Melbourne: Meeting of District Sunday School Teachers

On Sunday evening, 15 January 2023, with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Sunday School teachers in the District of Melbourne came together for the first time in many years. Approximately 25 people attended the meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to introduce a common Sunday School curriculum.

The establishment of a Sunday School curriculum is a first for Melbourne. This initiative has proceeded with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, whom we thank wholeheartedly for His valuable leadership and encouragement. This curriculum provides support and resources to teachers to enable each parish Sunday School across the Melbourne District in 2023 to teach the same topics each Sunday. This means that no matter which Sunday School our children attend, they will experience the same themes in the same sequence as children in other Sunday Schools.

The teachings of our Orthodox Christian faith have an unlimited richness and depth with an abundance of themes to be covered. A single year’s curriculum can only cover but a small fraction of these themes. The intention is that we will cycle through a variety of topics, over a period of three to four years, before returning to the original topics again. That way, children who attend over several years can experience a curriculum that is broad and varied.

Of course, it is acknowledged that there is huge variability in our various parishes in terms of the number, age profile and learner characteristics of the children attending Sunday Schools. Therefore, this curriculum has been designed to allow for flexibility in how to teach each week’s topic.

Thank you to everyone who attended the first meeting. We look forward to this exciting new chapter for Sunday Schools in the District of Melbourne.