CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AT TRINITY
At Trinity we provide Christian education opportunities for all ages from nursery school through adults.
Christ Crusaders are our Sunday School with classes for children through grade 6. The children met in 2004/2005 while their parents, grandparents and older siblings were participating in the Liturgy of the Word at the 10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist. They learned Bible stories and about our worship through a variety of activities. For example, during Lent they enacted, complete with costumes and props, a Jerusalem Marketplace. From May 1 through May 8, the Christ Crusaders held a plant sale featuring hanging baskets as a way of learning about stewardship of our environment. The sale was a tremendous success netting $510.00. A tithe, $51.00 was given to Trinity's Outreach Committee for mission. The children packed their bags and headed off on a fast paced re-enactment trip through the Holy Land on June 24, Vacation Bible School day. They visited four exciting places: Egypt, Bethlehem, the Jordan River and Jerusalem. The trip was imaginary, but they got a chance to see, taste and experience the way life was in biblical times. On Sunday, June 26, the VBS participants shared their exciting experience along with their leader, Johanna Baker (Fr. Denny's daughter who has been accepted at Yale Divinity School as a postulant for the priesthood) at the 10:00 am Eucharist. The Christ's Crusaders continue to collect non-perishable food and hygene items for Christ Mission in New Castle, a way-station a few blocks away for homeless and needy men.. They have not had classes through the summer and plans for fall 2005 are under discussion. Check back here for further information.
We use the Journey to Adulthood curriculum for our teenagers. Journey to Adulthood is a curriculum developed by Episcopalians for youth in the Episcopal Church. Rite 13 is the component for junior high aged youth. It assists young people as they take the first steps of passage away from their families and into their own lives. It begins with a liturgical celebration of the gift of womanhood and manhood. During these years, the community acknowledges the gift of gender, celebrates the amazing gift of power and potential of these young people, and creates a safe haven to explore new ideas, new interests, and new abilities.
Journey to Adulthood (J2A) is the heart of this entire program - it blends action and contemplation in teaching young people faithful living. To prepare them for adulthood, they learn six basic skills:
Active listening
Negotiation
Assertion
Research/information management
Partnership
LeadershipThe program also helps them understand and affirm Christian living. After two years they are given the opportunity to be confirmed and are acknowledged in the community of faith as equipped for new levels of responsibility. They are recognized as young adults, rather than children, and invited to make a holy pilgrimage.
Adult Education
Seventy or more people at Trinity are participating in a program called Essential Challenge 100. The Essential 100™ is a carefully selected list of short Bible passages –50 from the Old Testament and 50 from the New Testament—that helps one get the big picture of God’s Word. During Lent we added a disciplinary component to the program. We kept ‘mite boxes’ into which we put money based on items related to the scripture passage we had read each day. On Holy Saturday, we counted the money we had accumulated over the Lenten period, wrote checks for the total and put them into the Easter Vigil or Easter Day offering. All money collected was designated for outreach.
Some of the Essential Challenge participants meet for reflection between the two services of Holy Eucharist on Sunday mornings.
Trinity also has a group of adults of all ages who gather for
Bible study on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m.
Anyone is welcome to join in with this group at any time.
Our discussions often become quite lively and lots of fun as
well as a learning experience.
One of the things that makes this Bible study out of the
ordinary is that participants are using a variety of translations
and paraphrased bibles.
