Tag: Sunday School

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Summer Sundays with Legos: Fun and Learning

Building with Lego Robots to learn about God — it’s what people of all ages are doing at Princeton UMC for Summer Sundays 2019. After Children’s Time in today’s worship service, the younger children began to build elements of God’s Creation, and the older children will populate the scene by building robots — all under the super-organized direction of Steve Wong and Lorie Roth and their adult and teen helpers,including  Robin,  William, Phoebe, Mae, and Leanne.

The learning and fun continue through the summer and all children are welcome. You don’t need to be enrolled to attend. On Sunday, July 14, everyone will be in church to welcome home our Appalachia Service Project Team!

Meanwhile, downstairs, the younger children are learning about God through play in the well equipped nursery/kindergarten space. Thanks, Marie, Malisa, Abrefi, and Iona — other volunteers are welcome!

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Bible Presentation – Sunday, April 7, 2019

 

Do you remember your first Bible? Where is it now? On Sunday, April 7th during worship, PUMC repeated its beautiful annual tradition.  Each year, this church gives to each child in 4th grade their bible. The giving of Bibles is in service to their Biblical imagination while hearing God for themselves through the pages.

Every member of the congregation was asked to bring their first Bible to the church that Sunday. Those who didn’t have their first Bible brought their current Bible.

This Bible presentation is one of the climaxes of the Sunday School experience of the 4th Graders and their families with church members.

Written by Isabella Dougan

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Rally Day – indoors and on the lawn!

The Rally Train came through our ‘town’ on Sunday.  And it came with blasts of  JOY, fun fellowship, renewal and reconnections in an atmosphere of worship.  This amazing Fall Kickoff would not have happened without an amazing and industrious team to whom we are immensely grateful.

Making activity bags

The awesome bags! coordinated by Mae Potts and Lorie Roth will hold the children’s activity kits to be used during the next alternative worship Sunday on September 24. Thanks to Barbara Sageser for the ornate banner which will soon be displayed in the Education wing to be enjoyed by everyone. Our dedicated teachers facilitated this creative work in the classroom last Sunday.

Classes will continue through the year delving into Deep Blue!-the new curriculum for Sunday School. This fall, the kids will follow God’s activity in the lives and characters of Samuel, Saul and David. It all begins with our first lesson “Hannah’s Prayer.”

Nursery Class

A special welcome to new teachers — Maria Blomgren, Laura Felten, Carla Macguigan, and Alison Koblin. Also welcome to Drew McLendon, our new Nursey Care Attendant. We ask for – and welcome – volunteers to help us in the nursery and PreK rooms.

We are deeply grateful for the commitment of this team to the spiritual formation of the young lives of our church family.

— Phoebe Lorraine Quaynor, Christian Education Director.

 

 

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Fourth Grade Bibles

Photo by Robin Birkel

Director of Christian Education Machaela Irving — along with teachers Barbara Sageser, Janis McCarty, and Lorie Roth — presented each fourth grader with a NRSV Bible on February 12. They were curious and delighted!

Photo by Anna Looney
Back in the classroom they began to explore their new Bibles. Photo by Lorie Roth
Photo by Lorie Roth

 

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Sunday School: Not Just for Kids

In addition to Bible studies that meet during the week, two adult classes welcome newcomers on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

The Contemporary Issues Class is starting a new study based on The Unwinding by George Packer. Through a series of glimmering short essays, Packer has put together a story of how wealth has concentrated itself in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century, and the first decade of the 21st. “We meet every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. in the Library. We welcome new class members,” says Charles Phillips.

The Heart of Faith class meets in Fellowship Hall on Sundays at 9:30. Led by Rev. Don Brash, it will study the differences between the Word as Jesus of Nazareth, the word as the preaching of the preacher, and the Word as the messages of the Scriptures. “We will explore the possible ways of understanding God’s relationship to the words of the Bible and the words of the preacher,” says Don. He is associate professor of historical theology at Palmer Theological Seminary. Everyone is welcome.

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Brown Bag It on November 20

2016-november-cropped-brown-bagOnce again the children of our Sunday School will decorate shopping bags for the church family to fill, with gratitude, for those who are insecure in providing food for themselves and their families.

On November 20 our sanctuary will be filled with Brown Bags to care for the families and individuals served through Arm in Arm (formerly Crisis Ministry).
Through its three Client Choice Food Pantries, and delivery to the elderly and homebound, Arm in Arm has served more than 4,000 households with high-quality food, nutrition education, and health screening during the last year. More than 40% of its clients are below the age of 17, and 25% are 55 and above. These house-holds have intermittent food insecurity and can “slip between the cracks” of government supports.

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Princeton UMC has been walking alongside Arm in Arm since it was formed more than 30 years ago. In addi-tion to providing healthy food to our neighbors in Mercer County, Arm in Arm has stabilized the housing of nearly 700 struggling families by helping with back rent or mortgage, rapid rehousing, security deposit help, utilities back payment, and case management. It also provides job skills and employment readiness
So, be part of the hope and join with your congregation in walking “Arm in Arm” with your community. Pack up your bag, fill it with love, gratitude and non-perishable food (especially heart-healthy, low-fat and sugar free varieties). Bring your Brown Bags of Gratitude to the Sanctuary on November 20 and celebrate the grace of God and the generosity of our church family.
Would your committee or small group like to sponsor its own “Brown Bag” meeting? Great idea! For more information and encouragement, contact LaVerna Albury at 609-658-3830.

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Bagpipes and Colorful Dress: World Communion

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Chip Swartz, bagpiper and PUMC member, with Rev. Jana Purkis Brash, celebrating World Communion Sunday.

PUMC truly is a diverse community, and this is never more evident than on World Communion Sunday.  As has become tradition, members are invited to to attend these services wearing the native dress of their countries of origin, transforming our Sanctuary into a colorful quilt of textures, designs and styles.  For several years our Communion table dismissals have been given by church members in a variety of languages, Korean, Spanish and Swahili, among others. This year, members were also invited to come to the altar area during the singing of hymns, and place a sticker on their country of origin on a large world map.  What a blessing it is to be part of such a diverse church family!....by Lori Pantaleo

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All ages sang rousingly, directed here by Hyosang Park. See the PrincetonUMC Facebook page for videos!

 

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Jana Purkis-Brash celebrating World Communion Sunday with, among others, Theresa Cann, Ina Early, Isabella Dougan, Catherine Williams, Christine Shungu

 

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Susan and Vasanth Victor celebrating World Communion Sunday.
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Reggie and Theresa Cann: Reggie did the projection

 

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Scot with tartan tie: John Macdonald supervised the AV system
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Scot with tartan scarf: Iona Harding, who, along with Lula Crawford, offered international food for coffee hour.
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Everyone, including each child, could put a sticker ‘heart’ on their native country or the country ‘close to their heart’
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Meanwhile, in Sunday School, everyone was learning about Abraham and Sarah, here the smallest children glimpsed the story told by Marie Griffiths and Mae Potts
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Kindergartners learned that story, and Christine Wong and Christine Shungu taught the delightful song -“God is so good — to you and me.” Just right for World Communion Sunday!
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Nora and Daddy
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Rally around the Heifer Ark on September 11

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Second and third graders meet with Mae Potts and Tracey Feick-Lee

We’re getting off to an exciting start to the Sunday School year! On Rally Day, September 11, kids  parents, teachers will gather in the sanctuary at 9:30 a.m. for the first 15-20 minutes of worship. We will celebrate that our Sunday School is ready to buy an ark for Heifer International.

Kids and teachers will be blessed, and sent off to classrooms to begin a new Sunday School year ad-venture. Adult classes Contemporary Issues and Heart of Faith will begin at 9:30.

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Adult Ed Choices — which is for you?

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Adults have lots of education opportunities this fall. Two classes meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30. The Contemporary Issues class, in the Library, will study the Historical Figure of Jesus by EP Sanders. top right from those pictured above. This informal class focuses on issues that individuals, families, groups, and countries face in today’s world. Past topics have included changing attitudes towards religion, understanding major world religions, science and faith, and politics and religion.

The Heart of Our Faith class meets in Fellowship Hall at 9:30 on Sundays. Rev. Don Brash, PUMC’s resident theologian, will lead the study of the Epistle to the Hebrews. “Hebrews is richly textured with beliefs and ideas,” says Don. “It contributed to Christian thinking about faith, worship, transcendence, ministry, the church, and more.” 

Phoebe Quaynor leads an in-depth 32-week Disciple Bible Study on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. This year’s book in the valuable series, Remember Who You Are,  focuses on such themes as the call to remember, the call to repentance, the need for renewed vision, and the place of community. It includes the major and minor Old Testament prophets (except for Daniel) plus the 13 years traditionally attributed to Paul. For a sample chapter click here.

Informal study groups meet Monday mornings, Tuesday evenings, and Thursday afternoons. To join the Disciple study, contact phoebe@princetonumc.org. All the other groups welcome drop-in visitors, so just drop by!