St. Philip's Episcopal Church

Sunday School

Sunday School currently operates from mid-September through mid-May for students in preschool through middle school. Students generally attend the 10 a.m. service through Communion with their families. After Communion the students gather together downstairs for a quick snack. Then they begin a 30-to-45-minute lesson prepared for their age level.

St. Philip’s uses a non-denominational curriculum called PowerXpress. An advantage of this curriculum is its use of the rotational model of teaching, which builds on the power of repetition by exposing students to the same Bible story or topic each week. The rotation model also recognizes that children acquire knowledge in different ways. Some are logical thinkers. Some are creative types. Others learn best when physically involved with a subject or when working cooperatively with others. Under the rotation model, students of the same grade level visit a different station each Sunday, eventually rotating through cooking, art, science, storytelling and games. Volunteer teachers staff each station.

A Typical Sunday School Morning

Let’s say you had peeked in on our students one Sunday earlier this year. You would have found them focused on the story of John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River (told in Matthew 3:1-17.) After their snack, the students practiced a song chosen to relate to the theme. They joined hands and sang, “I’ve Got Peace Like a River.”

Afterward, the students split into grade-level groups. Upper
elementary students went to the “Storytelling Room,” which
was equipped with its own puppet theater and Biblical
puppets. The used a script, puppets and props including a dove
and a shell to tell the story of how one day Jesus asked his
cousin John to baptize him. John was reluctant and said, "Why
did you come to me? I should be baptized by you!" Then John
consented. When Jesus rose out of the water, God's Spirit
came upon him. A voice announced: "This is my Son! I am
pleased with him!" Jesus' public ministry began shortly
afterward.

Down the hallway, the buttery smell of freshly baked crescent rolls drifted from the kitchen. Two teachers helped preschool and kindergartners make an edible “locust.” Using a crescent roll for the abdomen, each child added pretzels for legs, chocolate chips for eyes and honey and coconut for a coat. Then, while the children enjoyed their treat, the teachers explained that John the Baptist ate honey and locusts while he lived in the wilderness.

Meanwhile, another group met in the “Science Room” to explore the three states of water--solid, liquid and gas—because water is an important part of baptism and of life itself. The students experimented with cobalt chloride strips, checking for the presence of moisture in the air by watching the strips change color from blue to pink. Then students played with ice and discussed how only a fraction of an iceberg is visible above the water’s surface. Teachers drew a connection between the science lesson and God’s ever-present love. Just as we “know” but cannot “see” that water is in the air and the iceberg lies beneath the sea, we trust that God is with us even though we cannot see Him.

On another Sunday, the deacon showed the children the baptismal font in the sanctuary. She explained that they shared in the same sacrament as Jesus when they were baptized. It is St. Philip’s custom to invite all children present in the church to assemble around the baptismal font to witness a baptism.