Children & Youth
Church of the Holy Apostles is a place where children belong.
Whether they are coloring under the pew, or dancing in the aisles; screaming, singing, crying: we believe that the presence of Children is a blessing, and a joy. We seek to include children in our worship.
Jesus said:
Let the children come unto me. Matthew 10:14
Family Eucharist 2023 and Beyond
When gathering together became feasible again as the world adjusted to our new COVID reality, we began an outdoor Family Eucharist in Fall 2021. A survey of our families with young children taken in 2022 told us that everyone preferred this family-centric service with Fr. James’ special Object Lessons over the reinstatement of a more traditional Sunday School program.
Beginning in Fall 2023, we created a special space for our Family Eucharist in the Parish Hall and that is where we intend to stay. We hope you’ll join us!
To learn how we got here, see the Nursery and Sunday School sections, below.
Youth
Our 2022 Confirmation and Dragons class was confirmed by The Rt. Rev. Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez, XVI Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, on Sunday, December 11, 2022.
Our nursery service was suspended in Fall 2021 in order to comply with COVID-19 recommendations and has not restarted at this time. PLEASE KNOW THAT ALL CHILDREN are welcome in ANY worship service. We believe that the presence of Children is a blessing and a joy. We hope you will always feel comfortable bringing your young family members with you when you worship with us. Screaming babies and dancing children don’t disturb anyone at Holy Apostles, least of all the preacher.
Nursery
From Sunday School to Family Eucharist
Our Sunday School was suspended in Spring 2020 in order to comply with COVID-19 recommendations, When it was time to start up again in Fall 2021 we instituted our 9AM Family Eucharist of “Jesus & Donuts”. It started as an outdoor service in plein air and we eventually purchased an event tent and some propane heaters to protect us from unfavorable weather.
We held our outdoor services faithfully from September 19, 2021 through November 20, 2022 in snow, rain, cold, heat and gorgeous fall and spring days. We grew together as we explored this new service, and Fr. James’ weekly Object Lessons were their own kind of Sunday School Lesson that were appropriate for all ages - even the adults in attendance.
For Advent 2022, we moved back into the sanctuary, and by June 2023 we were enjoying the air-conditioned comfort of the Parish Hall for all church services.
Fall 2021
Winter 2021
Spring 2022
(Pentecost!)
Winter 2022
Summer 2023
Spring 2023