South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church

Elementary Christian Education

South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church seeks to fully include children with disabilities and their families into the life of the church. If you have a child who needs assistance participating in Sunday school, worship, fellowship, or mission activities, please contact Kim Lee at 704-544-0404 ext. 117 or kim@smpchome.org

Mark your calendars for Sundays at 9:30 a.m.

Parents of 1st Graders in McQueen Room, 4-week study,
 September 9 – September 30
First Grade Children in Disciple Designs, 4-week study
 September 9 – September 30

Parents of 3rd Graders in McQueen Room, 2-week study
March 3 – March 10

1st through 5th Grades (Kindergarten listed under Pre-School)

Sunday Mornings 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
All 1st through 5th graders meet in Mecklenburg Hall at 9:30 a.m. and then each age group is escorted to their rotation classroom.  Rotation schedules are posted outside the Upper Room and on the Elementary Christian Education bulletin board.

Elementary Rotation Sunday School 9:30am
Parents of First Graders

First grade is an exciting time in the life of the church community as well as in the life of your family. It is our tradition here at South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church to welcome first graders into the worship service. John Westerhoff, Professor of Theology and Christian Nurture at Duke University Divinity School, says that, "If our children are to have faith, they must worship with us." The Christian Education Committee seeks to include fully our faithful children into the worship service. 

To this end, we have put together a four-week study. One class is for parents; and one class is for children. Beginning on Rally Day, Sunday, September 11, the first graders will take part in their four-week study with Patty Stevenson in the Disciple Designs Room during the 9:30 - 10:30 Sunday school hour. Patty will guide the children through the various aspects of worship including, the sacraments, creeds, prayers, and the Doxology.

Parents must register to participate in this class as Kim will be ordering supplies. You may secure your spot by emailing Kim Lee at kim@smpchome.org .

First - Fifth Graders:

Our elementary school children participate in a rotational Sunday school curriculum. We gather in Mecklenburg Hall each Sunday at 9:30 for 15 minutes of worship time. The grade levels are then escorted by an adult shepherd to their classroom for the morning lesson. During the 5 week rotation each grade level will visit all 5 classrooms for a different perspective of the 5 week theme. Following the end of the 9:30 worship service or adult Sunday school, you may collect your child in one of the 5 classrooms. The weekly schedule is posted on each classroom door.

SMPC Covenant for Children and Families
We Believe children are created by God for God.
Please click here to read the complete covenant.

Children's Community Outreach & Missions 

During the 9:30 – 10:30 Sunday school hour, we introduce SMPC supported community outreach and mission projects to our children and families. Community outreach and world mission is a vital and meaningful part of our children’s Christian education as well as their witness to our community and the world as disciples of Jesus Christ. Occasionally we send home information, enabling parents to continue an active engagement with our children’s Christian formation.

Last year, our children’s weekly Sunday offering went to support a child, Roseline, in Bayonnais, Haiti. Additionally, our children learned about hunger; walked in the CROP walk; took snacks and played games with the children at the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope; donated, gathered and packed 39 boxes for Operation Christmas Child; gathered old towels, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, and newspapers and took to the Animal Shelter; and gathered food stuff for Loaves and Fishes. What a wonderful witness to the love God has for us and all creation in Jesus Christ!

Donating Snacks for A Child's Place,2012:

Learning about the CROP Walk, 2011:

Children's Worship
As we seek to fulfill our baptismal vows and welcome the children of SMPC to worship, we have put together a developmentally appropriate plan designed to nurture and educate our youngest members and their families.

Children's Ministry Notes for the 11:00 worship service.
Children up to third grade are invited to participate in a Children's Worship Service that will be held in the chapel during the 11:00 worship service. The children will leave Mecklenburg Hall after the anthem and return at the Doxology to conclude the worship service with their families.

Children are, by their baptism, members of the people of God. The call to worship is addressed to all. In The Public Worship of God Henry Sloane Coffin affirms, "Worship is the offering to God of the entire congregation of his people, and children should certainly be included. A childless congregation presents an abnormal and unpromising appearance." Children enter the sanctuary with their parents at 10:00 to hear the call to worship, pray the prayer of confession, hear the Good News, sing the Gloria Patri, meet their newly baptized brothers and sisters in Christ, and listen to the anthem. We will then recess to the Chapel following a short liturgy with the congregation. Once in the chapel, the children will engage in their own call to worship, hear the scripture, engage in a children's sermon, sing a hymn, say what it is we believe, and pray for the people. They will return at the doxology to celebrate the Lord's Supper with their families, hear and say the Lord's Prayer, hear and say the affirmation of faith, sing a hymn, and receive the benediction as they scatter back out with their families into the community.