WELCOME
Welcome to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. My name is Scott Coulter, and it is my honor to serve our beloved community as the Minister to Children and Youth. Jesus once said that all those who wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven must do so as little children. I have always felt that Jesus was pointing to something fundamental here, something our adult world can very often forget. And that is that children come into this world in the full embrace of God, with an innate connectedness to the Kingdom. Our job in youth ministry is not to give them “all the answers”, to make them believe the same way we do, or to make sure they memorize X number of scripture verses every Sunday. Our job is to honor the light of God already burning in each young person.
At St. Andrew’s, all of our work is predicated on the idea that our children and youth voices deserve to be honored. Their questions deserve to be honored. Their doubts deserve to be honored. We are here to give language to the innate spirituality of each young person that comes through our doors. We are here to help expand their relationship with God and help them give voice to that relationship.
Our children’s ministry (for those under 12) meets every Sunday at 9am. We offer Godly Play (ages 3 and up) and Children’s Chapel (ages 9-11). Our youth group (for 6th grade and up) meets twice monthly at 11am on the first and third Sundays of each month. This year, we will be collaborating with the youth group from St. Barnabas to expand the scope and size of our youth group. And of course, throughout the year we have special events, including service trips, social outings, and seasonal festivities.
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CHILDREN'S MINISTRY
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YOUTH MINISTRY
St. Andrew's Children's Ministry
Our children’s ministry (for those below 6th grade) has 2 weekly programs - Godly Play and Children’s Chapel. Each of these groups meet weekly at 9am, during the morning service. Godly Play meets in the undercroft, while children’s chapel meets in the Parish House (the building to the left of the church). Learn more about each of these below.
Coming Up:
Sunday, September 17th - In Godly Play, storyteller Zoe Cole will share the story of Creation. 9am in the undercroft.
Sunday, September 17th - Children’s Chapel begins. We will meet at 9am in the Parish House.
Godly Play
Godly Play is a curriculum for children ages 3 up to 12 developed by Jerome Berryman. Using a Montessori-based, experiential approach to spiritual education, it brings the sacred stories of the Christian tradition to life for young children. It is a rich, story-based curriculum that speaks to children's innate understanding of the presence of God. Godly Play isn’t focused on "right answers", or drilling scripture passages as if we're preparing for the SAT's. Instead, Godly Play invites children to wonder deeply about the presence of God, and to develop their OWN sense of meaning.
Every Godly Play story ends with "I wonder" questions, in which the storyteller poses a series of questions starting with this wonderful phrase. Here are a few common “I wonder” questions:
"I wonder which part of this story you liked best?"
"I wonder which part of this story is about you?"
These wondering questions are open-ended, and invite our children to make their own connections. They invite children to form a deep and honest relationship with God. Adults don’t try to nudge them toward "correct answers" with these questions. Rather, we are co-investigators into the wonder and awe of God’s presence in the stories.
We invite you to come to a Godly Play meeting one Sunday morning (at 9am) to experience Godly Play's truly unique approach to children's faith formation. Experiencing it firsthand is the BEST way to understand the magic of this approach.
Follow the links below to learn more about the founder, Jerome Berryman, and the Godly Play curriculum.
Children’s Chapel
Our Children’s Chapel is a new offering for those wishing to step beyond the wonderful story-based world of Godly Play. This simplified version of our Episcopal Service is a chance for children to begin broadening their exposure to our sacred liturgy.
Each week, children will take an active role in our service - ringing the bell to begin worship, setting the linen on our altar table, lighting the candles, reading our opening prayer, and more. Children will share in two readings (OT and Gospel readings following the Lectionary calendar), and then have a chance to reflect on them through various activities, including art, acting them out, talking about them, and more (this will happen at the point when the grownups listen to a sermon).
As we move through the service, children will learn about our Episcopal faith, and wrestle more directly with the questions of faith, God, the Gospel and what it means to be Disciples of Jesus.
The minimum age for Children’s Chapel is 9 years, but there is some flexibility. Our expectation is that everyone in Children’s Chapel is ready to be a respectful, committed member of the group, ready to explore these deep questions together.
St. Andrew's Youth Ministry
Welcome to our Youth Ministry (for those age 12 and up). Wherever you are on your faith journey, we are glad you are here. Our youth ministry is here to support your spiritual journey, wherever it may take you. As an Episcopal youth minister, of course I believe deeply in the beauty of our faith tradition and the teachings given to us by Jesus of Nazareth, but we are not a community that believes our path is the “only true path” (we don’t believe our friends of other faiths are destined for eternal torment). Just as Jesus was in his ministry, we are more concerned with helping you, our youth, discover YOUR faith, and YOUR relationship with God, than we are with making you “believe the right things”.
We invite you to come see where this incredible faith journey takes you. For however long you choose to walk this road with us, we will support you, engage in the hard questions with you, and honor the light of God in YOU. And we’ll have fun along the way. Amen.
Coming Up:
Sunday, September 17th - Come meet your new friends from St. Barnabas as we kick off our joint youth group! We’ll be gathering at the home of one our St. Barnabas families to have dinner, play games, and meet one another. Then, on October 1st, come to our first official youth group at St. Barnabas from 11am to noon!
Saturday, September 30th - We need people to sign up for our next Food Bank Trip! We’ll be joined by some friends from St. Barnabas. We’ve got 8 spots left to fill, so take a minute to sign up and volunteer. Click HERE to join us.
EPISCOPAL 101
So what IS this whole “Episcopal” thing? Well, we’re a pretty great place. But we can also be a confusing place, particularly for new people. We’ve got a LOT of ceremonies, and traditions, and particular ways of doing things. Episcopal 101 is here to help you understand what this whole “Episcopal” thing is all about.
Leading this guide through the Episcopal Church is the esteemed Professor Herbert Von Snootington. And this is TOTALLY not Scott using a British accent! I promise. Enjoy!