Fall 2014 Sunday School Overview

FALL 2014

Sunday School OverviewChildren n Youth n Parents

United Methodist ChurchWestbury

United Methodist ChurchWestbury

United Methodist ChurchWestbury

WestburyUMC.org5200 Willowbend Blvd. Houston, TX 77096713-723-0175

Meet the Teachers: Children’s Sunday School

Denise Singleton has been teaching for 3 years. “I’m looking forward to seeing the students’ smiling faces as they come to learn about the love of God.” She loves singing, reading, and teaching.

Ashley Dill co-teaches with her mom Denise and has been a member at Westbury UMC for 15 years. Her favorite Bible verse is, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Ofelia Patlan has been teaching for over 50 years! She enjoys bring-ing the word of God to children in ways they can understand with crafts and arts. Her favorite verse is Ecclesiastes 3:1, “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Mary Ann Riggs loves that Westbury UMC is not just a place to worship but also a caring community. She has been teaching for 4 years and enjoys finding creative and crafty ways to teach Bible stories and loves how children remember the stories each year.

Hillary Peete enjoys learning from children about how they see and experience God. She joined the Westbury UMC family in 2013 as Director of Children’s Ministry and you’ll often see her chasing her toddler, Felix, around the church.

Rebecca Smith recently joined Westbury UMC and loves the “spiritual fire and passion for loving others” in the congregation. She’s looking forward to seeing God through the eyes of the children while teaching and growing in relationship with the kids.

Mike and Jayne Rocha are a great teaching team! Mike was born and raised in Houston. He has been a dedicated and fun Sunday school teacher for 10 years. When he’s not teaching you’ll find him playing Disc Golf or at a Texans game. Jayne has taught for 12 years and loves the fresh perspective the kids bring to Bible stories. Her hobbies of skiing, kickbox-ing and triathlons help her keep up with the kids’ energy!

Rachel Hodge loves seeing how the children grow and open up during their year of learning about God together. Her favorite Bible verse is Romans 8:38-39, “…nothing will separate us from the love of God.”

Chris Wiggs has attended Westbury UMC since he was 3 years old. He looks forward to another year of continuing to grow in relationship with returning and new kids in his Sunday school class.

Shepherd’s Class | Room 102All parents are welcome to join us! We are a diverse group of parents with children ranging in ages from newborns to teenagers. We build friendships as we explore topical and Biblical studies related to raising kids in the faith and maintaining healthy family relationships.

September 2014 | Back to Basics: Children’s Spirituality Faith is a gift from God; it is God’s presence within us. Even before they speak their first words, our children are learning faithfulness. But what does it mean to be faithful at age 2 and age 12? Join us for a 4 week class about what spiritual development and formation looks like for our children and practical ways families can support that development.

October 2014 | StewardshipDuring the month of October, we will help guide the family through the spiritual disci-pline of tithing. On Sunday, October 12, parents and children will join together for Sun-day school. During this class, there will be interactive activities to get families talking and take home resources to continue to conversation with ways to strengthen this spiritual discipline. On the remaining Sundays, the adults will discuss Adam Hamilton’s Enough. Enough is an invitation to rediscover the Bible’s wisdom when it comes to pru-dent financial practices. In these pages are found the keys to experiencing contentment, overcoming fear, and discovering joy through simplicity and generosity.

November 2014 | Are You Really Listening? Keys to Successful CommunicationChildren, spouses, friends complain that they aren’t being heard. But sometimes you feel that you aren’t being listened to either! Laralee DeHart, a Deacon in our conference and parent of 3 girls, will lead us through this insightful book. We’ll discuss how actually listening can open us up to the world and people around us and strengthen our families.

Pathfinders Class | Room W202Join parents of children and youth as they kick off the fall with 6 Decisions That Will Change Your Life by Tom Berlin. We will transition to Making Sense of the Bible by Adam Hamilton in late September and continue with other book studies throughout the year.

Parents n Sunday School Options

“Christmas Around the World” Combined Sunday School for Children, Youth & Families

On Sundays in December, come to the Parlor where we will explore Christmas from various Christian traditions and cultures represented at

Westbury UMC. We will hear stories from people’s native countries, sing songs from their traditions, and find creative new ways to anticipate the birth

of the Christ child! This will be an engaging and meaningful way to celebrate Advent with your family.

7th–12th Graders9:30–10:30 am in Room H21This fall, youth will engage “Ancestors,” a curriculum all about the ancestors of our faith. Through humor and discussion, the study exposes the real, unpolished and unexpected personalities of Old and New Testament Bible characters. Youth will discover similarities between themselves and the many unlikely people selected by God to do extraordinary things.

September 201407 | Ancestors: Adam & Eve14 | Noah21 | Abraham & Sarah28 | Jacob

October 201405 | No Sunday School12 | Joseph19 | Moses26 | Rahab

November 201402 | Deborah09 | Samson16 | Ruth23 | David30 | Solomon

December 201407 | Christmas Around the World14 | Christmas Around the World21 | Christmas Around the World28 | No Sunday School

Children n Age 3–5th grade Youth n 6th–12th grade

6th Graders (Confirmation)9:15–10:30 am in Room H24At Westbury UMC, confirmation is highly encouraged! We kick off our season of in-tensive spiritual formation with a retreat, followed by a series of classes on Sunday mornings. Students walk through the curriculum with several different guest teachers and our pastors.

September 201407 | No Class14 | Confirmation Retreat21 | Creation28 | Sin

October 201405 | No Class12 | Redemption19 | Holy Spirit26 | Church

November 201402 | New Creation09 | Methodist 116 | Methodist 223 | Methodist 329 | Field Trip: Orthodox30 | Methodist 4

December 201407 | Way of Discipleship14 | Way of Salvation21 | Weslayan Quadrilateral28 | No Class

SEPT 7

SEPT 14

SEPT 21

SEPT 28

OCT 5

OCT 12

OCT 19

OCT 26

NOV 2

NOV 9

NOV 16

NOV 23

NOV 30

Meet the Teachers: Youth Sunday School

Steve Stone and his siblings were raised at Westbury UMC. Steve has taught Sunday school for over 30 years—mostly at the high school level. He says, “I get more out of watching these young people mature than I put into the preparation of the lesson.” Just in case anyone asks, he adds, “The youth of today are just as wonderful and hopeful and bright and loving as any I have ever seen through all the years I have taught at this church.”

Kelsey Johnson is mom to two young kids (ages 4 and 6) but she’s always enjoyed getting to hang out with kids of all ages, tweens and teens too! She has taught confirmation classes, served as a youth mentor and chaperoned on youth trips. Her favorite thing about teaching is hearing young people’s creative and often profound ideas about faith. “It’s always meaningful to talk about how we see God in everyday life.”

Josh Lemons serves as Director of Youth Ministry at Westbury UMC. He enjoys breaking complex topics down into simple, more basic ideas. He has been teaching Christian education for 10+ years and is passionate about seeing young people deepen their faith.

We grow.2014

AT WESTBURY UMC

Check out the Fall Small Groups brochure (or go online) to sign up for the Youth Bible Study on Wednesday nights, starting September 10.

Youth Bible Study: The Gospel of JohnA new mid-week Bible study for our 7th–12th grade students. This fall and winter, we will be working through the Gospel of John. Students will not need to purchase anything for the study. Simply bring your Bible and a pen or pencil for notes.

■ Duration: Wednesdays (6–7:30 pm), starting Sept. 10 ■ Leader: Josh Lemons ■ Location: Youth Wing ■ Cost: free

112

109 Library111

Parlor A

Parlor B

EastFoyer

Narthex

Bride’s Room

Church

Entry

C-1 C-3

C-2 C-6C-4 C-8

C-21

C-19

C-22

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C-18

C-16

C-10

C-12

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C-11

C-15

204 202 200208210

209 207

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215 213

W201

W202

W203

W204

H21H22

H23

H24

Teen Room

Balcony

HumphreyHall

Scout Room

Servery

Kitchen

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W

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Humphrey Hall (Gym)

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Main Entrance

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Narthex

FamilyRoom

Sanctuary

Kitchen

Servery

Parlor

C-1 C-3C-11

C-15

C-2 C-4 C-6 C-8

C-10

C-12

C-14

C-16

C-18

C-20

C-22C-21

C-19

Balcony

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WDay SchoolReception

Children’s Wing/Day School

Entrance

SanctuaryEntrance

SanctuaryEntrance

W204

W203

W202

W201

TeenLounge

H24

H23

H22H21

Library

210 208 206 204 200–202Music Ministry Suite

203 201205

MAP LEGENDX RestroomE Accesible Restrooms Staircasev ElevatorW Drinking Fountain Worship Meeting Rooms Community Spaces Youth Wing Children’s Wing/Day School

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2nd Floor Parking Lot

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Circle Drive

Memorial Garden

Chapel

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Youth classes are held in the Youth Wing on the 2nd floor near the elevator.

Children’s classes are held in the Children’s Wing on the 1st floor (space shared with Day School). Your child’s classroom door will be labeled according to age grouping: 3–4 years, K–2nd and 3rd–5th.

112

109 Library111

Parlor A

Parlor B

EastFoyer

Narthex

Bride’s Room

Church

Entry

C-1 C-3

C-2 C-6C-4 C-8

C-21

C-19

C-22

C-20

C-18

C-16

C-10

C-12

C-14

C-11

C-15

204 202 200208210

209 207

212

215 213

W201

W202

W203

W204

H21H22

H23

H24

Teen Room

Balcony

HumphreyHall

Scout Room

Servery

Kitchen

XE

wq

v

W

s

s

ss

ss

s

s

s

v

sX

X

XE

s

s Café103105

102106

Humphrey Hall (Gym)

Church Office

Main Entrance

EastFoyer

Narthex

FamilyRoom

Sanctuary

Kitchen

Servery

Parlor

C-1 C-3C-11

C-15

C-2 C-4 C-6 C-8

C-10

C-12

C-14

C-16

C-18

C-20

C-22C-21

C-19

Balcony

open to Sanctuary

open to Humphrey Hall

WDay SchoolReception

Children’s Wing/Day School

Entrance

SanctuaryEntrance

SanctuaryEntrance

W204

W203

W202

W201

TeenLounge

H24

H23

H22H21

Library

210 208 206 204 200–202Music Ministry Suite

203 201205

MAP LEGENDX RestroomE Accesible Restrooms Staircasev ElevatorW Drinking Fountain Worship Meeting Rooms Community Spaces Youth Wing Children’s Wing/Day School

X

W

ScoutRoom

2nd Floor Parking Lot

Playground

Circle Drive

Memorial Garden

Chapel

w

W

Where Are the Classrooms?

No Sunday school (church retreat weekend)

Money & Me, combined lesson in the Parlor