GIFT Follow Up Email

November GIFT Follow Up Email
Trinity (Professing our Faith: We Believe in God, We Believe in Jesus Christ, We Believe in the Holy Spirit)

                            

Thank you for attending our November GIFT Gatherings: Trinity. If you were not able to attend the GIFT Gatherings this week, please click the link here  to download the PowerPoint presentation from the event.

In the classes, catechists led the Kindergarten through 5^th grade children through Chapter 1 in their books. Please do Chapter’s 5 & 6 at home. You can find easy to follow home lessons at http://calltofaith.osv.com/parish/for_families/pf_home_lessons/grade_k navigate to your son/daughter’s grade level and choose Chapter’s 5 & 6.

At our October GIFT sessions, we handed out the Kindergarten through 5^th grade children’s books. We had them available again at the November sessions for those who couldn’t make it in October. There are still a few that have yet to be picked up. If you would like to pick them up, let me know what would work best for you; 1) pick them up from me in the Rectory during the week, or 2) pick them up at Mass either Saturday or Sunday.

We also hosted our annual Safety Faire for the Safe Environment requirement from the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Preschool through 3^rd graders are required to complete the Talking About Touching curriculum. This was covered at the Safety Faire and packets were handed out with lessons for parents to do at home. When the lessons are completed, there is a completion form that you’ll need to send back to me.

For those with 4-12^th grade children, they need to complete the online safety course appropriate for their grade level. Those courses can be found at www.shieldthevulnerable.org. Here are the course titles per grade level:

4^th grade              Safety Smarts for Kids

5^th grade              Block the Bully

6^th grade              Be Safe, Stay Safe

7^th grade              Bullying – Not Cool

8^th grade              Digital Citizenship

9^th grade              Teen Safety

10^th grade            Dating Abuse

11^th grade            Cyber Safety

12^th grade            You’re Legal; Now What?

Upcoming Events:

·        Middle School Youth Ministry (MSYM) (5-8th Grades) – Nov 11^th  from 6-8pm. All Middle School Youth are welcome to attend. Each MSYM meeting begins with dinner.

·        Middle School & High School Youth Ministry (MSYM/HSYM) – Nov 15^th from 5-7pm. All High School youth are invited to join us for dinner at Canyon Inn, then back to St. Matthias for dessert and a Ping Pong Tournament.

·        Confirmation Level I Retreat @ St. Matthias on Nov 14th from 10-4:30 pm

·        Confirmation Level II Meeting – Sunday, Nov 22nd from 3-5pm

·        Service Opportunity - Giving Tree Set up – Nov 28th

·        Pope Francis – Encyclical on the Environment Study Group continues on Mondays from 7-8:30 pm and is repeated on Tuesdays from 10-11:30 am in the Upper Room of Fr. Lacey Hall.

Other Resources:

·        Pinterest –  Family Faith Ideas http://www.pinterest.com/smff2013/

·        Sabrina’s Blog – Do you children ever ask you faith related questions that you are just not sure how to answer? Or do really cool things related to their faith that you want to share with the community? If so, follow the blog http://faqsfaithandquestions.blogspot.com