At the Cathedral, children are at the heart of our life together.
Infants and Toddlers
Preschoolers and School-aged Children
Seasonal Children and Family Worship
Jesus taught us that, in some sense, we must become like children to enter fully into spiritual life. At the Cathedral we celebrate our children and recognize their unique spiritual gifts: they love and trust without reserve, they hear imaginatively and respond spontaneously, they question and speak with candor. Their playfulness brings joy and life into our sanctuary every week. In grateful response, we seek to welcome every child as a full and cherished member of our church community.
Children are on a journey of faith
Sunday School at heart is a circle of friends sharing with one another the best of stories, God's story, to grow in faith. Making personal meaning from this story and carrying this new understanding out into the world is what faith formation is all about. We believe children are on their own journey of discipleship, and we seek to help them on the way.
What we offer your family
Your child will find a safe and loving home at the Cathedral in our beautiful, bright and well-equipped classrooms. We offer
• A safe and hygienic environment, with teachers trained in child abuse prevention
• A developmentally appropriate, rich, and thoughtful curriculum
• A professionally run classroom with consistent teachers who will know and love your child
• Respect for your family’s beliefs and traditions in an open and questioning community of faith
• A diverse and friendly community that welcomes all peoples. We are committed to being an LGBTQIA+-affirming community.
• Knowledgeable support for children with disabilities
We look forward to making you welcome on Sunday morning.
For more information about our Sunday morning programs for children and youth, contact Meredith Wiggins, Director of Children and Family ministries.
Sunday Mornings for Children and Youth
For infants and toddlers
Nursery: 9:30 – 11:30 Sunday mornings in the Cathedral Early Learning Center
Please note: Our Nursery will return in the Fall of 2023!
Our Sunday morning Nursery is a safe and loving home for babies and toddlers during Sunday worship. Located in our Cathedral Early Learning Center, our facility is clean, bright, child-proofed and filled with fun toys and play equipment. Each Sunday morning includes songs, games, arts and crafts, free play and lots of laughter. We carefully include large and small motor activities, sensory play, group and individual play, and creative play each week.
During story time, teachers share a short Bible story in an engaging multisensory way. Your child will hold a fishing line to fish for the hearts of humanity, crawl through the belly of a whale, follow Abraham across the desert, and sit with Jesus as he blesses the bread and the wine for us. We also have a wonderful circle prayer time where each child can pray for family and friends and teach simple graces before snack.
So that your child feels known, loved and secure, our Nursery staff is consistent every week.
For preschoolers and school-aged children - Godly Play
Godly Play: 10:00 – 11:00 Sunday mornings in the Godly Play classroom
Child-centered, spiritual, and fun, Godly Play helps our children explore the spiritual dimension of their lives and build on their innate faith. Each week we tell the Biblical story in its purest form – face to face and heart to heart within a listening circle of children. Using multisensory materials and simple, beautiful language, we tell stories from the Old and New Testaments and from our liturgical life together. We then “wonder” together about the story and have an individual art response time.
Each week, a Godly Play session includes time to:
- Get ready (enter into listening silence, the first building block of prayer)
- Experience a wonder-filled Biblical story with all five senses
- Personally explore the story using rich classroom materials
- Pray together as a group
- Enjoy a simple shared meal
Large as the sky, rich and imaginative, and filled with food for thought, Godly Play stories will make faith come alive for your child. Godly Play is a Montessori method for the Christian spiritual education of elementary-aged children developed by Jerome Berryman, a leading Montessori educator and ordained Episcopal priest You can learn more about this outstanding curriculum at www.godlyplay.org/
Seasonal Children and Family Worship
Seasonally at 10 am in the Liem Azar Center
Children and Family Worship is an exciting ministry that empowers children to participate in worship services and explores the ways they experience and connect with God. Like all worship services, we meet people where they are, so wiggles, giggles, questions, and everything in between are welcome here.
Led by members of the Cathedral clergy and Cathedral Children’s Ministries, this creative and intentional liturgy invites children to experience and explore the words we say, prayers we pray, and movements we do that make up our liturgical life together.
As in “big church,” a ringing singing bowl calls us to worship. We gather around our own font and and get ready to worship by washing away the mistakes of our weak, asking God for a new start. We then listen to scripture readings and the story of the day, which may be a Godly Play or Out of the Box story, a Bible story, or a wonderful picture book. After reflecting on this story together, we travel to the altar to share a sacred meal, and we close with a blessing for each child.
Children’s Worship offers children deep and joy-filled experiences of worship with our wonderful clergy in an intimate setting. We illuminate Anglican liturgical traditions to prepare children for a meaningful life of worship.
Sunday at 8:30am, 10:40am & 6pm
