By Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
You probably are aware that our St. Stephen youth just returned from a week-long work mission trip to Florida. There they sweated, worked, and played while doing repairs and odd-jobs and teaching children at Dogwood Acres Presbyterian Camp and St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Panama City.
Last year we confirmed thirteen teenagers into full church membership. We have two youth Sunday events and now have a Children’s Sunday service in which younger children, elementary aged, take responsibility for worship leadership. We have programs for young children and families throughout the year, such as our Advent Festival and Spring Fling. In the summer, our erstwhile and apparently tireless Director of Christian Education,Beth Fultz, oversees Vacation Bible School(just before she launches off on the mission trip!) and returns to work on the annual Music and Drama Camp.
Four years ago, we instituted a yearly “youth elder,” creating an opportunity for confirmed youth to have a say in the leadership of the church, and training up the next generation of church leaders. In the process, we’ve had some excellent elders doing the work of the church, such as our present youth elder, Craig Burton.
And every Sunday, a variety of classes for all ages, pre-school to adult, are taught by dedicated, enthusiastic, hard-working church volunteers. One of the most important and popular of those classes is our “Godly Play” class for pre-Ks. Based on the curriculum first developed by Jerome Berryman, Godly Play offers a unique introduction to children’s spirituality.
All this is on top of the decades-long music education program that Music Minister and Organist Mark Scott oversees, which begins teaching children as soon as they are out of diapers not only to sing the Presbyterian Hymnal, but to think about what these hymns mean.
All in all, St. Stephen is great a place to educate your children in the faith of Jesus Christ.
It was not always thus.
Years ago, St. Stephen’s youth program was sputtering and the children’s Sunday school was anemic. Rotating staff made it hard for there to be leadership from the top.
But that didn’t mean that there wasn’t a vision. A group of dedicated Sunday school teachers, parents, and volunteers loved children and believed that St. Stephen was called to be a place where children were raised to know and love Jesus Christ. They attended “Godly Play” workshops to learn their innovative teaching methods. Many of them were trained educators who applied their skills to a vision for the church. They personally supplied, dry-walled, and repainted Sunday school classes to create a rotation-model Sunday school program emphasizing different learning styles.
Ultimately it was they who led the charge to hire a top-notch Director of Christian Education, resulting in the hiring of Beth.
We’re starting into budget season again, with our annual Discipleship/Stewardship drive coming in the Fall. It’s worthwhile to consider that our budget reflects our church’s priorities, and that our personal financial giving reflects our personal commitment to what St. Stephen is doing.
Here’s how your financial giving affects our Christian Ed (CE) program:
St.Stephen’s CE budget is $17,000. A huge portion of that is children and youth-related ministry. $2200 is curriculum—the books for the classes our children and youth attend.
$3500 is budgeted for youth ministry. Obviously that doesn’t begin to pay for mission trips and the like, but our youth raise their own money through stock sales and the annual yard sale. They did so well that recently they had an overage, which they dedicated to our Capital Campaign! Vacation Bible School is budgeted another $2200.
Van gas for children’s and youth trips is budgeted $900 (never mind van repairs and expenses, budgeted in Property for $1300). And special events for families and children come to another $2200.
Finally, to top it off, we budget $2500 every year for Nursery expenses and workers’ salaries. The nursery is one of our most essential “draws” for young families. Without this foundation, we wouldn’t have the young families we have today, who are building the future of St. Stephen.
We thank you for your giving to St. Stephen’s Christian Ed program. It is perhaps the most visible way that you are giving the future of the church—and the future of our nation’s next generation!