Education & Formation - Children and Families

Nursery

Our beautiful nursery, adjacent to the main sanctuary, has three separate age-appropriate rooms designed for infants, crawlers or runners! Dina Dunbar, Director of Nursery Ministry and her staff are all CPR/First Aid certified and have attended a Safeguarding God's Children course. Parents are greeted and asked to sign in and take a pager to allow immediate communication if it becomes necessary. The nursery is open during Sunday worship from 7:45 to noon and at various other events and services as announced.

Family Formation

In the winter of 2010, Saint Stephen's launched a groundbreaking program of Christian Formation for families with children, replacing the standard Sunday School model with a dynamic, interactive family ministry model.

The cornerstones of Family Formation at Saint Stephen's are NOVA and NEXUS.

NOVA is an innovative worship and teaching service held at 9:00am Sunday mornings. The focus is cross-generational and participatory. Music is contemporary, and the teaching is hands-on and interactive. Eucharist (communion) is celebrated every week as the congregation gathers around the altar. At NOVA, we share our whole lives with God and with one another.

NOVA combines the elements of worship and of formation instead of separating worship and "Sunday School". The family then continues the process at home during the week, integrating the lesson into their lives in the world.

NOVA is designed to appeal to all ages, from adults to teens to children. Although it is informal, it is structured. Although it is innovative, in the best ways it is deeply traditional. Although it is enjoyable, we do serious work on our spiritual journeys, drawing us closer to God and to one another.

NEXUS is the vehicle that carries the teaching forward during the week. There are several components:

• The NOVA Facebook page, with ongoing resources and discussions.
• Updates and resources on the ststeve.org website.
• Various midweek group meetings around topics of interest.

For more information, contact Jo Bourke, Coordinator of Family Ministry, at jo.bourke@ststeve.org.