Children's Sunday School classes meet in the Christian Children's Center on the second floor of FUMC's main building. During the school year, age groups meet separately using the Rock Solid curriculum, a new series Cokesbury developed in response to the mandate of the United Methodist Discipline to produce a Wesleyan curriculum which is based both on sound educational principles and United Methodist beliefs and doctrine. Components of this curriculum include prayer, worship, study, mission, and seeking God in everyday living. The new curriculum also recognizes the importance of relationships and being part of a community of faith.
Summer Sunday School follows a different, more informal format.
Contact our Director of Children's Ministry, Cynthia Naeger at children@fumctopeka.org with any questions.
Children’s Sunday school at a glance . . .
2-Year-Olds (Room 102)
We offer our first formalized Sunday school training to children who are 2 by Sept. 1st of the year. The class meets in Room 102 which adjoins the nursery. We introduce the stories of the Bible using Cokesbury’s Rockabye Toddlers and Twos curriculum. Our goal is to orient the children to Sunday school and build in them a sense of church as a safe and warm place where they feel the love of God and their caregivers.
3-Year-Olds and Pre-Kindergarten (Garden of Eden Room)
The Sunday school experience deepens as the children grow both developmentally and in their faith. However, we know that these children are still growing and an hour can feel like a long time. So, there is still time built in for free play at this level. We use the Cokesbury Rock Solid curriculum and a variety of games, craft and music activities to become familiar with the Bible.
Kindergarten-1st Grade (Peaceful Kingdom Room)
2nd Grade (The Temple Room)
The stories and learning activities in Rock Solid gain depth and the concept of acting out faith in every day living becomes a more prevalent focus of the Sunday school lesson during these years. Art, games and music are still an important part of the Sunday school hour.
3rd Grade (Creation Station)
As third graders, students receive a Bible as a gift from their church family. Bible presentation happens during the 11:00 worship service in September and the third graders spend their Sunday school class time digging into their Bibles for the rest of the year. As in all of the Sunday school program, Bibles are provided in the classroom; however, students are strongly encouraged to bring the one they have been given so that they become familiar with it in particular. We utilize a number of teaching materials including “Learning to Use My Bible,” “Bible Basics” and “Finding My Way Through the Bible” at this level. This grade level is not all work and no play, as anyone who has learned their books of the Bible while playing Bible baseball can tell you!
4th and 5th Graders (Moses Mosiac Room)
Rock Solid curriculum is used with these older students in the Moses Room. In addition, much time is spent on exposing the children to the sights and sounds of the early temple and to everyday life in a thriving Bible time community. The highlight of the year comes in building a model of a Bible village and hosting an open house and tour for the whole church community.
6th Grade (Tree of Life Room)
Our sixth graders, while still in the children's program, join the Middle School Youth for Sunday School. Cokesbury publishes a Live It! series especially for preteens. The materials lead the children to think about how they display their faith in the different settings of their daily life. Current issues such as peer pressure are explored in the context of being true to your faith in a world which constantly bombards you with temptation and sinful images. The sixth graders will also be using Choosing to be Christian and God's Covenant People.
Summer Sunday School
During June, July and August the children gather at the "Fishers of Men" wharf upstairs at 9:30 and separate into several smaller groups for Bible study, crafts and snacks.
Children's Missions
Children’s Committee sponsors quarterly Children’s Missions projects. The summer project always corresponds with the mission project for Bible School. The winter mission project is our Annual Mitten Tree which involves decorating a Christmas tree with gloves, hats, mittens.....all manner of warm outerwear to be shared with children of need in the 501 school district and at the Rescue Mission.
Vacation Bible School
VBS is typically held for one week in June. It is a morning program where the children explore God’s word within a given theme or setting. This is a high energy program which packs a whole lot of learning into a memorable and fun week!
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