Milestone ministries is part of the way that St. John’s nurtures the faith of our young people. Each grade (1-6) has a focus area. Within that area, we name both sacred and ordinary events in our daily lives by creating rituals and traditions that shape our identities and give us a sense of belonging to the family of God. By learning about sacred texts it is our hope to help students as they build a foundation of faith.

The milestone lessons are all based on different parts of the Luther’s Small Catechism and the Bible.

Milestones include:

  • Kindergarten – Worship
  • Grade 1 – The Lord’s Prayer
  • Grade 2 – The Ten Commandments
  • Grade 3 – The Bible
  • Grade 4 – The Sacraments of Holy Baptism & Holy Communion
  • Club 56 (grades 5-6) – Stewardship

What we expect from families –

  • To engage in take-home activities. There will be one milestone lesson from January to April. Each of these lessons will also feature some kind of take-home sheet for your family to learn more about their faith milestone together. You don’t need to do every single thing, but at least talking about what they learned is a big step in the right direction.
  • To assist with memory work. Each grade will have some type of memory work.  Your children will need your assistance to learn these important pieces of our faith.
  • Provide feedback on what works and doesn’t work for your family. This milestone program is the beginning of an experiment that will take place over the next ten years.  It will be so valuable for you to share how the take-home activities and learning ideas work for your family. Our goal is simply for families to be talking about faith together and pass on the Christian faith from generation to generation.

Promises of Baptism

When you brought your children to be baptized you made specific promises to help your children grow in the Christian faith and life.  And as the church, we also promised to help you teach your children in the Christian faith. Here are the promises, as a simple reminder of what we are striving toward.

As you bring your children to receive the gift of baptism, you are entrusted with responsibilities:
to live with them among God’s faithful people,
bring them to the word of God and the holy supper,
teach them the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments,
place in their hands the holy scriptures,
and nurture them in faith and prayer,
so that your children may learn to trust God,
proclaim Christ through word and deed,
care for others and the world God made,
and work for justice and peace.

Here are some resources to get you started!