Archives: Ministries

The New Hope Friends Group is a group of women, of all ages. They meet monthly to conduct their business, but also are involved in the life of the church. The group maintains the outside gardens, has quilting times and other social times.

Everyone is welcome to join this group. Watch the bulletin for more information regarding dates/times of gatherings.

For grades 4, 5, 6

Here we use the Seasons of the Spirit curriculum. This program follows the Revised Common Lectionary and as such will cover most of the Bible in a 3 year time frame. It uses a variety of learning styles and media and extends the learning experience into congregational life and worship, the home setting, and daily life. There is also a website for this program that may be accessed at home to learn more. We encourage children to bring their own Bibles because we use them regularly. The grade 4, 5, 6 class meets in Room 204.

Friends are always welcome!

The website is www.spiritseasons.com

For age 4 - grade 3

We use the Children & Worship curriculum which is a worship program based on the premise that all children experience God. They are able to worship God in an age appropriate way. It includes the main stories of the Old & New Testaments. Worship is the main emphasis of this program. This group meets in Room 206.

Overview of Sunday School

"Then Jesus took a small child. Jesus stood the child before the followers. Jesus held the child in his arms and said, "If a person accepts children like these in my name, then that person is also accepting me. And if a person accepts me, then that person is also accepting the God that sent me."

How we treat those from whom we can receive no status determines our heart. In Jesus' day, children were not held to be overly important in the social pecking order. In many ways, that is still true today -- notice how day-care workers and teachers are still among the lowest paid professional workers in many modern countries. So Jesus reminds his followers that the way they welcome, treat, and value children reveals a great deal about their hearts. What does it say about our own?

St. Andrew's is pleased to offer a Sunday morning program for young children.

• at the present time we are building a program for our littlest friends, our toddlers, so that they can have their own group. This group will meet in room 201 if their family chooses to have their child(ren) join the Sunday School group.
• We have a program for children aged 3 - 10 as well. We meet in room 206 for a time following Family Time in church until the end of the service. We use the Children & Worship curriculum for this group.

We also have a Family space in the sanctuary where families can gather, if they choose. In this space there is a rocking chair for parents and babies to use, quiet toys, and space to move. St. Andrew's is delighted to welcome families and young children to our service. We recognize that children like to make noise and move which is why this space is located near the entrance to the sanctuary. This space provides easy access to washrooms and to the Sunday School classes if your child(ren) needs any help downstairs.

About 10 - 15 minutes into the service we have a Family Time when children and young at heart people are invited to come and enjoy a story or participate in a small activity. After Family time families can choose to stay in church or have their children participate in Sunday School.

About the Children & Worship curriculum (taken from Presbyterian Church in Canada website):

Children & Worship is a program designed to immerse young children in the wonder of worship in an age-appropriate way. Influenced by the philosophy of Maria Montessori, the Children & Worship approach uses storytelling, multi-sensory materials, wondering questions, and creative response time to help children meet and learn about God.

Children & Worship follows the fourfold order of worship used in most Presbyterian churches:

1. Gathering of God’s people: children are welcomed into the worship space by a greeter and a storyteller, who invite them to sit in a circle and quiet themselves in preparation for the story.
2. Proclamation of the Word: children are encouraged to explore biblical stories through the use of textured materials, figurines, sand, candles and well-crafted storytelling. After storytelling, time is spent wondering about the feelings and experiences of the characters in the story.
3. Response to the Word: storytellers create space for children to respond to the Word through art, storytelling, dancing and prayer.
4. Sending of God’s people into the world: Each time of gathering ends with rituals to change the light and send the children into the world with a special blessing.

We have a YouTube channel as well. Here you will find recordings of bible stories; special, seasonal videos and videos of our bible readings. Click here to go to our YouTube channel.

All of our leaders & assistants have been screened through our Leading With Care policy.

for babies under 3 years of age

St. Andrew's Hespeler has a wonderfully appointed Nursery/preschool room; cribs, toys and activities appropriate for our littlest members. We regularly assess the needs of the babies and families so that we can provide the safest, cleanest, most welcoming environment possible. We use a pager system so that parents can be assured that they will be called, quietly & quickly, if needed.

Nursery & Preschool care is provided from the beginning of the worship service until coffee time. We kindly ask parents to pick up their children at the beginning of coffee time so that our Nursery Staff can participate in coffee time, too.

We are currently meeting every other Wednesday morning at 10:00 am for bible study in the foyer.

Rev. Scott McAndless leads this group, which is open to everyone regardless of how little or how much you know of the bible. No past bible study experience is required. Each week is a stand alone week, so if you miss a week that is okay.

At the present time the group is studying "Women in the Bible," a fascinating study about the women and their roles in bible times.