08/28/2026
Guilford Church expands its Sunday School offerings
A local, progressive church is upgrading its children and youth programming for the fall, featuring the return of a beloved staff member and a locally designed, progressive middle school curriculum. Starting September 6, Guilford Community Church will hold Sunday School in a new configuration of three age groups.
Batunga Bibimba will supervise the youngest children—through preschool—in the play space, which houses toys, books and places for parents to join their children as needed.
JoAnne Heckman will be returning to the area to teach the elementary children, grades K-5, continuing with the A Joyful Path curriculum. A Joyful Path teaches empathy through stories and experiential learning, designed to engage children physically and emotionally, as well as intellectually and spiritually. This year’s focus is exploring the foundations of Progressive Christianity in the teachings of Jesus.
NEW PROGRAM FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS!
GCC’s Christian Education committee and its interim pastor, Allyson Platt, have created an entirely new format for middle school children to provide a diverse understanding of the multiple faiths in our area and beyond. Through December, the team will introduce various faith traditions within Christianity, including Evangelicism, Catholicism, Quakerism, African American Christian traditions, as well as the United Church of Christ. Different members of the Christian Education committee will meet with the young teens in three-week rotations. For example, Tom Green will explore evangelicism with the group on Sept. 6th. On Sept. 13th, the group will attend a neighboring evangelical church service. On Sept. 20th, the youth will discuss their experience and impressions. In the winter and spring, young teens will explore religions and spiritual practices such as Judaism, Islam, Native American traditions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Bahai, etc. The format will be similar to the fall: one week of introduction and discussion, one week visiting another house of worship, and the third week discussing their impressions.
Staff are looking for community volunteers from different traditions to share their personal spiritual journey with the middle schoolers. If you are interested being a guest speaker, please contact Sue Owings ([email protected]) or Mary Alice Amidon ([email protected]).
