Vacation Bible School 2023
Vacation Bible School will be Tuesday-Friday, June 20-23. Click here to learn more!
Sunday School for 2022-2023
We are excited to be gathering again for Sunday School for 4 years-olds through 5th Graders on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. If the temperature is 55 degrees and above and the weather is dry, we will hold Sunday School outdoors on the nature trail at the back of the campus, near the Youth Education Building. If it is chilly or rainy we will gather in the large classroom in the Youth Education Building before breaking into smaller groups. Please contact Amelia McDaniel at amcdaniel@stmarysgoochland.org with any questions or for more information.
Children’s Ministry Newsletter & Sign Up Links
Want to know the up to date information about Children’s Ministries? Need to sign up for a Children’s Ministries event? It’s here below for you!
- St. Mary’s Children’s Ministry Email Newsletter – Late August 2022
- St. Mary’s Children’s Newsletter – Fall 2022 – Printed & Mailed
- Sign up to be an Oblation Bearer on Sunday mornings
- Sign up to be a Sunday School Helping Hand
Children’s Chapel
Children’s Chapel is during the 11 o’clock service. Children are invited during the Gospel hymn to come with Amelia and the Clergy to the Block Room. During this time, children hear the Gospel story, have time for prayer, and sing. They return to the service at the Peace.
Nursery on Sunday Mornings
Our nursery is open for infants through children age 4. Our nursery staff, headed by Meg Zehmer, is ready to care for our youngest members. Nursery opens at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings and runs through the end of the 11 a.m. service.
Register Your Child in our Program!
We want to stay connected with your family, please take a moment to go online and fill out a registration form for your child(ren). This information helps us have updated and accurate information, especially birth dates! We don’t want to miss a single one!
Register your child for Children’s Ministry
Volunteer with Children’s Ministries!
The outdoor format for Sunday School means need parent volunteers who are willing to check-in kids to Sunday School, pass out snacks, and guide kids from a big group setting to a smaller classroom. These volunteer roles require no preparation and are flexible around your availability. The hope is to build a team of 15-20 parents willing to rotate every few weeks to assist with Sunday School. Or go straight to the sign up genius link here to go ahead and sign up! If you are interested, contact Amelia McDaniel at amcdaniel@stmarysgoochland.org.
Download the Children’s Ministry Brochure for more information.
Additional Resources:
If you’d like to check out more resources to do at home, you can download, watch, or print them below:
- Children’s Chapel Worship
- Order a Sparkhouse Spark Story Bible through Amazon or Sparkhouse Publishing
- The music used during Children’s Chapel is from the CD All Creatures, published y Rain for Roots. Order a copy of All Creatures album.
Children’s Chapel Online
Our Online Children’s Chapel is our primary formation opportunity for Fall 2020. We hope this offering provides a way to bring Bible stories to life and worship into your home.
We created Worship Kits that are referenced in the videos. They contain items that help set the stage for learning, including The Sunday Paper. The Sunday Paper is a great resource to explore the week’s reading for your children and even has a parent guide on the back. We send out copies of the Sunday Paper periodically to keep the kids up to date with the lessons. In addition to the Sunday paper, there are copies of prayers we say, a liturgical wheel guide, and books of the Bible guide.
Our storytellers use the Spark Story Bible, published by Sparkhouse, to tell most of the stories shared. Follow this link to order one for your own home.
Playlist of Children’s Chapel Videos on YouTube
St. Mary’s Storytime
Do your kids enjoy being read to and love a wonderful story? St. Mary’s is excited to offer a new component to Children’s Formation this summer – St. Mary’s Storytime! In addition to weekly Children’s Chapel, we are offering Storytime each week! A different storyteller will share brief part of the Old Testament, Psalms, Epistle or the Gospel story from the previous Sunday’s readings. Then they will read a wonderful illustrated children’s book and talk about how the stories and their themes relate.
In addition, Denise Bennett, our summer intern, is a professional storyteller and has included some of her favorite stories to share with our kids. We are so grateful for her incredible gift!
St. Mary’s Storytime Stories:
Check out all the stories relating to recent Bible lessons shared by some of our favorite storytellers, follow the links below
- “When I Pray for You” – relates to Psalm 139
- “Wemberly Worried” – relates to Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
- “God’s Dream” by The Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams
- “King Maen’s Secret” as told by Denise Bennett
- “The Magic Garden of the Poor” as told by Denise Bennett
- “One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference” – relates to Matthew 14:13-21
- “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters” – relates to Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
- “The Day the Crayons Quit” – relates to Genesis 45:1-15
- “Peggy: A Brave Chicken on a Big Adventure” – relates to Exodus 1:8-2:10
- “Rosa” – relates to Romans 12:1-8
- “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom” – relates to Exodus 3:1-15