BATAVIA NEWS published November 16, 2023
NORTH JAVA — Holy Family Parish in North Java has made great strides to achieve a new look in its Sunday School room as it continues its community outreach efforts.
Renee Bagwell took over as the Sunday School teacher at Holy Family last year in December. As she approaches one year of teaching Sunday School at the Polish National Catholic Church parish, there are now about 14 children who attend the class, ranging from 4 to 12 years old.
“It is going amazingly well,” said Bagwell regarding her first year of teaching. “I had some trepidation about volunteering to do it because of the importance of the role but since I can easily harness my inner 9-year-old who still loves stickers, glitter, crayons and googly eyes, it has been fun and rewarding.
“It helps that the children are amazingly well behaved and love the interaction,” she continued. “There have been some learnings on my part from mishaps that luckily the parents have not come after me for with pitchforks and torches, like using washable markers to decorate Styrofoam cups to hold Mother’s Day flowers, which resulted in very colorful palms when carrying the cup back into church to present to the moms.”
Bagwell wanted to create a more inviting environment for children to learn in, so she did just that.
“Sunday School is about helping raise kids to be good humans, with empathy, understanding and integrity. Most importantly, Sunday School has to be fun, so that they want to come,” said Bagwell.
Holy Family Parish at 4316 Rt. 98, North Java welcomes residents with open arms during Sunday Mass each week at 10 a.m. Children are encouraged to attend Mass and Sunday School at the parish.
After Fr. Cory gives absolution and the starting prayer, the children and teacher go to the front of the church for a blessing and then head to the schoolhouse for Sunday School. Bagwell wants children to get the most out of the class each week.
“Kids love colorful spaces, fun activities and glitter glue,” said Bagwell. “The parents may not be as big of fans of the glitter, but they are a fan of the updated Sunday School room.”
Since becoming the Sunday School teacher, Bagwell has implemented some changes including making the program more fun and interactive with less use of booklets. Though there is no formal Sunday School held during the summer, Bagwell still tries to get the children together during Mass to spend time on the playground or work on some projects at the picnic table.
In September, Bagwell and her helper, Ron Eddy, spent a week transforming the Sunday School room from drab and dreary paint colors into a colorful and fun space for learning.
“The wainscot under the windows and chalkboard were painted a pastel rainbow scheme,” Bagwell said. “Besides the cheerful colors, the rainbow also ties into the lesson of Noah’s Ark when after the great flood, God placed the rainbow in the sky to remind us of his promise to never flood the whole world again. The walls were painted sky blue with inspirational quotes placed throughout the space, along with a few small stickers hiding here and there that kids have fun looking for, such as a mouse reading a book or a fairy playing with butterflies.
“To finish the room, the 66 books of the Bible were painted around two sides of the room perimeter with handmade stencils,” she said.
In addition to Sunday School, Holy Family also offers religious education from 10:40 to 11 a.m. starting in April that continues for eight to 10 weeks depending on how well the children learn the material.
The opportunity is available to children 7 or older to achieve their First Communion. Last year, according to Bagwell, seven children achieved their First Communion.
“My main hope is that during these highly charged times they [children] learn that God loves absolutely everyone, even those who you fundamentally disagree with,” Bagwell said. “I want them to learn empathy, patience, understanding and to be grateful for what they have and not so worried about what they don’t have.”
In addition to the changes to the Sunday School room, the church also rents out the schoolhouse for events. There is also an outside pavilion and playground use patron to rent and utilize for birthday parties.
For more information about Holy Family, visit its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HolyFamilyPNCC or on its website at holyfamilyncchurch.org.
The church also hosts a Sunday Social on the first and third Sunday of each month. All are welcome.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends at Holy Family in North Java. Miss your smiles, compassion and love for God. Spread the word on Facebook that Holy Family welcomes all God’s children with open arms to enjoy the glitter glue and fun. Fr. Matt & Spinach
