Youth & Children's Summer Programs

Mark your calendars for upcoming youth and children's programs this summer:

• Vacation Bible School: June 24-28, 9 a.m. – noon, Norton Hall 
• Middle School Mission Trip: July 12-14, Field Gleaning in Exmore, VA 
• Reaching Out to the Community: July 22-26, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., youth ages 12 and up 
• High School Mission Trip: August 4-10, Boston, MA 

Registration is available online or by emailing ellen@stpaulsalexandria.com.

Silent Auction for Children & Youth This Saturday

We hope you'll join us for the Youth & Children’s Silent Auction this Saturday, April 20 from 7-9 p.m. in Norton Hall. We have many great items to bid on such as Nationals Tickets, vineyard tours, getaways to Orlando and New York, camps for children, and gift cards to local spas, restaurants, and museums. Tickets are now on sale for our “Stock the Cellar” Wine Raffle. For $25 a ticket, you have the chance to win 50 amazing wines and you do not need to be present at the Auction to win. Ticket order forms are available in the office or by emailing Ellen King.

Find us on Facebook to check out a sample of some of the amazing items up for bid!

Mark Your Calendars: Vacation Bible School, June 24-28

All children ages three through third grade are welcome to join us for Vacation Bible School June 24-28, 9 a.m.-noon. We will be going on a journey through Athens as we learn more about Paul’s life and letters. Register online here. Middle and high school youth are welcome to volunteer as staff for the week. There are many opportunities for adults to volunteer too. Please email ellen@stpaulsalexandria.com to volunteer or for more information.

Mite Box Collection

Children and families that have been collecting change throughout Lent, it is time to return your mite boxes. Those small, white boxes given out during Lent have hopefully been collecting change to donate to our Lazarus Ministry. Bring them this Sunday, or any Sunday throughout the Easter season, and drop them off in the baskets at the back of the church (near the children's bulletins).

Communion Class for Young Children & Parents

All people, regardless of age, are welcome to receive communion at St. Paul’s. However, if you have a young child and would like them to learn more about the sacrament, the Rev. Dr. Rosemary Beales will be holding a class for children and their parents this Sunday at 10 a.m. The class will meet in the Liturgics classroom on the second floor of Wilmer Hall.

Save the Date! Silent Auction on April 20

This year’s Children & Youth Silent Auction will be Saturday, April 20 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in Norton Hall. The evening will include light refreshments and a chance to bid on exciting items including food and wine, tickets to Redskins and Nationals games, concerts and shows, gift certificates to local restaurants and much more. Invitations with reply cards will be sent soon, but mark the date on your calendar now! For more information, or if you want to help, contact Ellen King or Corinne Marasco.

Volunteer Opportunities with Children & Youth

Sunday School and the youth group are always looking for adults to help teach lessons, chaperone trips and events, and to just have fun with the young people of St. Paul’s. The new year is always a great time to find out about volunteering and there are a variety of ways you can be involved. If you want to know more about how you can help, email ellen@stpaulsalexandria.com.

Youth and Children's Schedule

Youth group will resume this week with an Epiphany party. Middle schoolers will meet from 4:30 to 6:30 and high schoolers from 6 to 8. Regular Sunday School for children and youth will resume next Sunday, Jan. 13 at 10 a.m.

Annual Epiphany Pageant

Please join us on January 6 at the 9 a.m. service for our annual Epiphany Pageant. This short remembrance of the end of the Christmas season is a fun way to mark the arrival of the Three Kings. Part of the day is bringing gifts for the Christ child (diapers, bottles, canned goods, etc.) which we will pass out through our Lazarus Ministry.

Christmas Pageant Is This Sunday!!

Sunday, Dec. 16, is the annual St. Paul's Christmas Pageant during the 9 a.m. service. The 4th and 5th graders won't be the only performers, however. All younger children are invited to join in. Plan to arrive by 8:45 a.m. to pick up a costume in Norton Hall. There will be costumes for Little Stars, Little Angels, Animals, Little Sheep and Little Shepherds. Children will be prompted  when to come forward during the service.

This is a wonderful tradition that is made all the better by every child who participates. Everyone is also invited to the post-pageant reception in Norton Hall immediately after the service.

Faith@Home: Table Graces

Compiled by Rosemary Beales

For what we are about to receive
May we be truly grateful. Amen.

Lord, thank you
for the food before us
and the love between us.
Keep us ever mindful
Of the needs of others. Amen.

For this new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For every gift your goodness sends,
We thank you, gracious God. Amen.

We close our eyes,
We bow our heads,
And offer thanks
For daily bread. Amen.

Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you, God, for everything. Amen.

Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts
Which we are about to receive
From thy bounty,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We thank you, Lord, for happy hearts,
For rain and sunny weather,
We thank you, Lord, for this our food,
And that we are together.

(sung)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise him, all creatures here below,
Praise him above, ye heav’nly host,
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Without thy sunshine and thy rain,
We would not have the golden rain.
Without Thy love we’d not be fed,
We thank Thee for our daily bread.

Lord,
Bless this food to our use
And our lives to your service. Amen.

Food, oh God, is your love made edible.
May we be swept into your presence.

O God, bless this food
we are about to receive.
Give bread to those who hunger;
And hunger for justice to us who have bread.
Amen.

God of pilgrims,
Give us always a table to stop at
Where we can tell our story
And sing our song. Amen.

A Quaker grace:
(Everyone at the table joins hands for a silent moment.)

Faith@Home: Spiritual Practices for Families

The following practices constitute a “menu” from which you are invited to select an activity each week. You may also consider ideas not on this menu from your own tradition, such as Catholic Rosary, etc. The goal is to establish a new habit that may become a lasting part of family ritual.

• Say grace before meals.
• Take a “thank you, God” walk around your neighborhood. Point out schools, offices, trash trucks, and be thankful about all the people around you.
• Sing with your children – use a song you often sing at church or ask them to teach you a song from school. Camp or scouting songs are good, too!
• In the evening, take turns sharing one grace and one disappointment of the day, share highs and lows.
• Draw, paint, or work with clay together with your child.
• Perform a deed of service with your child(ren).
• Share some silence -- as an invitation, not a command. Start with 20 seconds, then share what each of you has noticed. Work up to a minute or more.
• Talk about giving money to church or a helping agency. Set up a system for children to give their own offerings.
• Attend Saturday or Sunday worship, and reflect on it together afterward. Talk about what you and your child(ren) liked, what was most important, what you would like to leave out, etc.
• Select a Bible story to read or tell each night this week.
• Select a Bible verse for each family member to memorize and carry around with them this week (or provide a basket of possibilities for them to choose).
• Learn prayers in sign language or create your own actions to prayers.
• Bless your child with touch and simple prayer as you part each morning.
• Tell family stories – not necessarily religious in nature, just family stories.
• Walk a labyrinth in the neighborhood, create one in your backyard, or use a finger sand labyrinth or a pocket version. Notice how it makes you feel and talk about it.
• Set up a prayer basket in your home where family members can write prayers of thanksgiving or petition. Read prayers out loud (unless they’re marked “private”) at dinner or bedtime so all can pray for each other’s intentions.
• Pray together – use your own words and/or the Lord’s Prayer.
• Set up a home “altar” where the seasonal color is displayed, flowers and/or a cross are placed, etc. Or use napkins or tablecloth in the liturgical color.
• Read a book together that stimulates “God-talk.”
• Light your child’s baptismal candle (or any candle) on the anniversary of his/her baptism. You might want to look at pictures of the event, or just tell what you and s/he remember. Talk about your child’s name – and yours. Names are very important in the Bible — and in life!

Adapted from Rosemary Beales

Faith@Home for Advent

The Advent season is approaching, and we think this is a wonderful time to begin cultivating and encouraging all of our Faith@Home practices. We have several families who have been participating in practices at home with their families and are preparing to present you their experiences.

The following online resources are available to help you learn about Faith@Home and incorporate it into your family.

Spark Family is a quarterly subscription designed to help families fit faith into everyday life.

Sabbath in the Suburbs: For one year, a family committed to a practice of Sabbath-keeping. For a whole day each week, they set aside their doing in order to simply be. Work took a backseat to games, walks, Legos, naps, homebrewing, and leisurely contentment. The practice never got easier---the house was a mess, the kids still fought--but Sabbath became the one essential "to-do" each week.”

Daily Online Devotionals are written for young people by adults who work with students. With short scripture and reflections, this is a great site for your own daily devotions.

Forward Day by Day, daily devotionals for adults

Bread, Not Stones is a Presbyterian pastor’s blog about “feeding the spiritual lives of children” also contains articles and thoughts on faith for families.

Candle Press resources assist families with young children, including seasonal booklets for children and families to better understand worship and prayer.

Advent Calendars for families use scripture and images of the nativity to tell the real meaning of Christmas

Vibrant Faith@Home is an app with options for all ages to discover prayer, daily devotions, bible study, and other stories of faith. “unlimited access to easy-to-use tools, tips, family activities and advice” to form “a stronger, more faith-focused family.”

The Pray-as-you-go Podcast turns your MP3 player into a mobile mini-retreat, with daily music, scripture readings and reflection question to engage your senses and support your prayer life.

Several children’s books can help children and families better understand worship and faith in your daily life:

• Water Come Down by Walter Wangerin Jr.
• Psalms for Young Children by Helen Marie Delval
• Give me Grace: A Child’s Daybook of Prayersby Cynthia Relant
• A Child’s Yearbook of Blessings by Cynthia Relant
• Jesus the Word by Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones