Parkdale United Church
EDUCATION
Parkdale United Church is a centre for spiritual growth. We believe in lifelong learning, and we offer learning opportunities for children and adults. We have regular Sunday morning programming for children as part of our worship hour, and other learning opportunities for adults and families throughout the year.
Nursery Care
We have Nursery staff who are available to care for the youngest among us (infants and pre-school children), on Sunday mornings during the worship service. Infants and toddlers are welcome to remain in church with their parents or they can go to the nursery when the children leave for Sunday School. The nursery cares for and nurtures the little ones with play, stories, and crafts to celebrate the changing seasons in the church and in the wider community.
Children’s Ministry
We have a program for children on Sunday mornings, 10:30 to 11:30. We are currently working in a one-room Sunday School structure, encompassing kindergarten to grade 5. As we continue through the year, we will be exploring what the Bible can teach us about how communities celebrate, live together, change, and grow. The weekly lessons typically include reading the bible, crafts, drama, and games. We are eager to have the children become more involved in the church community, by periodically participating in worship, greeting people, presenting a Christmas Pageant and being involved in other celebrations throughout the year. There is currently no separate class for the youth, but they are welcome to join the younger folks as learners or as helpers, or may choose to remain in service and be part of the congregation. We strive to develop and grow the children’s faith and friendships within the church family and build on this. We are looking forward to seeing how Parkdale’s Nursery, Children, and Youth will grow in this coming year.
Youth Ministry
We have a program for youths on the second and fourth Sundays of each month, 10:30am to 11:30am. Similar to the children’s ministry, we are running out of a one-room Sunday School structure, grades 6 to 12. Each month, a Friday is set aside for a youth event, where youths are welcome to participate in building connections with other United churches in the area, worship, and play some amazing games. Our goal is to get youths excited about getting involved in both the church community and the Calgary community through participating in worship, Christmas pageants, food drives, and many more activities.
Adult Spiritual Life
Parkdale United Church is committed to offering a variety of opportunities to enhance adult spiritual development. We offer adult courses in a variety of formats, such as one-day workshops, weekend workshops (Friday evening to Sunday morning), or evening learning events of 4 to 6 weeks. Examples of courses that we have offered in the recent past include Theological Worlds, Sabbath, Signposts of the Spiritual Life, Journalling as a Spiritual Practice, Skills for Living in Relationship, Embracing an Adult Faith, and Two Faiths – One God (Christianity and Islam in Conversation). Adult courses sometimes use a particular book as a basis for discussion and sometimes use audio-visual materials to spark discussion. Adult courses are sometimes related to a season of the church year, such as Advent or Lenten study groups. Courses are led by our minister, by lay leaders in the church and by guest speakers. All are welcome to participate in these learning opportunities, whether or not you are a member of Parkdale United Church.