At the end of June, St. Jude’s hosted a children’s Bible camp run by our partners, On Eagles’ Wings (OEW), an ecumenical ministry based in Edmonton that serves northern Canada. The program ran from Monday to Friday after school from 4-6pm during the last week of classes. This unusual schedule turned out to be a great success, as we welcomed 26 kids from diverse backgrounds. The camp included Bible stories and crafts, but what really set it apart was the musical component. OEW director Robin Abrol is a talented instrumentalist and he gave children the opportunity to try out piano and drums. This fall, we plan to open the church more regularly to children so that they can sample and practice our musical instruments. Inspired by the success of this after-school program, as well as another successful Bible camp run previously during the April school break, we have long-term plans of establishing our own after-school program with a curriculum based on principles from the classical Christian education model. This would be a weekly program running concurrently with the September-June school year. The goal would be to teach what is not taught in the public elementary school curriculum: Bible, the Catechism, and music.

Please pray that God would bring this vision to fruition! We are thankful to God for our partnership with OEW and for our growing children’s ministry.

The Very Rev. Chris Dow