Education

Prayer for Young Persons

God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Christian education is provided for all children at the Church of the Ascension. Classes meet at 11 a.m. on Sundays and end about 12:15 p.m. Preschool students meet in the nursery; grade-school students meet in the library; and junior-high and high-school students meet in Wheeler Hall.

The parish is fortunate to have many adults willing to teach. This sends a message to the children that many different adults care about them and are willing to share their experience. Both children and adults are blessed by the experience. If you have an interest in teaching Sunday School, please contact the church office at 312-664-1271 or use our Contact Form to let us know.

The curriculum is lectionary-based, so children study the same lessons being heard in church. When it is time for Communion, children join the rest of the community in the church. After they receive Holy Communion or a blessing, all children go upstairs to the library, where they sing together or review the lesson of the day.

This year, the parish produced The Little Book of Common Prayer: A Child's Book of Prayers. Each Sunday, children pray together using the prayers in this prayer book. A copy is given to each child so they can say prayers at home. Additional copies are available for purchase at the tract table in Wheeler Hall after the Solemn High Mass on Sundays.

Attendance in our Sunday School classes continues to grow. Children also have the opportunity to serve as junior acolytes at the Solemn High Mass. Occasionally, Sunday School children participate in the solemn procession at the beginning of a holy day Mass.

Sunday School is in session from the first Sunday after Labor Day until the second Sunday in June.