Our Nurture Program is designed to facilitate each child’s unique faith journey by providing as many tools as possible to help them along the way, including stories, ancient myths, ceremonies, prayers, and rituals. We believe that the point of religious education is to connect with the Divine – in whatever way your child defines that. Moreover, we believe that all living things are created in the image of the divine and that all living things hold a divine spark within them. Thus, our curriculum also emphasizes connecting with others and with nature.

The program’s core rests on our Sunday morning classes where we use Jubilee!’s recently-designed Sunday School curriculum. This curriculum was developed over the last several years by our Nurture Coordinator and Curriculum Specialist, Vicki Garlock. Several years ago, over 30 Jubilants helped identify “Pillars” to guide curriculum development. These pillars have been incorporated into weekly, age-appropriate lesson plans for kids age 4 through Grade 8. Generally speaking, our Sunday morning classes use experiential learning to teach about the Judeo-Christian Bible stories, holidays and practices of other religions (including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Wiccan), human values (like tolerance, humility, and freedom), Creation Spirituality (Original blessing and the four Vias/paths of spiritual life), and people of great faith (like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa).

We also provide regular community service opportunities, and social events/family outings.

Most importantly, we love Jubilee! families, and we adore their kids! We are committed to providing children with a safe and loving environment where we can help them grow in faith, accept themselves fully, live responsibly and creatively, and find their place in God’s creation.

If you have questions about our program or would like to be on our e-mail list, please contact Vicki Garlock, Nurture Coordinator, at vickig@jubileecommunity.org or at 252-5335, VMB #2.

More on our Curriculum

Sunday Classes
We offer Sunday School-type classes for kids age 4 years to 8th grade every Sunday during the 9:45 Celebration. Kids attend Sunday school downstairs while the grown-ups attend the Celebration upstairs. The younger kids (age 4-Grade 5) come upstairs with their classroom teachers for the first part of the service. They also place their spare change in a basket on the altar to “feed the hungry.”

We also offer classes for our high schoolers during the 9:45 Celebration. This class is more typical of a youth group where the kids can check in with one another and with the mentors. Recent curriculum topics have included: music and how it affects our lives, non-violent communication, poetry, respecting yourself and others, and drawing as a mode of self-expression. They also enjoy cooking together and hiking.

Our Nursery, for toddlers age “walking” to 3.99 years, is available during both Celebrations, so it is open from 9:30-12:30. Bonnie Harrison is our Nursery Coordinator. If you have questions about the Nursery, please contact her at bonnieh@jubileecommunity.org. Once a child turns 4, we work with the family to determine when he/she can move up to the 4-K classroom.

In accordance with our Safe Sanctuary Policy, we have at least two teachers in every classroom.

Please click on the links below for more information about what each age group is up to!

Four-year-olds through K
1st and 2nd Grades
Grades 3-5 (PGG)
Grades 6-8 (COA)

Other Events
Most of our “other events” focus on community service, although we do enjoy snow tubing, just for fun, every winter. We are firmly committed to providing service opportunities for kids of all ages, and we are particularly proud of the fact that many of our younger kids can participate in these events.

• Cleaning up Wall Street
• Picking apples for Manna Food Bank
• Selling hand-crafted products to adopt animals at the Nature Center
• Community service bowling
• Collecting spare change for Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity
• Cleaning animal habitats at Animal Haven
• Working at the Manna Food Bank warehouse
• Decorating spare change jars to raise money for a specific Habitat house
• Asheville Greenworks River Clean-Up
  

Nurture Coordinator
Vicki Garlock, the Nurture Coordinator, tries to keep everything running smoothly without squashing anyone’s enthusiasm! Vicki started here at Jubilee! in July, 2008 as the first full-time Nurture Coordinator. Previously, Vicki was a professor in the Warren Wilson College psychology department for 11 years. She considers this job to be a major improvement. “This job is so much more creative and fun than being a professor! I have a wonderful staff, Don and Howard are great bosses, and I get to hang out with some really cool kids!” Learn more about Vicki or the Nurture Coordinator job.