At St. Francis’ Episcopal, we welcome children and their families. We provide nursery care during the 10am service, and two Sunday School programs for children who are ready: Godly Play for second through sixth grade, and a Tween and Teen Group for seventh grade and up. All three groups meet in rooms opening from our lovely interior courtyard, as does the church and the bathrooms. Godly Play and the Tween and Teen Group generally go on hiatus during the summer, but nursery care is year round. We also offer a Family Service every third Sunday at 5:30 pm.
In addition to Sunday Programs, there are a variety of annual traditions at St. Francis’ which are especially popular for children and families. During Advent, we hold a Santa Lucia Pageant and a Christmas Eve Pageant. Children help make Valentine’s Day cards for shut-ins. On Shrove Tuesday, the eve of Lent, we hold a pancake dinner and parade. After the main Easter Service, we have an Easter Egg hunt. Many children like to bring their pets, photos of their pets, or their stuffed animals for the Blessing of the Animals on Saint Francis of Assisi’s Feast Day. Other events vary from year to year, such as “just for fun” movie nights and various ways to contribute to outreach projects. Our most recent event was an evening “Summer Camp Potluck Party”, complete with tents, sleeping bags, hot dogs, and s’mores!
A Scene from St. Francis’ Christmas Eve Pageant:
A most compelling image of St. Francis’, its services, and congregation, is the yearly re-enactment of the Children’s Christmas Pageant. Watching the very young, dressed as angels and sheep, wandering off set while parents try to bring them back to the scene, brings meaning to the services and smiles to those who attend. Meanwhile, older children recite their lines with the seriousness of seasoned actors. Narrators read the story of the Christmas birth with enthusiasm, while other children act the parts of Mary and Joseph, The Three Kings, The Shepherds, and The Angel Gabriel. On occasion, we even have a baby as the newborn Jesus!
The pageant is followed by The Holy Eucharist, with the entire cast surrounding the altar. Some children come behind the altar, too short to see over it. Here is one holding the altar, trying to pull up to see over it. One child decides to wander off. Other children stand quietly and watch. I remember one year when our Rector held a toddler while consecrating the bread and the wine.
This service is what Christmas is about: children with wide-eyed wonder. There is plenty of time later for Christmas presents, candies, and cakes. The Christmas Eve Pageant is a time set aside as a special moment. Everyone who attends, from the littlest angel to the oldest grandparent, realizes its beauty.
–a parishioner
