Reverend Andy Cornell of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Dresden willing admits that people don’t go to Sunday morning services as much as they used to.
He recognizes that these days people seem to stay busy seven days a week, filling their time and their kids’ time with commitments like sports and the usual business of life like grocery shopping etc.
When explaining where he got the idea for the new after school program, “LIFE!” Rev. Cornell said: “Sunday morning seems to be just another day, just an extension of Saturday.”
He also thinks however that people still want to give their children some exposure to the Church, despite busy modern lives.
“Love In Faith Everywhere!” is an after school program for elementary school age students which operates every Wednesday from approximately 3:40 to 5:30 at St. Andrews Church in Dresden. Parents are welcome to pick up their kids at any time.
The free program is funded by the Presbytery of Essex-Kent and the congregation of St. Andrews and is a response to a shortage of informal, affordable after school daycare in the area purportedly caused by new regulations.
The program offers snacks, games, crafts, music, life skills, prayer, and tutoring.
“The tutoring is something we didn’t plan,” Cornell said. “When we were putting this program together we had some retired teachers who volunteered to be part of it and we thought hey maybe they would be willing to do some tutoring for free. I don’t think the school system is broken in that regard but there has been a need (for one-on one tutoring) since the beginning of time.”
The tutoring has been a big draw for the program which welcomes 15-20 kids every Wednesday, many of whom are not connected to the Church in any other way.
Among the assorted games and activities like pumpkin carving, packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, cooking lessons, bird house building etc. some time is always set aside for prayer.
The program begins with a snack and then the group moves on to a Bible story and Q&A, then music and a brief devotion which is “actually pretty active,” Cornell said.
After the fifteen minute session participants move on to activities or tutoring.
“I wouldn’t call it Bible study,” said Rev. Cornell. “We are introducing them to God, because a lot of these kids don’t go to church. They don’t know the basics like ‘God created the world but that doesn’t mean you can’t study science’. We’re just trying to open their eyes to the spiritual side of life. We are trying to plant some seeds that will perhaps grow later.”
– Story by Wes McDonald
