Church of the Advent

Education

Education Spiritual formation for children and adults

Children in Pre-K through Grade 5

The Godly Play program is used in these classes which are held during the 9:30 service, meeting from 9:15 AM to 10:05 AM. The children then join their families in the worship service. At various times parents volunteer to assist in the classrooms.

Download a Godly Play brochure

Vacation Bible School

Church of the Advent holds a one week Vacation Bible School. Students from Medfield and surrounding communities attend the Godly Play style program. Church youth members assist the staff teachers and our priest. It is a wonderful week of learning and fun activities for all. This year it will be held on July 18-21 for children in grades K-5.

Youth in Grades 6 through 12

Within this age group we have both Pre-Confirmation, Confirmation, and upper high school groups. Those preparing for Confirmation cover such topics as outreach, where they learn of needs from a local to worldwide perspective. They participate in assisting outreach efforts in Medfield, nearby towns, and Boston. They also study portions of the Bible such as Hebrew Scriptures, and learn from the New Testament the foundations of much of our liturgy. They learn about other Monotheistic religions and of our own sacraments and spiritual practices.

The high school students are planning a mission trip to help a community in West Virginia for one week during the summer.

The youth groups also attend a monthly 5 PM Sunday evening service followed by

a communal supper. Some of this time is used for planning and discussion. Speakers are sometimes invited to address the group and share their knowledge and experiences.

Adult Christian Formation at Church of the Advent

The adults in our community have full and busy lives, but we know that many seek regular opportunities for prayer and spiritual formation. In planning adult education programs, we keep both of those realities firmly in mind! Our Spiritual Life Committee and others assist our priests in thinking about what kinds of programs would be most meaningful to the congregation at any given time. Through the year, we offer a variety of different kinds of programs. Here is a summary of our offerings in recent years:

The Early Church—In our Lenten series this year, we are deepening our knowledge about the early church. We are meeting in individual homes, celebrating Eucharists from the first- and second-century church, as best we can reconstruct them. We are sharing an evening meal and discussing readings from the early church. Our scripture theme for the course comes from Acts 2: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers.”

Short Stories in Epiphany—Writers often include theological ideas in their material. Over two Epiphany seasons, we read almost twenty different stories, in order to explore the love, grief, worship, and other religious themes we found there. We read Nathaniel Hawthorne, Andre Dubus, Flannery O’Connor, James Foster Wallace, Alice Munro, and others. This was a Sunday morning series; we met for an hour each week after coffee.

Introduction to Theology—Lots of Christians think that theology is either too dull or too complicated to understand. In this series, many of us discovered that it is not! Over the course of four evenings, we read works by theologians from several different centuries, including Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Gustavo Guttierez, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We asked of each one, “What do you think Christian social justice is?” and compared their varied answers.

From Nomads to Pilgrims—A six-week Lenten series inspired by Diana Butler-Bass’s book by the same name. The shape of the church is changing these days. Patterns of worship, attendance, and Christian education are quite different than they were even twenty years ago. During Lent in a recent year, we read this book, which led us to learn how several flourishing congregations around the country are re-discovering ancient forms of worship. We wondered, prayed, and dreamed together about what our future might look like.

Introduction to Contemplative Prayer—a six-week, summer evening course using Martin Smith’s wonderful book, The Word is Very Near You. We explored various kinds of silent prayer, including Centering Prayer, Ignatian Pryaer, and Lectio Divina, and we encouraged one another in our individual prayer practices between sessions.

Showing Forth--Epiphany is from the Greek words, “epi” and “phanein,” which are translated as “manifestation” or “showing forth.” In a six-week Bible study, we looked at the ways in which God is manifested in Hebrew Scriptures. We considered the God of Creation, the God of Moses, the Tower of Babel and Noah’s Flood, the God of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), the God of Elijah and Elisha, the God of the prophets…and above all, the God whom we encounter in our daily lives.

Single-sessions:

The Labyrinth —The labyrinth is a centuries-old prayer resource. We borrowed a 35’ X 35’ canvas labyrinth from a neighboring congregation and laid it out on our parish hall floor. Quietly walking the labyrinth over the course of minutes or even hours, participants listen for God. Candles lit the way to the center of the canvas and back.

Prayer Collage—Making art is a wonderful way to pray. Using previously-cut images from magazines makes the task less intimidating, even for those who are not confident in their creative abilities! For a couple of hours on one evening, we listened to quiet music while we worked, placing the images we had chosen on a larger piece of paper and gluing them down. At the end of the session, participants were invited to share their work and prayer with one another, telling stories or sharing themes.

Making Palm Crosses and Advent Wreaths—To observe Advent and Lent, we have invited adults and children to construct Advent Wreaths and Palm Crosses after Sunday services. We have included some lessons about these seasons and how faithful Christians can observe them.