Deacons of Knox

What an incredible promise and challenge! God created us with service in mind. Each of us has been blessed with gifts, insight, and talents that God intends for the good of others. We have the promise of his intentional creation, as well as the challenge to serve in obedience to that call.  The Deacons at Knox have been seeking the ways that we can be obedient to God’s call to serve the Knox community and the Pasadena community that surrounds us. The biblical framework of the Deacons is to serve those who are suffering. The Deacons of Knox have recently financially supported three local ministries: Door of Hope (a ministry serving homeless families in Pasadena), Friends in Deed (a ministry of the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena Area Churches that provides food and respite for the homeless), and Elizabeth House (a home for women and their children in crisis pregnancy situations). In addition to financial support, the Deacons have also encouraged active ministry through the sack lunch program for Union Station and through food donations for Friends in Deed. The Deacons are also available to respond to needs within the Knox church family. We are happy to organize meals, to pray, and to provide other practical support for those who are facing a challenge. Sometimes those needs are clear, and we are able to ask how we can help. Other times, the needs may be private – or it may seem difficult for a person to ask for help. Remember, we have all been created with service in mind! Asking for support or care is part of what we have all been “prepared in advance” to do!  With this in mind, the Deacons of Knox want to discern God’s call for our on-going ministry in the coming year. Please pray with us, both in ways that you are feeling called to serve the suffering, as well as in how the Deacons may care for you! Please feel free to contact us through the church office (626.449.2144).

Knox Kids

Knox Kids are a vital part of our worshipping community. They have been and continue to be a sign of God’s renewing work in this place. We have over 30 children from infants to teenagers who regularly participate in the life of our church. Knox’s goal is to partner with parents to provide a strong spiritual foundation for our children, so they can learn to know God’s love for them and what it means to be in relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

We are a worshipping community who welcome children into our midst. We invite all children to worship with their families at 10am. Childcare is provided as an option for infants up to the age of 3 in our nursery and toddler rooms, which are found inside the Atrium adjacent to our sanctuary. All kids are invited to participate in a Children’s message during worship and then have the option to go to Sunday School around 10:20am.

We currently provide two Sunday School classes: one for 3-5 year-olds and one for 1st-4th graders. We use Jerome Berryman’s Godly Play curriculum, which we have found to be a very meaningful and moving spiritual educating tool for our kids. To learn more about Godly Play, there is an introductory letter for Parents below.

We also have what we call Knox Kids Prayer & Praise the first Sunday of the month in place of Godly Play, where we have fun singing, praying and memorizing Scripture together in our new kids’ space called the Atrium adjacent to the sanctuary.

It is our hope at Knox that all of our children grow up to be men and women after God’s own heart, and that we take seriously the job of planting seeds for God to grow in each of them.

For more information about our Children’s Ministry, please contact Laura Becker, Director of Children's Ministries.

Godly Play: Ten Best Ways For Parents

Godly Play is Jerome Berryman’s interpretation of Montessori religious education, is an imaginative approach to working with children. This approach supports, challenges, nourishes and helps guide their spiritual quest. Godly Play assumes that children have some experience of the mystery of the presence of God in their lives, but that they lack the language, the permission and the understanding to express and enjoy that spiritual experience in our secular culture. In Godly Play, we enter into our parables, sacred stories, silence and liturgy in order to discover God ourselves, one another and the world around us.

[Excerpt from The Complete Guide to Godly Play,
Vol. 2, by Jerome Berryman].

1. Godly Play sessions take place every Sunday (except the 1st Sunday of the month in which Knox Kids Prayer and Praise takes place) from 10:20am (after the Children's Message in Worship) to 11:10am in Godly Play Classrooms 1 (Preschool-Kindergarten) and 2 (1st-4th grade).
2. If your child is in 1st grade or younger, please escort them from Worship to the Godly Play classroom after the Children's message. Please help your child be on time. They won't want to miss a minute!
3. The Godly Play circle is built slowly and lovingly, to welcome each child, one at a time. When children arrive, they wait outside the door while the teacher helps them get ready to join the circle.
4. Please say your goodbyes at the door, and know that the teachers are ready to make the next hour a safe and welcoming time for every child.
5. Please pick up your child promptly at 11:10am as they are individually blessed and dismissed once you arrive. Keep in mind that young children will not always be able to tell you what they learned, because what they learned was how to learn about the powerful language of Christian people.
6. Also keep in mind that children will not always be able to show you a physical product for their "work" that day, because some of what they've learned cannot be put into words even by adults. In Godly Play we focus on our relationship with God and the depths of relationships in the community of children.
7. Please don't come into the room during class because we want the Godly Play room to be a special place (a sacred space) for the community of children. Even the teachers keep their profiles low during a Godly Play session!
8. We would be happy to welcome you on a visit to the Godly Play room outside of session time. Call Rev. Joelle Beller at 626.449.2144 to arrange a visit or to ask any questions you might have about the program.
9. We welcome volunteers to support the teachers and the community of children by providing supplies for the bi-monthly "feast," or materials for the classrooms. Call Rev. Joelle Beller at 626.449.2144 for more information.
10. We sometimes offer a parent orientation class in the middle of every school year. This is your chance to experience the Godly Play environment and process together with other parents. Call Rev. Joelle Beller at 626.449.2144 if you are interested.

Missions at Knox

Knox Presbyterian Church supports a variety of missionaries and mission endeavors, many of which represent individuals and specific mission efforts of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)

Some local ministries that Knox also supports include:

• La Casa de San Gabriel
  
• The Door of Hope
  
• Friends in Deed (a ministry of the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena Area Churches that provides food and respite for the homeless)
  
• Elizabeth House
  
• Union Station Foundation

Small Groups at Knox

Small groups at Knox are one way we deepen community, mutual support, and discipleship. Our groups meet regularly in homes, providing a relaxed space for fellowship, sharing life together, and prayer. If you would like to find out more about our small groups, please contact the church office by email or phone (626.449.2144).