Child & Teen Education
St. Stephen Lutheran Church is dedicated to raising families in faith to follow Christ together. We hold Sunday School classes for all ages from pre-school through adult. These classes are held at 10am Sunday mornings during the regular school year. We invite everyone and anyone who would like to participate in learning about Jesus Christ and what it means to live in a resurrection faith!
Curriculum
St. Stephen uses an intergenerational curriculum called “Akaloo” which is a Greek derivative meaning “to follow” and is based around Jesus' call for us to follow him as his disciples. Akaloo is used as the curriculum for pre-school through an adult Sunday school class. This curriculum allows us to focus on faith in the family and to equip families with information and topics for discussion, and practice our faith together, every day of the week. There are web activities for all ages which allow our students to continue interacting and learning after Sunday morning as well! Each grade level learns about a similar theme each week but at a level appropriate to their age and in different contexts according to grade level. Our Sunday School year consists of 35 weeks broken down into 5 units. Each new unit has a large kick-off event lead by Pastor Nathan and Kenny that all ages participate in with live music! Check out Akaloo at www.akaloo.org .
Rally Sunday
Rally Sunday is our big Sunday School Kick off! The 2008-2009 Sunday School year will kick off on September 7 th with our Akaloo Karnival! Events begin at 10am with registration in the sanctuary. An introduction to the Sunday School year and teachers will be held at this time along with kicking off the first unit of the year and live music! We encourage everyone to stick around for the 11am worship service and then join us immediately following worship as we move the fun outside and into the Parish Hall for food, spacewalks, games, and so much more! We will also hold a brief meeting with parents at this time to review the calendar of events and present opportunities to volunteer.
Sunday School Special Events
We believe that being a disciple of Christ should be fun and exciting and we don't want that to end after Sunday morning. So we hold special events throughout the year to keep the energy high and allow our students and families to build in their relationships with each other. Our events are open to all those who would like to share in our community of Christ. Our special events include:
• Rally Sunday
• Christmas Ornament Workshop
• Valentine's Party
• Easter Egg Hunt
• Movies on the Green
• Trick or Trunk
• And so much more
Please see the calendar of events for dates of special events!
Parent's Sunday School
St. Stephen offers a variety of adult education classes; however, if you have a student in one of our Sunday school classes we invite you to participate in our Parent Sunday School class. This class uses the adult Akaloo curriculum and is directed towards equipping parents to practice their faith with their kids once our Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesday's role around. We believe it is important for parents to participate in their children's faith education and continue that education past Sunday morning. This class will follow the same schedule as our children's Sunday School classes and will be included in the large group unit kick off events.
First Communion Training
This training is offered during Lent for early elementary children to prepare them to receive the sacrament. There is no minimum age for children, but parents and children attend the classes together. It is recommended that the child know how to read.
Confirmation Classes
Confirmation is for 7 th & 8 th graders who are ready to begin their adult lives in the faith. Catechism in the church is the extension of the baptismal promises we as parents and the church made to our children when they were baptized into Christ's body. Catechism is NOT primarily informational, though you will learn a ton over the two years. It's primarily relational…it's about you and God, you and other disciples, and you and the world that you live in. Confirmation is held the 2 nd and 4 th Sunday of the month from 5pm-7pm.
High School Youth Group (Solid Rock)
Solid Rock is the High School Youth Group of St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Longwood , FL. We are in our 12th year of celebrating Christ through Fellowship, Learning, Outreach, and Worship. We believe that through Grace we are saved and therefore we look out into our world to spread the joy and love of Jesus so that everyone can experience the unconditional love of God. We welcome all into our open arms the way Jesus taught us. Solid Rock meets weekly on Sunday evenings from 6-8pm for fun and fellowship and Wednesday evenings for weekly Bible studies called "Coffee Shop Talks". We provide Sunday morning Sunday School at 10am as well. Annual events include Disney's Night of Joy, Murder Mystery Dinner, Youth Weekend, Lock-ins, National Youth Gatherings, Retreats, and summer Mission Trips. Please visit the Solid Rock website for a calendar of events. www.ststephen.org/youth
Destination
Science Camps
Destination Science Summer Day Camps are exciting, fun, hands-on, learning programs for campers 5 to 11 years. Their summer camps revolve around central science themes such as Technology, Physics and Space, the whole time building on all the science disciplines as determined by the National Science Education Standards. Their summer camps take a unique approach to learning by emphasizing critical thinking and creative problem solving. St. Stephen will host some of these camps during the summer. They are sponsored by Stetson University. Look for more information each spring.