Sunday School

Summer: Formation programs for children, young adults, and adults will be in recess from June - August.

       In 1998, Victoria Garvey joined St. Mark's as the Director of Christian Education and Formation. Vicki, who taught Biblical theology at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary for 12 years, is also a consultant to various parishes and dioceses in Biblical theology, education and women's studies.  In January, 2006, Vicki was made  a Diocesan Canon at the Cathedral of St. James, in Chicago.  She is the Canon for Lifelong Christian Formation.

 Sunday School begins at 9:05 a.m. Following classroom time, all children join their parents for the service so families can take communion and worship together. (The Episcopal Church is an open communion church. All baptized persons, including children, are encouraged to receive communion at the altar rail. Even if they are not baptized, we invite everyone to kneel at the altar rail during communion to receive a blessing.)

For your children in the preschool and early educational years, ages 3 through 2nd grade, St. Mark's uses the Godly Play curriculum which invites children to experience Bible stories through all of their senses and to participate in "wondering" about events in the stories.

Your children in 3rd through 6th grades will enjoy a program called Rotation. This program centers around one story or Biblical event for approximately 6 weeks at a time. During these 6 weeks, the children are instructed by a variety of adults in the church teaching the story from different points of view and use of mediums, such as computers, movies, cooking, music, art, and story telling.

For children 11- to 16-years old, St. Mark's uses the four-year Journey to Adulthood, or J2A, program which was developed to attract, instruct, and nurture young people at the time when in their lives when they are most likely to drift away from the Church. This program includes an in-depth exploration of Self, Society, Sexuality, and Spirituality, and is based on two key concepts: Manhood and Womanhood are gifts from God; and Adulthood must be earned.

          The program is built around two distinct phases of development, each encompassing two years:

          Rite 13 (for 11- to 13-year-olds) recognizes the passage from childhood to manhood and womanhood and continues in classroom instruction of Bible stories, exploration of the Book of Common Prayer, and prayer.

          J2A works with 14- and 15-year-olds as they practice adulthood skills and positive life attitudes. The end of J2A is marked by a holy pilgrimage retreat in search of God and their destiny. Following their completion of the J2A curriculum, the youth are welcomed back to the church as young adults.