As in the lower grades, the seventh and eighth grades have three components to their Sunday morning programming: Religious Education, Worship and Spiritual Expressions. However, because of the outside activities necessary to their curricula their schedules must be fairly flexible and communicated on a week by week basis.

The usual schedule is:

10:00-10:55 Religious Education

11:00-11:20 Children’s Chapel or Small Group Circle Worship*

11:25-12:45 Spiritual Expressions

*The first Sunday of each month, seventh and eighth graders will attend the 10:00 am worship service in the Fall and the 11:30 am service in the Spring. Exact timing of their class schedules will modify around this.

Religious Education Seventh Grade: “World Religions” looks beyond our own faith traditions to examine religious beliefs throughout the world, particularly in the East. At this stage of development, creating community within the class while providing a safe and stimulating place can be as important as the curriculum. This common thread throughout the year also provides the lens for exploring other religions and the types of community they foster.

Eighth Grade: “How Others Worship” explores the differences and similarities of religions in the Abrahamic - Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. In the fall, Judaism and Islam are studied, and in the winter and spring students look at the variations of Christianity present in Tulsa. The eighth graders research their own family’s religious history which may impact the specific religions studied. Field trips are frequent during this year as are guest speakers.

Worship Seventh and eighth graders, experience a variety of the worship services offered in our congregation. In addition to Children’s Chapel and our adult services, they will learn to create their own worship and will attend many different services on their field trips to mosques, temples, and other churches.

Spiritual Expressions Using visual arts, drama, yoga and music, the youngsters will explore the monthly themes with professional artists, further deepening their understanding of our themes and values and developing their spiritual intelligence and practice.

For More Information Clarence Pahl (808-8727, seapale@sbcglobal.net) and Susan Spooner (810-7968, susan-spooner@ouhsc.edu) are the Children’s Religious Education Board Coordinators for the seventh and eighth grades. If you have any questions, please contact either of them or Shannon Boston, Children’s Religious Education Administrator, at 743-2805, ext. 321 or sboston@AllSoulsChurch.org.

Participants in the Children’s Religious Program must have a completed Registration Form and Medical Release on file or fill out a Visitor’s Card each week when attending.

All Children, eighth grade and younger, on the church grounds or in the church building on Sunday mornings must either be in programming, in worship, or under the direct supervision of a parent or guardian.