Children and Youth Formation

Children’s Formation at St. Stephen’s happens through different modalities and is meant to guide, nurture and support the active spiritual lives of our youth and children. Our belief is that children’s spiritual formation and religious literacy is developed by actively participating in worship and through family-supported faith-based conversations/exploration/education/rituals. Offerings vary by Sunday and may include:

• Formation through Participation in Church Services – An open invitation to children, youth and families to greet, serve as lector or litanist, assist with Communion, and/or learn about and perform Chancel Guild duties.
• Youth Circle Time with Rev. Nicole or a member of the Parish – An opportunity once or twice a month to meet with Rev. Nicole or a parishioner during the church service (typically during the sermon time) in the Canterbury Room for a scriptural/formational lesson, spiritual exploration and discussion (ideal for youth grades 3 – high school).
• Art and Creative Table – Every Sunday the children and youth are welcome to gather at this table in the back of church to draw and create. Sometimes the clergy give prompts. There may also be formation packets or weekly children’s bulletins available for each child to work through over the course of a liturgical season.
• A new Youth Group initiative for grades 6-12 with the youth of Scarboro United Church. Speak to Rev. Nicole if you are interested participating.
  
  Offered less regularly:
  
• The Children’s Moment – An invitational moment at the start of service to gather with the clergy at the front of the sanctuary for a short lesson.
• Children’s Gospel Reading – Some Sundays, we may read a children’s version of the Gospel reading alongside the version included in the Lectionary.
• Family Sing Sunday – On designated Sundays before church starts, families are invited to participate in a short rehearsal with the choir of a child-friendly hymn that is sung during the service.
• StoryPath – StoryPath links lectionary readings (the prescribed readings we hear from the Bible every Sunday) with children’s story books. Seasonally, we may offer a time to gather with clergy before the service, to read and discuss a book together. We also encourage parents to reinforce lectionary themes week by week with their children, using the StoryPath conversation prompts to guide discussion. Most of the books included on StoryPath are available at the Calgary Public Library.

Our summer Spiritual Toolkit for Families offers several resources you may find helpful.