Christian Education
Sunday School:
The Sunday school is studying the book of Esther and will celebrate Purim on February 15th with reenactment of the story of Queen Esther. The children are busy learning music for Palm Sunday and Easter which will be shared during worship. The Sunday school will not have separate time on February 22nd or Easter Sunday. It is hoped that families will attend worship together on those Sundays. Nursery is available on those Sundays for very young children.
The children are starting their study during Lent on March 1st with an exploration of churches and prayer around the world. This coincides with World Day of Prayer being held on Friday, March 6. The following Sundays of Lent will find the children exploring what it means to "follow Jesus". Children will see how the disciples were willing to give up everything to follow this man and that his death on the cross now provides us everlasting life. These lessons will include hands on activities of role playing, art and baking. We encourage anyone who would like to see a lesson in action to join us during our church school time.
The children will be singing on Palm Sunday and Easter. There will be no Sunday school on Easter Sunday as families are encouraged to attend worship together as a family. Following Easter worship an Easter egg hunt will occur as in the fellowship hall.
The Christian Education Committee has prepared a final unit of study for this Sunday school year. " Daniel and the Den of Lions" will be the focus of the children's learning starting on April 26th. Through storytelling, art, music, drama and video they will experience this story of Daniel's strong faith and God's answer to prayers. On June 7th the children will lead worship and present a drama interpretation of the story. Teachers and children will be recognized on that day for this wonderful year of learning and being together in faith learning. Following worship that Sunday a barbeque will be held for all our members and friends. We hope everyone will come and support our children and teachers.
Adult Education: The adult Bible study of "Bad Girls of the Bible" is meeting Tuesday evenings starting at 6:30 PM in the Fireplace Room. If anyone would like to join, please feel free to contact a member of the Christian Education Committee or Marisa for information and materials. Childcare will be provided if needed.
Youth Group—This is a combined youth group including the First Congregational Church, Elmore Methodist, Puffer Methodist Churches. The meetings are being held at the First Congregational Church in the Fireplace Room and the Friendship Room. This is also the room used for the Teen Center. The meetings are on Monday nights. All youth are invited to join and encouraged to bring a friend. Our community needs an active youth group again. Lets help our youth learn giving, caring, sharing and some spiritual grounding. Any questions can be directed to any of the pastors at these churches. First Cong. Church 888-2225, Puffer Methodist Church 888-2248, or Elmore Methodist Church 888-3247.
85 Upper Main Street
PO Box 475
Morrisville,Vermont 05661
To contact us:
The First Congregational Church
"The Sunday School plants roots to show their pride in the past and faith in the future."
The children have been studying the Great 50 Days and the church celebrations associated with them: Ascension Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. They have also learned about Trinity Sunday. They have learned the history of the Congregational Church, and on this 50th anniversary of the United Church of Christ they have learned how the Congregationalists joined other denominations to form the UCC. We have also talked about our own church's 200th anniversary. As we celebrated our history, we decided to use our Sunday School offering to purchase a tree, and plant it on the parsonage grounds. The crabapple tree the children planted will be a great reminder every spring to renew our commitment to the church.
The following link will bring you to the Covenant Hills Brochure for 2009.
There will be an open house on June 20th and the day camps begin June 28th and run through August 8th. There are six weeks of camp adventure. Each week offers something new for grades K—12. The younger children do not have as many choices as the older ones. Plan for a summer of fun and fellowship for your children now!
Pictures of children and animals from VBS 2008
We chose to continue our practice of writing our own curriculum this past year. Using the United Church of Christ Conference resource center we were able to augment materials we have in our own church. The children studied the story of the Amistad, the stories of Ruth, David and Goliath and David’s story up to the building of the temple by Solomon. The children culminated their learning through presentation of plays, singing and dancing, and the actual building of their own temple in the basement area.
We once again decided to offer vacation Bible school and enjoyed time with our youth in studying about goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks and fish. These studies used materials from Heifer International and their collection with the help of the congregation raised $243.08 which went to this organization. This allowed our children to send a goat, trio of rabbits, two flocks of chicks and a flock of ducks/geese to third world countries where the gift of animals provides income and food for families.
Our children did mission in our own community through gifts to the food shelf, a Thanksgiving basket for a family and gifts for the Lamoille Family Center Christmas shopping event.
Our adult educational offerings this year included the study of prayer through “Stretch Out Your Hands” discussion. This group continued prayer time following the study and reached out to members of our congregation as need arose.
Our young adults were offered an ecumenical youth group on Monday nights with Rev. Jerry Breen of Elmore Methodist Church leading the group. Our church has offered the space for this group to meet and supported with adult assistance as needed.
We continue to have new families joining our church family and look forward to continued spiritual growth for our young people. We would also like to thank Mary Quigley for her time and leadership that she has given this committee.
Vacation Bible School: Thanks to all who helped. Also a special thanks to the Women’s Group. The women’s group garden (which normally provides fresh produce for the needy) provided some lettuce for a visiting rabbit which came to Vacation Bible School as part of the curriculum. The rabbit was thankful, and so were the kids and teachers. The daily vacation bible school offering plus the help from the congregation---received and promised---will allow us to purchase a goat, some chicks, and some rabbits through Heifer Project International. Thank you all for your contributions to this worthy cause.” The daily vacation bible school offering plus the help from the congregation---received and promised---will allow us to purchase a goat, some chicks, and some rabbits through Heifer Project International. Thank you all for your contributions to this worthy cause.
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