CHILDREN AND FAMILY MINISTRY
Building Faith at Home

Foothills Lutheran recognizes and supports parents as primary faith-teachers of their children. Walking alongside of parents from the birth of their children to their launching into adulthood, we provide resources and teach skills that help families to build faith at home. Watch our calendar for upcoming Faith at Home events!

Preschool

We offer a weekday preschool program weekday mornings from 8:45 – 11:15 am, and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, for children 3 – 5 years of age at our Brentwood location. We welcome children from the surrounding community to join us. Click on the link above for more details.

Sunday School

The Sunday school ministry at Foothills is an important component of our Christian Education Program. Through Sunday School we support parents in the spiritual nurturing of their children, and provide a regular opportunity for children to come, and bring their friends, to hear and study God’s Word.

Our Sunday school ministry includes:

• Nursery Roll: This is a parent information package designed to minister to new parents, and support them in their child’s spiritual development. Following their infant’s baptism, and throughout their child’s first three years of life, parents regularly receive newsletters, cards, books, a CD, and various other items, to assist them in the spiritual nurturing of their child.
• Classes: Sunday morning classes are held from September (after Labour Day) through June. Children who are preschool age through Grade 6 are invited to join us at 9:15 am in the sanctuary to begin with song, mission project information, celebration of Baptismal birthdays and prayer. A children’s offering, designated for a specific mission project, is collected at this time. Sunday School lessons are Bible based, Christ-centered, and age-appropriate, applying Law and Gospel to emphasize a life application. Parents are very welcome to participate in their child’s preschool class.
• Sunday School classes also study Catechism topics (i.e.: Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostle’s Creed). The objective is to help the students gain a deeper appreciation of God’s Word, and help them become more familiar with the Christian faith, enabling them to participate more actively in worship. These are taught in addition to the regular lesson on Sunday mornings. Our Grade 2 students each receive a Bible, presented during a worship service in the fall.
• We have a dedicated, caring group of volunteer teachers, and use the “team-teaching” concept where 2 or more teachers share the teaching responsibility in each class. This allows our teachers and assistants flexibility in their teaching schedule, as well as time to attend a Sunday morning Bible study.

Family Worship

Foothills Lutheran Church encourages families to worship together. It is important to differentiate between education and worship. Sunday School and Bible Class (i.e. education) are age-appropriate, whereas worship is where the whole company of believers come together as God ministers to His people through the Word, and we respond in faith. For this reason all Sunday morning Christian Education opportunities are scheduled between our Sunday Morning Worship services to enable children to go to Sunday school while their parents go to Bible Study, children thereby observe that learning about God and His Word is a life-long process.

Confirmation Instruction

Confirmation instruction is a full two-year program that prepares youth (generally grade 6 and 7 students) to receive the Lord’s Supper, and to publicly confirm the vows that were spoken in their stead at their baptism.

In one year of confirmation an overview of Bible history is taught weekly on Tuesday evenings, with classes running around one hour and 15 minutes. The second year of instruction is a study of the chief teachings of the church as presented in Luther’s Small Catechism, and is taught using a mixture of retreats and monthly classes.

During their confirmation experience, class members are asked to take turns serving as acolytes and PowerPoint operators for Sunday Morning Worship Services.

**Please speak to the pastor about adult confirmation. Adult instruction is offered in a 10-session Explore class, which runs approximately twice a year.

Adult Education

Faith in Christ is nurtured and Christian relationships are strengthened as we study God’s Word together. Opportunities for learning are offered both Sunday mornings and through the week.

Consider joining us on Sunday morning at 9:15 am for:

Bible Study with the Pastor – a study that provides a deeper examination of Biblical themes.
Front to Back Bible Study – join a group where members are reading through the Bible over a period of two years. Weekly discussion groups allow for questions to be answered and new learnings to be examined.

Weekday studies include:

Lifelight – 9-session studies based on either a book of the Bible or a foundation of Christian Doctrine.
Front to Back Bible study (see above)
Various Small Group Studies – small groups meet throughout the city in homes for study of God’s word, prayer, and Christian fellowship.

Check out our calendar and newsletter for study times, topics and locations.