Christian Education Mission Statement
Our mission is to provide a rich variety of opportunities for all children and adults to experience a deeper personal relationship with God. Through hearing, studying and sharing God's living word, we strive to enable every one of us to achieve an informed faith that is our own.
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Our Philosophy
At CtK Christian Education is valued as a way of worshiping God and equipping ourselves to become better evangelical Christians as we serve Him in truth and spirit. Each adult member is encouraged to be both a part of a Disciple Group (small group studies) as well as the Sunday morning Sunday School classes. Parents are encouraged to have their children to be part of the Sunday School program, Youth Groups, Day Camp, Rainbow Trails and other offerings.
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Our church mission statement includes “loving and serving God by proclaiming Christ’s gospel, strengthening worship, deepening discipleship, and serving our congregation, community and world.” This speaks to a sound Christian Education program! Our philosophy is to assist with “deepening relationships with God, practicing faith through outreach to members of our church family and to members of our local community and building social, physical, intellectual, and emotional skills.”
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Our Sunday school hour is 10:00-11:00 a.m. with classes from preschool to fifth grade, confirmation class for middle school students as well as for high school youth and adults. Our classes strive towards developmentally appropriate activities, child-centered lesson, and hands-on learning. Parents and other adults may contribute by bringing supplies, snacks, and assisting with activities. Adult classes address a variety of topics and interests. Come join us and share your talents and interests!
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Our disciple ministries are composed of special interest groups which range from separate women’s and men’s Bible studies to special studies and recovery groups. All disciple groups have a personal faith and discipleship emphasis again with strengthening personal faith, discipleship, leadership and community outreach abilities.
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Christian Education takes on a unique form at CtK. Our program is divided up into CtK University semesters, changing every month. So our chances to learn and teach are always revolving. The classes meet from 10:00 – 11:00 am each Sunday in different classrooms at the church.
For adults, we usually have three offerings of classes each semester. One of the classes is about some form of spiritual growth, and one class is usually about some practical skill to learn. The third class is ongoing, with a group that reads through the Bible. So far we have studied and learned about the following through out CtK University:
- Christian Symbols and their meanings
- How to discover your heart
- High Altitude Baking, Canning, and Pressure cooking
- Lection Divina – an intuitive form of studying the Bible
- Learning and managing basic finances
- How to “go green” and live a sustainable lifestyle
- Growing in prayer
- Don’t check you brain at the door
- Read through the Bible
- Learn to play the guitar
For kids, our CtK University looks like this:
- We have childcare available for kids from 0 – 5. During the first part of the 11:00 service this age has a 15 minute lesson, followed by the children’s sermon, and then fun times on the play ground or other activities.
- For kids 6 – 11 we have our very popular Secret Agent program. Each week the kids have to put the secret combination into the secret agent brief case and listen to the pre-recorded tape before it self destructs. Then they don their secret agent sunglasses (keeping them unrecognizable!) and they go about their mission. Each week the mission is different. In the past few months the kids have gone on scripture hunts, buried treasure, pulled weeds, served at a nursing home, ridden a fire truck, picked up trash, made maps, visited and encouraged a couple shut-ins, and done nature hikes.
- For middle school youth we have confirmation, which starts in the early fall each year, meeting in the youth room during our CtK University hour from 10 – 11 on Sunday mornings.
- For high school kids we have a casual coffee/hang-out-and-talk time during the CtK University hour, meeting in the fellowship hall before heading to Durango Joe's.
One of the things that we are excited about at CtK is our aim to have people doing what they love doing, serving out of their passion rather than obligation. So we help people discover their passion and serve God from the overflow of what they love, rather than the emptiness of ritual or obligation. It makes for a very alive and dynamic place to hang out! So if you want to grow, let us know what would help. And if you have something that you love that you can share with others, come share it! All are welcome.
We also have a blossoming small group ministry called Cross Training. Each small group of people meets in homes, implementing the church theme of P.R.A.I.S.E. (Pray, Read, Attend, Invest, Serve, and Encourage.) Some of the groups focus more on the social/fellowship aspect of being the body of Christ, while others get in motion serving in some way. Others focus on Bible Study and prayer. We have mid week groups as well as weekend meetings.
In the spring of 2009 we started CtK Outdoors, an exciting ministry that gets us outside the four walls of the church building. Usually two times a month the group will go for a hike or a backpack trip, float down a river or play wallyball at the rec. center. It is a very active group that spans the generations. We have had folks from 8 months to almost 80 years join our activities.
Men’s ministry also took off in 2009 with an active group of guys from early twenties to late 70s meeting for breakfast at least once a month. They also take adventures to area attractions, getting guys in gear getting to know each other and learning to share life.
Women Of Momentum At Noon (WOMAN) is a gather of ladies of all ages who really want to make a difference in the church and community. They meet every month for connection at noon on a Wednesday. But they do far more than have lunch. They have big plans for changing the world one piece at a time.
CtK has taken a different perspective on Christian Education than most churches. We believe that walking with Jesus is the biggest educator of people, so we provide programs that let people walk together. People get to know each other and iron begins to sharpen iron as people rub shoulders in Bible Study, hiking a trail, serving lunch or playing wallyball. We aim to be the living body of Christ as we share life at CtK.
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