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St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church

Christian Formation

Children's Education Program
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19: 14-15

Here at St. Dunstan's we regard the care and nurture of our children as an important part of our community life. Children are always welcome at worship and fellowship activities.


Bettianne Quinn,
Director of Christian Education

Our Album

Children's Formation News and Events

Our graded classes have lots of new and exciting plans for the fall starting on September 11th.  Come join us and learn more about the readings for the day in a class set up just for your child. Registration is year round.

Registration Form

You may pick up a registration form at church Completed forms may be returned to the church at any time. New children are welcomed weekly.

Sunday School (for children ages 2 through elementary school)

Programing for children begins at 10:00 a.m. each week with a 15 minute large group opening project to start the beginning of our morning.  At 10:15 graded classes will begin and end at the peace (about 10:50 a.m.) of the 10:15 service. Children may attend the 9:15 a.m. service with their families and then come to Sunday school, or they may arrive at 10:00 a.m. for Sunday school and join their families at the peace for the remainder of the 10:15 a.m. service.

Nursery care is available each Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Terrific Tuesdays

Our programs for 2012 include a Mardi Gras festival on Tuesday, Feb. 21, and a 3 week program on the Eucharist in March (6, 13, 20).  Dinner will be served at 6 pm with programs for all ages beginning at 7 pm for an hour. 

Camp St. Dunstan's

Camp St. Dunstan's will not be held in 2012.    

Outreach


Helping others is an important part of our children's ministry. The children love to reach out to the elderly and shut-in members of our community by sending cards throughout the year and by preparing treat bags for Valentine's Day. During Lent we will be supporting Resurreciton School in Haiti. 



  Annual Schedule of Events

Fall

We celebrated St. Francis day on October 9, 2011, with a special blessing of the animals at the 9:15 service.   Our special All Saints' Day project was held on Nov. 6, 2011, when our children and youth told us about many saints in history.  

Winter

December 11 we  decorated our parish Christmas tree with ornaments to help Habitat for Humanity and make cookies for coffee hour. The Christmas pageant was held on December 17th complete with a chili dinner afterwards.  Our tradition of preparing Valentine's Day sweets for our shut-in parishioners in February is always a big hit with both the givers and receivers.  

Spring

We will have our annual  "Walk through Holy Week" program on March 25, 2012; the week before Palm Sunday.
Come join us at 10:15 a.m. as our youth tell us the story of Jesus's last week on earth.

Summer

Programming through the summer is in the process of being revised.  Stay tuned for more details.  

We hope you will join us and become part of a growing and lively community of faith. For more information about our program, contact Bettianne Quinn at 301-229-2960, extension 14, or via email at bettianneqn@comcast.net

Director of Christian Education

Bettianne Quinn was an active volunteer in the Christian Education Program at St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Damascus, Maryland, for ten years before joining St. Dunstan's staff in l996.

She earned her Bachelor's Degree in special education from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, continued her education at Virginia Theological Seminary and received her Equipping Lay Ministry certificate in Christian Education from Wesleyan Seminary in May 2007. She is married with three children.

My personal ministry beliefs are:

Children are a gift of God and in their innocence, openness, creativity and wonder can lead adults into a new faith about God. Children need to be encouraged to wonder, to reflect and to know that their special gifts are signs of God's love.

Children need to be received, nurtured and treasured by including them in our activities as participants, while advocating the integrity of childhood and dignity of all children.

The church is called to nurture and support families in caring for their children, and recognizing and fostering their children's spirituality and unique gifts.

Bettianne Quinn