Anne’s, in accordance with our theme

Week 3 of the month:  Service to the community and world

Week 4 of the month:  Music and songs

Week 5, when it happens:  Special theme, or Game Day!

5th Sunday of November—making Advent Wreaths