Each parish structures their Sunday school year differently depending on the needs of the ministry, children and volunteers. After some trial and error, we’ve found that this calendar works quite well for us. We like to incorporate the holidays that children are familiar with (like Thanksgiving, for example) in a way that shows them that these holidays need not be separate from their religion or faith, but very much connected. As much as possible we like to show children that church, religion, faith and God don’t only happen on Sunday morning.
| September | October | November | December | January |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love Self 4 | Thanksgiving 1 | Advent 1 | Love Neighbor 1 | |
| Love Self 1 | Love Self 5 | Thanksgiving 2 | Advent 2 | MLK |
| Love Self 2 | Preparation for Love Self children's service | Thanksgiving 3 | Advent 3 | Love Neighbor 2 |
| Love Self 3 | Love Self Children's Service | Thanksgiving break | Advent 4 | Love Neighbor 3 |
| February | March | April | May | June |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love Neighbor 5 | Lent 1 | Easter children's service | Love God 3 | Preparation for Love God children's service |
| Love Neighbor 6 | Lent 2 | Love God 1 | Love God 4 | Final children's service |
| Preparation for Love Neighbor children's service | Lent 3 | Earth Day | Love God 5 | |
| Love Neighbor children's service | Lent 4 | Love God 2 | Love God 6 |
Our calendar needs to be adjusted from year to year depending on the liturgical calendar, school calendars, and the parish community calendar. Some years the calendar feels smooth and sensible — and other years we just have to roll with it. The important thing is to have regular children’s services throughout the year because they can be one of the most important ways that parishioners learn what children are doing in Sunday school. The regularity also gets children used to these services, too (which can take a little while).
As long as you have a service that is authentic to your community and that it’s built around this idea that children are ministers, you’re doing it!