A letter from Fr. Mike as printed in the Summer 2015 Education issue of The Epistle, St. James' newsletter.
Dear Friends in Christ,
What an exciting year we have planned! There will be multiple opportunities for both Adults and children to strengthen their knowledge of their faith fulfilling our mission statement to "know and serve God by serving others!" Whether you are new to St. James’ or new to Christian Education now is a great time to make a new beginning and join us in one of our many Christian Education offerings.
For Adults, there are two specific offerings. One is at the 9:00 am hour between the Sunday services where we will explore the weekly readings other than the Gospel which is normally the text for the sermon. The second offering will be on Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm where we will do an in-depth bible study on the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. Both of these books were written by the same author and we will be exploring the theological as well as the literary aspects of these texts. The classes are designed to be attended concurrently but that doesn’t prevent people from dropping in at any time to derive a benefit from the class. A table of each night’s discussion is provided inside on the Adult Education page.
For our youth ages 12-16, St. James’ offers the Journey to Adulthood program which consists of two different two-year classes. The first class is for those between the ages of 12-14 and it is known as Rite 13. The curriculum for both Rite 13 and the class for the older teenagers, J2A, is a biblical based program with emphasis on faith development, societal issue awareness and individu-al commitments to serving Christ. This is an exciting year for both the Rite 13 and the J2A classes. In the Rite 13 class, they will be preparing for the Rite 13 ceremony which is a moving worship service that acknowledges their transition from childhood to young adulthood. The class will also be going on an urban adventure. Normally this is a trip to St. John the Divine in New York City where we meet and worship with other Rite 13 groups and the adventure culminates in a trip in the city that the students have to plan. Two years ago we went to the Central Park Zoo. I can’t wait to see what this group of students will plan. For J2A, this is the second year of a two year program which culminates in confirmation and a pilgrimage. Bishop Michel has agreed to come and be with us to confirm this class and others wishing to make their commitment to Christ and live out that commitment within the confines of the Episcopal Church. The confirmation date will be May 22nd at the 10:00 am service. This is also pilgrimage year for the J2A group. Two years ago the class went on a week-long pilgrimage to Iona Scotland. We have been invited to join another J2A group from St. Gabriel’s in Douglasville, PA and we are trying to work out the logistics to travel with them. Please keep these young people in your prayers and if you would like to donate to the pilgrimage fund just designate so in the memo block of your check.
For our littlest members, the Church School coordinators for this coming year will be Amanda Kristofco and Laurie Shawaluk. I would like to thank Tricia Francoeur for her leadership these last two years. Church School is healthy and in a good place thanks to Tricia and Laurie’s leadership. Church School runs between 9:45 and 10:15 on Sunday mornings and serves children ages 4 to 12. There are four class offerings with the appropriate age breakdown (See the Church School page in this Epistle for more information). The classes are in conjunction with the Gospel lesson appointed for each Sunday in our lectionary. The classes end and the children come and join us in the church at the passing of the peace. This is so they can participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion and be reminded of their baptism. It is one of my favorite times on Sunday morning as the children gather inside the altar rail and we discuss the lessons that they learned that day and I get to see the projects they have been working on. We at St. James’ are blessed to have such dedicated teachers who work hard at instilling the principles of Christianity to our children.
It is my fervent desire that all of St. James’ parishioners would avail themselves of the myriad of offerings in Christian Education designed to help strengthen their walk with Christ. May God bless us in this upcoming year and may our programs help develop you in your faith journey.
In Love,
Fr. Mike
