Sunday School for our chil-dren continues the study of Palm Sunday to Easter through Palm Sunday. Due to the two services and breakfast, there will be no children’s Sun-day school on Easter Sunday. 

SAVE THE DATES: 

 Saturday, April 19, 10am-12 Noon: Rock-N-Roll Easter Event. Ages Toddler 2-Grade 5. Where the rock rolled away from the tomb!! 

 May 4 at 3:00 pm in the church parlor: Wrap- Around Prayer Shawl Ministry: We have had lots of new interest in participation in this ministry. Come if you are interested in learning how to make a prayer shawl, how to pray for this minis-try, or how to help deliver the shawls to those who are in need. Questions: contact Bev Mauney or Beth Brittain. 

 June 27-28: Vacation Church School for Pre-K through 5th grade 

 July 14-18: Camp Agape 

 August 24: Sunday School Rally Day 

 April 24-27: Its not too late to register for Create in Me at Lutheridge. Go to Novus Way Web site for details. 




Call for Help!!! 

1. The request for Children's Sunday school to con-tinue through the summer has come up again this year. We are willing to do this, however we need teachers. We combine both children’s classes (Pre-K & God’s Eden) for the summer. If you are willing to help, please contact Beth Brittain ASAP. 

2. We would like to offer Children’s Church through the summer as well. This is the 20 minutes or so that children leave worship immediately after the chil-dren's sermon and return during the hymn following the sermon. We need two adults per week to contin-ue to facilitate this well-attended ministry. This is for children 4-8 years old. Please contact Beth Brittain should you be willing to help. 

Beth Brittain, Christian Education 

Sunday School continues with the first two weeks of March, completing the study of the Good Samaritan. Beginning March 16 we will study our Palm Sunday to Easter lessons. There will be no Sunday School for children and youth on Easter Sunday, April 20. 

We continue classes for all age groups during the Sunday School hour—hope to see you there!! 

SAVE THE DATES: 

 Saturday, April 19: Children's Easter Egg Hunt and activities 

 June 27-28: Vacation Church School for Pre-K through 5th grade 

 July 14-18: Camp Agape 

There is still time to register for Create in Me at Lu-theridge, April 24-27. The theme for 2014 is Ques-tions of Cosmic Creation. Dr. Brian Peterson, New Testament Professor at LTSS, will be our Bible Study Leader exploring COSMIC QUESTIONS with Psalm 8 as our central theme. How do ART and FAITH address the issues of beauty and destruction, order and chaos, time and space, purpose and futili-ty… Come to be inspired, encouraged, and re-created! Participate in creative worship and enrich-ing fellowship. Workshops and creation stations offer hands-on opportunities to try new arts and crafts in a safe place where you cannot fail. Process over prod-uct is stressed – we are all a beginner at something! Meet others striving to give God’s creative Spirit larg-er space in their lives. Go to the Novus Way website for more details...look under adult retreats. I would love to have five people from Holy Comforter to at-tend with me! Cost is variable depending on where you choose to stay. 

Beth Brittain, Christian Education 

All Sunday School classes resume on January 5. Our Children (Pre K-Grade 5) will begin a study of Lydia. Classes are available for all ages and begin at 9:30 am in the education building. Plan to join a class for 2014—you will be glad you did! 

Women of the Church: Join us for an Epiphany Tea at 3:00 pm in the fellowship hall on January 4. Refreshments will be provided. Bring some holiday pictures as we will complete a scrapbook page or two. Brief devotional will tie it all together and fun and fellowship for all those who attend. Thanks to Liz Propst for helping with the scrapbook pages. 

Children’s Church will resume beginning on January 5. Thank you so very much to the volunteers who are leading this time. The children seem to be benefiting from the lessons and activities and the parents seem to be enjoying the quiet time during the scripture readings and sermon!! Just a reminder the schedule is as follows: 

Week 1: Trudy Whitener 

Week 2: The Kelly Family 

Week 3: Carol & Phil Posey 

Week 4: The Nault Family 

Should a 5th week occur, Beth Brittain leads that time and is the back-up if leaders have to be away and cannot switch their week with another facilitator. Thank you for leading in this vital ministry. 

Parents: A reminder that Kids’ Worship Kits remain available and have various quiet activities for younger children. Children are encouraged to take home any paper that they have written on and particularly the worship bulletins. Parents, please be sure the kits are maintained as neatly as possible and let Beth know if there are needs. 

Kids’Club meets Saturday, January 18 at 2:00 pm at church. Bring favorite board games. 

Holy Comforter Youth will meet on January 5th and 19th at 6:00 pm. 

Rev. Beth Brittain, Christian Education 

Beginning October 13 the children (Pre-K through 5th grade) begin a new topic of study in Sunday School. We will be learning more about Joseph and His brothers. 

This promises to be an inter-esting study as were learn about how broth-ers treat each other!! Also in October Jo Sin-gleton will be teaching a series for the Seek-

eers class. As usual Jo is a ‘not to miss’ teacher with always interesting and thought provoking topics. Please remember to keep the Sunday School program, students and teachers in your prayers as we strive to con-tinue to grow disciples of all ages. 

Some of you may remember the Advent de-votional we created several years ago. There have been several requests for another edi-tion and we are very willing to create this for Advent 2013. The challenge is that we need to have the articles turned in to Julia Gunter at JBGunter41@gmail.com no later than October 31. This gives us the time to format, compile, and distribute the devotionals by Ad-vent 1 which is December 1 this year. Keep your eyes open as we provide the information for you as to the passages and the weekly themes. 

Kids’Club will meet at 4:00 pm on October 19 in the church parking lot for Trunk or Treat with games following in the fellowship hall. 

HCY (Holy Comforter Youth) will meet Octo-ber 13th and 27th from 6:00-7:30 pm at the church. 

With families everywhere moving toward their fall schedules, let me encourage you to keep church and the various opportunities for spiritual growth a priority. With Sunday school, music, and worship weekly and other opportunities frequently available, we hope to see you regularly. I trust that we are all keeping our church in our daily prayers as we grow through this transitional time. 

Thank you to the following who will be leading in our Christian Education this year: 

Sunday School: Carmen De Nicholas, Re-becca & Mark Yount, Sarah Tench, Sherry Alexander, Karen Rogers, Deborah Bing-ham, Marsha Kinley, Julia Gunter, Ashley Ange, Katie Kesson, Will Howard, Jo Sin-gleton, Greg Bryum, Natalie Hullander, and John Kreitzer. 

Children’s Worship Leaders: Trudy Whit-ener, Shelia Kelly, Carol & Phil Posey and Tracey Nault. 

Kids’Club will meet at 2:15 on September 28 at the church to leave for RJ Rednour Farms in Gastonia. There will be pony & hay rides, petting zoo, and animals to feed! Cost $10 each. Contact Misty for details. 

HCY will meet September 8 & 22 from 6:00- 7:30 pm at the church. 

Sunday School Rally Day: August 25th, in the Fellowship Hall at 9:30 am. Breakfast will be served (listen for calls from Debbie Neagle to assist with a dish) to be followed by activities and introductions. Save the date and plan to attend as a family. 

Blessing of the Backpacks: This is new to Holy Comforter, but not to the greater Christian community. All children are encouraged to bring their backpacks for school and par-ticipate in a special time of blessing for the new school year. This will take place during the worship hour on Au-gust 25th. 

Sunday School for all ages will resume its regular sched-ule of 9:30 am on September 1. 

All teachers who have agreed to lead our children and youth are asked to meet with Beth at 9:30 am Sunday August 11, to receive your curriculum and training for this coming Sunday School year. Thank you in advance for your time, willingness and leadership in growing our children and youth in their faith. 

The last Holy Play Day for adults for 2013 will take place on Saturday, August 24th, in the fellowship hall beginning at 9:30 am. Thank you to all who have given of their time and talents to start this program. 

Workday for cleaning & organizing the Sunday School rooms is scheduled for Saturday, August 17th. Please come as you are able to help spruce up this area. 

Kids’ Club will meet Saturday, August 17th at 10:00 am in the fellowship hall for a Back-to-School party. 

We are establishing a rotation of leadership for the children’s worship time during our regular worship service (about a 20- minute program). We are seeking adults to commit one Sun-day a month to lead our children. Several youth are willing to be assistants. We are trying to establish teams of 2 for leader-ship. Please prayerfully consider this ministry to our children.

Thank you to all who helped make our Hay Day VBS a success. We could not have done it without the help of willing volunteers to lead our children. Thank you for living out your faith in leadership. 

Sunday School continues for adults with the Adult Bible Class meeting in the fellowship hall. At the request of the parents of the children, Sunday Church School for children will not meet again until Au-gust 25th, Rally Day. 

The next Holy Play Bible study and Expressive arts class for adults will be July 27th at the church. Please pre-register with Beth Brittain by July 24th so we can have enough supplies. We are asking for a $5 supply fee for these classes. Those desiring baby-sitting need to pay an additional donation to the youth who are help-ing us out. Youth willing to baby sit for this session need to contact Beth to be put on the roster. 

Thanks to all who helped the Wrap- Around prayer shawl ministry by creating shawls that were dedicated on June 30th. You have earned a much deserved break...however, we will have another dedica-tion in the late fall...I’m just saying… 

We need to secure Sunday School teach-ers for the Pre-school age group (2-3 to rotate), the God’s Eden elementary age group (7 to rotate) and the Youth class (2-3 to rotate). The Adult Seekers class is al-ways willing to have help and I am sure the Adult Bible Class would appreciate addi-tional help as well. If you are willing to help in any of these areas, please contact Beth Brittain by July 25th. A teachers meeting for those helping with all children and youth will take place on August 4th during the Sunday school hour in the church parlor. 

Save the date for Sunday School Rally Day on August 25th during the Sunday School hour. Meeting will be in the fel-lowship hall. Breakfast will be served along with fun and fellowship for all.