Sunday School Class Structure

"An educator should experience all the stages of Christian perfection in order to know in his subsequent activity how to behave and be able to notice the inclinations of his pupils, and then to influence them with patience, successfully, strongly, and fruitfully. Such educators should be a class of the purest, chosen by God, and saintly persons." [St. Theophan the Recluse on Responsibilities of an Educator, Turning the Heart to God, XXIII]

Mission

In our Sunday School Service, we have three goals that we, as servants, must adhere to in serving our children:

• To educate our children spiritually and morally in true Christian Education, in accordance with the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and the faith and traditions of the Coptic Orthodox Church
• To develop in our children the habit of attending church regularly, studying the bible, and participating conscientiously in the worship and mysteries of our church
• To cultivate in our children an Orthodox conscience and devotion to our principles, and to prepare them so that they become faithful and devoted dynamic members of our church, our community, and our country

Program Structure

Each Sunday School class follows a teaching structure which consists of a prayer, a hymn lesson and a Sunday School lesson—all driven from curricula posted on the Servants Portal.

• Prayer Curriculum: Students will learn Agpeya prayers and psalms every year, so that by the time they finish high school they will have memorized a number of them.
• Hymns Curriculum: The curriculum has a defined list of hymns and a timeline for teaching the hymns throughout the year.
• Lesson Curriculum: Lessons follow the Diocese’s curriculum (www.suscopts.org/ssc).

Prayer Curriculum

Memorization of church prayers is fundamental for the spiritual growth of every Orthodox Christian. Therefore, the Sunday School Service takes the initiative of teaching the Agpeya prayers from the very early stage to the last stage of Sunday School. Each class (grade level) is provided with a defined Prayer Curriculum. This curriculum remains the same every year for that grade level; it does not change. At the beginning of the Sunday School class, each class is to commence with the prayer until the children memorize the prayer, and then the class should move on to the next prayer on its curriculum.

Grade Level	Prayer Curriculum
Kindergarten	The Lord’s Prayer
1st Grade	Thanksgiving Prayer
2nd Grade	Introduction to the Orthodox Creed, Orthodox Creed
3rd Grade	Psalm 50, Hail to you
4th Grade	The Trisagion, Holy Holy Holy, Psalm 66
5th Grade	The Gloria, Graciously accord O Lord (12th Hour)
Middle School	Conclusion of Every Hour, Psalm 6, Psalm 22, Psalm 62
High School	Psalm 142, Psalm 127, Psalm 140, Intro to Midnight Prayer