Sunday School: Children are a welcome and active part of our worship at First Congregational Church, Buxton, with Sunday School is incorporated into our 10:30 AM morning worship.
The children sit with their parents until the scripture time, when they come forward to sit in the front pew. Our pastor reads the morning’s lesson, stopping along the way to explain the context, unravel difficult words and tell the story in simpler terms. (Many adults are grateful for these clarifying comments too). Then the children are invited to talk with the pastor about the story, sometimes acting out the tale, sometimes creatively imagining themselves into the time and place of the lesson. After a brief closing prayer, the children go to the back of the sanctuary and take part in a supervised activity that further illustrates the scripture lesson. Near the close of the service the children rejoin their families in the pews. And before our closing hymn, one of the children comes forward – at the part of the service called “The Kids Check In” – to let us know what they have been doing.
This is a fairly new way of doing Sunday School for this congregation and it has been a delight to have the children so present and active a part of the worship service.