TRINITY CHURCH
ANNUAL REPORT - 2024
CHILDREN & FAMILY MINISTRIES
Beth Chestnut, Director of Children's Ministries
Godly Play
Our program remains strong thanks to the commitment of 14 Godly Play Mentors (teachers). We added a youth Storyteller this year, Collin McCormick, who has grown up with this program and now helps out in our youngest Godly Play 1 class. It is so satisfying to see the program come full circle in this way. We continue to add program resources for response time in the classroom to allow for a full range of activities.
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Children’s Hour. This ministry continues through the academic year and breaks for summer with “Come Join the Circle.” Andrew Davis continues as a pianist. We meet in the Undercroft for a small snack as we allow time for other children who have not been to Sunday School to join us. We process into the Redwood Chapel and use stories, songs, and movements to follow the liturgical calendar or Biblical themes.
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Nursery - Ingrid Sanders, a long-time employee, continues in the role of Nursery Supervisor. We have been fortunate to have a large group of nursery subs to fill in with Ingrid each Sunday, both adult and youth. All nursery staff are fully vaccinated and completed the required First Aid/CPR and Safeguarding God’s Children.
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Come to the Table -Learning about Holy Communion This class is an engaging, age-appropriate program that explores the origin and the meaning of the Holy Eucharist. It educates them about the sacrament for those already receiving it and prepares others to receive communion by giving them practical instruction at the altar rail. Godly Play 2 (Grades K-2) and Rite in the Middle (Grades 3-5) will have two sessions with clergy, concluded by receiving communion together at the 10:45 service. We hope all children will join in as we deepen their experience of the Eucharist.
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​Everybody Upstairs - This event takes place approximately three times during the academic year. It involves Godly Play Mentors and children telling the “sermon.” This year’s presentations include “The Mystery of Pentecost” and “The Exodus”. This is our way of sharing the value of the Godly Play curriculum with the congregation and inviting everyone to experience a different form of worship together.
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Come Join the Circle is the children’s summer program for 3-year-olds through 2nd grade. During the summer our regular formation classes go on hiatus and we pivot to a different, more active, more cool treats, more play time approach to whatever our theme is for the summer. This summer’s theme was Build a Bible! Bible literacy is important! Navigating this book made up of many books requires some basic knowledge. Where would you find the story of Moses? What books tell the story of Jesus’ life? We took big cardboard boxes, painted them, named them, decorated them, and then placed inside of them objects that represent the stories found there. We focused on the first five books of the Old Testament. Think lots of crafts and games! As always, we finished up the hour with a cool treat!
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Godly Play Parent Pages are offered when available in my weekly emails to parents. These pages help parents know more about the lesson their child will be hearing each Sunday.
V B S
Vacation Bible School”Creation Celebration”
​What an incredible four days! We moved, sang, made crafts, did yoga, ate snacks, learned cool science info, played on a water slide, and just had general fun while learning about God’s wonderful creation! This event cannot occur without an incredible number of volunteers and coordinators. A special thank you to Allison Mainolfi for crafts, Luann Wilks for sensory play, Wendy Brookes for science, Miranda Watson for yoga, and Mary Grace Blake for snacks.​
We had 52 volunteers doing everything from decorating for VBS to leading and assisting with our groups, to helping our craft and science areas. Also, a huge shout out to Ken Wilson for making all of our posters, name tags, and all print media look fabulous, and to Glenn Childes for an incredible amount of setup and take down. We had 46 children registered for all the fun! Next year’s dates are June 23-26.
Tell Me the Truth About Racism- A Program for Families of Children and Youth was to have taken place October 13, 20, after the 10:45 service had to be cancelled due to Hurricane Helene.
OBSERVING THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner- Children make crafts and enjoy pancake races and other games in addition to our pancake meal.
Advent Wreath Making-This annual celebration involves all families creating an Advent wreath for their home, as well as taking home a Devotional Guide (Godly Play based) to mark the season.
Children’s Christmas Pageant-The pageant is a perennial favorite, where all children dress in costume for a beautiful retelling of the Nativity story.
Lenten Home Project-Light and Dark. Good and Bad. Black and White. So often, the idea of darkness has been associated with danger and evil, while light implies goodness and purity. God’s Holy Darkness invites us to look at darkness differently. The book features beloved Bible stories and challenges us to hear them in a new way. This season, for Lent, I invited each family to read this book aloud each Sunday in Lent, followed by a reading from a handout of one of the Bible stories in the book. I included a black votive candle to light during the reading. There is richness in the dark, a fertile ground for growth and insight.
Families received:
* a copy of the book God’s Holy Darkness
* a folder with accompanying Bible stories
* a black votive candle
* instructions for following the book and stories throughout Lent
Palm Sunday Walk with Church Street This year we continued the tradition of our annual “walk” with First Presbyterian and Central Methodist. Families join together on Church Street and process with a donkey and palms to Pritchard Park for a short service.
Easter - Easter at Trinity for children involves two identical services (9 am and 11 am). At both services, the children join the grand procession, flower a large outdoor cross, eat hot cross buns, and have our own special service in the Redwood Chapel. Sandwiched between these two services is the Easter Egg Hunt.
All Saints' Dinner - We usually celebrate All Saints Sunday with a special dinner, a focus on saints of the church, and a candlelight reading of the names of those interred in the Memorial Garden here at Trinity. This year we were excited to have Becky Stone, a local performing artist and storyteller as our featured presenter. Due to Hurricane Helene and a lack of water, we pivoted to Evensong with an emphasis on healing from the effects of Hurricane Helene. The children had a separate worship time with a focus on traditional Saints as well as the Saints we have experienced through this community disaster.
OTHER EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
Kick Off Sunday- August 27th - This was the largest Kick-Off Sunday attendance-wise in recent memory! We had all the usual bells and whistles: Chikomo Marimba Band, inflatable water slide on the street, traveling magician, face painter, balloon twister, fairy hair, lawn games, and a big picnic with Buggy Pops popsicle cart on hand.
Club 345- Our junior youth group for 3rd-5th graders continues to meet monthly during the academic year. Activities have included: Zip and Slip snow tubing, Well Played Board Games, Great Bird Adventure, Fake Sleepover, ACT’s “Matilda”, Tropical Mini Golf, Asheville Treetop Canopy Adventures Glow and Haunted Trail, and ACT’s “Sound of Music”.
Four for Families- This ministry happens four times a year, with the goal of gathering our families with elementary age children and younger together for fellowship and community. Activities have included: Winchester Creek Farm tour, and Winter Lights at the Arboretum.
Children’s Choir -This choir remains active during the academic year. We started this year with many new children-enough for two choirs!
Continuing Education- This year I had an incredible opportunity to travel to Cody, Wyoming to attend the “Spirit of the High Desert” retreat sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming. Besides the incredible natural world around me, I was surrounded by many clergy, both active and retired. This was an opportunity to experience a retreat focused on spiritual renewal through yoga, meditation, art and connection with nature.
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Submitted by
Beth Chestnut
Director, Children and Families Ministry