New Hope Presbyterian Church values learning about the Bible, what it means to have faith, our Reformed heritage and spiritual practices that can deepen our faith. We offer a traditional Sunday School program during the 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. hour for children, youth and adults. We offer other opportunities throughout the year for intergenerational gatherings such as our Advent craft workshop, our Christmas memories storytelling, an all church retreat in the spring and our Wednesday Lenten dinners and devotions. We hope you will join us to learn more about the Bible, living as a disciple of Jesus and putting our faith into action.
Preschool and elementary-age children
We believe that learning songs helps shape the faith of children, and with that in mind we begin with singing and music with Susan Kimmel at 9:45 a.m. We have a short story and lesson using the PCUSA Following Jesus, and lessons from another reformed curriculum called Current: Seeking Justice Together. Each session shares a Bible story that reveals how God calls us to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. Through fun, interactive storytelling, children and their leaders will: pause to let each story find its way into their hearts and minds; engage their curiosity and imagination with the Bible story through wondering questions and activities exploring God’s presence, actions, and grace in the story; and wrestle with how they fit in the story, what God is calling them to do, and how they follow God’s way of loving and living as disciples of Jesus Christ. We typically have one teacher and one assistant leading this multi-age class.
Youth
The youth meet together in one class at 9:45 a.m. in person. Our hope is to continue to develop a community that has good discussions, shares our joys and concerns, and learns and grows together in faith.
Our youth meet together in one class (6th through 12th grades) and are studying people from the New Testament and their stories using Re:Form: Ancestors: New Testament from Sparkhouse. We have a team of teachers who rotate teaching/facilitating discussion. Youth also share their “happies and crappies” of the week and engage in prayer for one another.
Adults
Adult class meets Sunday at 9:45 a.m. in person. This year, the adult class is using a PCUSA curriculum called Being Reformed. Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding is a series of Biblically based mini-courses that provides adults with a foundational understanding of the Reformed faith. The first series we are discussing is faith and politics:
“Throughout history, the church has found itself in the midst of different societies and cultures. So the church has always had to reflect on how it views and participates in government and political processes. In the United States, the Reformed and Presbyterian traditions have faced these issues and responded in various ways. This study will consider the Bible and Politics, Reformed Politics, Politics American Style, and other dimensions of justice, responsibility, and democracy. It helps us focus on these important issues which continue to be vital for Christian faith.”
This topic will run until November. This class is facilitated by a team of teachers and meets in the Old Fellowship Hall at 9:45 a.m. All are welcome to join us! The readings for each week go out in the newsflash on Wednesdays. To receive the newsflash, please contact our church office.