St. Paul's Sunday School Mission Activities
Sunday School lessons may be enhanced through participation in various mission activities. Children and youth are encouraged to participate; make a difference, help people, be good stewards. Listed below are just some activities and organizations that St. Paul's Sunday School has supported.
Sunday School Offering - Every Sunday morning, children and youth place offering in small wooden churches in each Sunday School room. Encouraging children and youth to give now will help establish a giving spirit as they grow older. The conscious act of giving is what matters, not the amount of money given. The Sunday morning offering supports the children/youth/family-focused mission we choose each school year.
Pennies for our yearly mission project - The collection jar is on the Sunday School desk every Sunday morning. One penny by itself cannot do much. But many pennies altogether can make a great impact. A good lesson for children. Over the years, our penny jar collection has supported such missions/organizations as: Heifer International (heifer.org); Miriam's Table (miriamstable.org); United Methodist Committee on Relief (umcor.org); Red Bird Mission (rbmission.org); World Bicycle Relief (worldbicyclerelief.org); and, Urban Bike Project of Wilmington (urbanbikeproject.com).
Pop Tabs for the Ronald McDonald House - Pop tabs are collected from soda and other cans. One collection jar is located on the Sunday School desk, and another is just to the right of the mailboxes near the church office. Pop tabs are taken to Ronald McDonald House (rmhde.org) where they are rinsed and taken to a recycling facility to raise money to support house operations. Again, one pop tab by itself doesn't look like much. But lots and lots of pop tabs together can raise money to help support the families of sick children.
Food Collection - Donations of non-perishable food are accepted throughout the year to support the food closets at Neighborhood House and Claymont Community Center. Sunday school has periodically 'hosted' specific collection efforts to help kids and families in Delaware.
The Mitten Tree - From December to mid-January, our Christmas tree near the Sunday school desk is decorated with handmade (or purchased new) hats, mittens/gloves, scarves, and socks. The items are provided to our friends at Neighborhood House (neighborhoodhse.org) to help keep children warm.
Other Mission Activities:
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF - Children and youth collect coins during Halloween Trick-or-Treating events. UNICEF (unicef.org) helps give kids world-wide what they need to be happy - food, clean water, clothing, education and medicine.
"Operation Christmas Child" for Samaritan's Purse - Shoeboxes are filled with gifts ranging from soccer balls, cars, stuffed animals and dolls to pencils, crayons, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Senior High class has led the effort. Samaritan's Purse (samaritanspurse.org) ships the boxes across the world.
Red Stocking Collection for the Board of Childcare for the United Methodist Church - Quarters are tucked into red stocking-shaped collection cards during Advent and then collected on Christmas Eve through early-January. The collection helps Board of Childcare (boardofchildcare.org) ensure year-round care to youth, and bolster the scope and quality of the community programs and ministries.
