Sunday School

What Each STUDENT Should Know

An Orthodox Christian should be well-informed about the rich content of the Orthodox Tradition. Being able to name, to retell, to identify, to list, and more are dimensions of what it means “to know” one’s faith. A Church school program should be able to transmit these concepts to its students. But “knowing the Faith” also involves being able to appreciate its content, to consider how it influences one’s life, to participate in it, and to respond to its call of commitment to faith in Jesus Christ and His Church. For example, what is the benefit of reciting the Lord’s Prayer in a classroom setting, and a teacher’s assessment that the student has memorized it, without praying the Lord’s Prayer at home and reflecting on the words themselves?

The real curriculum for learning the Orthodox Faith is the life of the Church as experienced in a dynamic, faith-filled parish. Our education in faith is a lifelong journey. No Church school curriculum can include or teach everything. Any series of published textbooks is merely the first step of learning. Even in the best series, the authors, editors, and publishers make choices about what they believe most valuable for learners to achieve in a certain timeframe.

By the end of the 2nd grade, the students are expected to:

• Know their class Patron Saint
• To make the sign of the cross
• To venerate an icon
• To recite a simple food prayer
• To deliver the Pascha greeting and response (Christ Is Risen, Truly He is Risen)
• To deliver the Christmas greeting and response (CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!)
• To recite the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus Prayer and learn the St. Spyridon hymn.