Sunday School

On the establishment of Christ the King in southern New Providence in the early 1960s, members of St Barnabas parish in central New Providence sought to provide Sunday school classes for the children in the new parish. Sunday school, first on Sunday afternoons and now on Sunday mornings, have been a continuing ministry within the parish throughout its life, peaking with numbers well into the low hundreds in the 1980s. Today, with the motto Growing in Christ, the Sunday school (sometimes referred to as Junior Church) attracts approximately 60 boys and girls, ages 3 to 15, on a given Sunday. We are blessed with the services of 16 active teachers who display a high level of commitment to this ministry.

The Sunday school operates on a cycle similar to that of public schools in The Bahamas, beginning its new year in September and operating until June of the following year, with breaks for Christmas and Easter. Each year begins with an annual teachers retreat and planning session for the year. We use the Living the Good News curriculum for the five age groups into which students are divided (3 to 5 year olds taught by Mrs. Charity Brennen, Mrs. Edna Levarity, Mrs. Louise Coleby and Ms. Carolyn Jackson; 6 and 7 year olds taught by Mrs. Garnell Gregory, Miss Odia Richardson, Miss Mikala Adderley and Miss Cleo Hall; 8 and 9 year olds taught by Mrs. Roslyn Rodgers, Miss Peggy Cooper and Miss Sharmila Smith; 10 to 12 year olds taught by Mrs. Francina Rahming, Mrs. Kenris Longley and Mr. Clyde Cornish; and 13 to 15 year olds taught by Mrs. Vernenchia Nesbitt and Mr. Philan Bowe). The year climaxes with prize giving for students who have been consistent in attendance and outstanding in their participation, and a token form of encouragement for those who have not been as diligent. We also use this opportunity to recognize one of our teachers for the efforts during the year and to enjoy fellowship over a Sunday brunch. The final event for the year is a week long Summer Vacation Bible School during the first week in July, for which we charge a nominal cost for five exciting half-days of fun, Bible knowledge, and hearty home-made lunches. The children of one of the local orphanages are invited to be our guests during the week of Vacation Bible School, which is also open to the children of the surrounding neighbourhood who may not be members of the parish.

During the course of the year, teachers and students visit the confined members of the parish twice per year during Christmas and Eastertide; the children pay tribute to their parents on Mother’s and Father’s Day; and join other Anglican boys and girls in the Diocese of The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands in mid-Lent Christian Education Week activities, including a Saturday Circle Time and a procession of witness through downtown Nassau followed by a short service at Christ Church Cathedral on Mothering Sunday.

This year we have launched a weekly scripture memory verse programme and a monthly Sunday school newsletter called The Trumpet, are making preparations to produce a book of hymns and prayers for the children, and hope to resume the annual Christmas pageant. In this latter effort, as with all Sunday school music, we will be ably assisted by parish musicians Mrs. Mary Jane Moxey and Miss Vernita Munroe.

In January 2004, we witnessed the transition of Mrs. Emeline Lockhart from superintendent to consultant. Mrs. Lockhart served as Sunday school superintendent for the past 11 years, providing unselfish and enthusiastic service to God through the Sunday school. She joins Ms Helen Rolle, the People’s Warden of the parish, as a consultant to the Sunday school. Miss Christine Green, a teacher of long standing, who encourages the boys and girls to pray without ceasing so that they might have the mind of Christ, has succeeded Mrs. Lockhart as superintendent.