The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

(Continued from page 2) Indeed, it is children and their place in the church (and we are not talking about four walls here) that we discuss for the most part. . "We have tried to make our church a place where people with children can feel comfortable," Nissa says. "We hope our parishâ€" ioners feel they can bring their chilâ€" dren either to the regular church service or to church school, whichever." Children important to Glen Abbey church Or alternately, check the rugâ€"rats into the nursery or toddler care, Robin adds. The point is ... this church is for families with all their attendant needs. It is understood that children get restless and make noise. CHILDREN IN SERVICE For the past couple of years, these two ministers have been tryâ€" ing to incorporate the children into church activities, including worshlp â€" in a more meaningful way â€" make them feel like fully accredited members of the church family. Nissa laughs, "Our people have grown accustomed to it. If you can‘t tolerate the din and the mayhein of children," she adds, "there are lots of other churches to choose." "Oh, the level of turmoil ebbs and flows," Robin notes, "and we do sometimes try to recast the impression of ‘mayhem and chaos‘ into ‘exuberance and vitality of life‘." But he chuckles. (Let‘s face it folks, if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it‘s probably mayâ€" hem and chaos.) Last year, for example, during Lent (the period preceding Good Friday and Easter), the older chilâ€" dren, aaed 6 to 11 worked out a ‘mime‘ presentatlon of the crucifixâ€" ion of Jesus for the Good Friday Service. The littler children sang a sone at the service. This year, the children are workâ€" ing on a theme of "offering" and will again play an important part in the Good Friday service. "This works at two levels for them," Robin explains. "They are active in the worshipping communiâ€" ty. They are shown that worship is something the family of God does together; and that it is not someâ€" thing the clergy does and people watch." Plus, in subtler ways, he says, it provides a vehicle for Christian education â€" a jumping off spot for discussions and questions. "We think the only way we can fully involve children in church and Christian education is if adults are prepared to get involved too," Nissa points out. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Nissa says, "After Easter, Robin and I are going to open this up to the Parish. We will get a group of adults together to work on Christian education in the home. We will disâ€" cuss the whole concept and float some specific ideas, and then send people home to try them. At the next meeting, we will know what works and what doesn‘t and in this way develop some kind of proâ€" cram." "If you really want your kids to grow up with some faith (and valâ€" ues)... they are not going to get it from 45 minutes on Sunday mornâ€" ings." She maintains you have to bring it into the home and relate it to other parts of their lives. The ministerial pair suggest their church, in the past, may not have prepared parents very well for this responsibility. They would like to rectify the situation. The aim, they say, is to move from Sunday only programming to support for parishioners throughout the week. "Clearly," Robin says, "the priâ€" mary place for Christian education is in the home." "Some people have expressed concern that public schools offer no Kin Stein House faith or moral teaching," Nissa says. "I personally have no problem with that because I don‘t think it belongs in the schools. The onus should remain on the church for religious and moral teaching. But not only the church. Parents themselves must take up their responsibility." PARENTS‘ GROUP Robin allows, "The experience of having our own children is part of our impetus in this. We find our lives rather frantic at times and the clergy‘s kids may suffer the most. For our own sakes, we felt it might be interesting to cather with other parents who might also be a support group for us." He adds, "My sense is no one family can do it on their own." There is something else nudging these Anglican priests; Nissa‘s Jewish background. She explains that many of the really good memoâ€" ries of growing up were things her family did at home; the lighting of the candles on Friday evenings, the prayers said over the bread and the wine, and all the Passover rituals in which the children took an active role. "I think one of the things jobsOntario Training will create a more highly skilled workforce. And will get people back to work. How jobsOntario â€"Training works: s We h ’ M’M A Your local jobsOntario « Training broker is listed below. Call today. :/ Each new position you create is eligible for actual training costs up to $10,000. Vo/ You can get help in designing the training program that‘s right for each new job. :/ When you create a new job and receive training funds, you can also get financial help to train existing employees. v jobsOntario » Training is coordinated by local people in your community. jobsOntario » Training is a new program that‘s designed to put people back to work with new skills. Find out more about jobsOntaria » Training. It‘s good news for your company and for Ontario. There is something else nudging these Anglican priests; Nissa‘s Jewish background. She explains that many of the really good memoâ€" ries of growing up were things her family did at home; the lighting of the candles on Friday evenings, the prayers said over the bread and the wine, and all the Passover rituals in which the children took an active role. jobsOntario Training (416) 825â€"6171 Judaism may have to offer Christianity is that sense of commuâ€" nity; that sense of the home being the centre of religious life," she asserts. Her husband concludes,"What we are really talking about here is the evolution of Christian education in our parish. What we are saying about children being spiritual beings in their own right and fullâ€" fledged members of the church community is not new. But how we work it out â€" in terms of specific programs â€" well, that may be differâ€" ent."