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Confirmation Classes
As children raised in the congregation prepare to take on full membership through profession of their faith, they attend classes designed to ensure they understand what they are confessing and to prepare them for the tasks involved in leading the church. We include some of the materials for this class here.
New Member Classes
As adults begin attending our congregation and determine that they would like to become formally woven into our life and ministry we ask them to attend several classes to make sure they know what they are getting into and what we expect of them and what they can expect of us. Some of the materials for these classes is here.
Educational/Social
Events
Several times a year we offer themed evenings with food, crafts, and education tables. For instance our celebration of the Feast of St. Nicholas provides opportunities for children and adults to eat, sing, make crafts and hear stories about the meaning of Christmas in a relaxed intergenerational setting.
During the course of the year we also have occasional educational activities during coffee hour or in the evening. These sessions are dependent on the availability of special speakers, on issues in the news we wish to address in the context of our faith, or on special seasonal issues. Recent forums have addressed
- Death and dying,
- Living wills,
- The Presbytery of Chicago's Relufa program with churches in Cameroon,
- Our presbytery's relationship with the Presbytery of Havana, Cuba,
- The work of Sarah's Circle a local shelter for homeless women, and
- The work of The Night Ministry a ministry for people in the night-time economies who are underserved by traditional church and social service agencies.
Yoga Classes
We believe that spirituality involves more than just the mind but is also affected by our physicality. Yoga is a way to exercise and develop a mindfulness by attending to one's breath and posture. For more on our Saturday yoga classes go here.
Individual Study
You may wish to study on your own either researching a topic that has interested you or just to get to know more about Presbyterians in general or about St. James in particular. Here are a few places for you to begin your study.
