One choir member commented, "When I’m in the choir, I notice they’re all beaming when they come out of Sunday school" and into the church to join the adults for the Eucharist.

A parent, searching for the right words to convey how the Sunday school and weekly worship has affected her son, says finally, "It means something to him."

A father says that regarding the church his family attended previously, his children used to protest, "Do we have to go?" Now the children are ready to go before their parents are, saying, "Are we ready yet? Can we go now?"

Another parent put it this way: "I think they feel like they belong."

These are subtle but unmistakable signs of what has been an intentional transformation on the part of this congregation.

Two years ago, the church found itself without a rector from Easter until Christmas. During that time, the parish began a process of self-inquiry, forming a Growth and Study Committee to examine its present condition and parishioners’ wishes for the future. With church attendance dwindling, the committee recognized that if things continued along the same course, the already small church might not survive.

"We made a conscious decision during the summer: Yes, we want the church to continue," said Patricia Buchanan, a member of the committee. In committee meetings one observation that emerged repeatedly was the desire for "a more spiritual church."

The Rev. Louise Mann, who was subsequently appointed as priest-in- charge, is viewed by parishioners as someone who fosters spirituality. She says simply, "I try to encourage people to take seriously what the church has to offer, and use it as an opportunity to grow in Christ."

Parishioners credit her with playing a significant role in the church’s transformation. "She’s just such a warm person," said one parishioner who had been away from the church for nearly 20 years, but returned at the invitation of a friend who liked what was happening there.

But the Rev. Ms. Mann points to the congregation itself. Her role - as well as the diocese’s - she says has been to affirm the gifts that are already there.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Sunday school, which is one of the primary areas where parishioners’ desire for a more spiritual church has manifested. Last spring, Paula Chadwell, a Sunday school teacher, mentioned that she would like to make some changes in the Sunday school material. The Rev. Frank Fornaro, Director of Educational Ministries and Resources for the diocese, was contacted to assist in the redesign of the Sunday school curriculum, and during a discussion with the teachers, he suggested that they develop their own curriculum.

"With Frank’s encouragement people have been able to blossom and be who they are, to offer who they are in a way that will be fruitful," said the Rev. Ms. Mann. Moreover, she added that, "for Frank to come and talk with us [in what is such a small church] is a sign in itself that what is sought is not necessarily huge numbers, but the gifts that are present in a place." Suddenly there was the collective revelation: We have lots to give.

Out of this revelation came an outpouring of gifts.

The Sunday school teachers began to design their new curriculum. The central focus was to decide what they felt was important for the children to learn, and to connect that in a meaningful way to ongoing adult life in the church.

Kathy Barber, one of the teachers, noted that the previously used materials "never coincided" with what was going on in the church. The teachers decided to organize the curriculum around feasts of the church, beginning with Easter and Pentecost in the spring and All Saints’ Day in the fall.

For All Saints’ Day, each child chose a saint to learn about, then did presentations for the congregation, some wearing the shields they had made, others reading poems they had written and sharing information they had learned.

Subsequent church holidays found the children participating in the Sunday worship, doing Scripture readings as part of the service or offering special presentations.

During the weeks of preparation before each event, parents and grandparents lent their time and talents wherever they could. One grandmother, for example, made all the angel costumes for the Christmas pageant. And the church organist, Susan Taromina, began teaching the children to play various musical instruments.

The children’s enthusiasm and serious effort impressed everyone. "There’s not one person who hasn’t said, `That was great,’" said Ms. Barber.

The children’s presence in the small congregation (numbering about 60 adult worshipers each week) is apparent each Sunday, when they join their parents for the Eucharist. And because the Sunday school lessons - which are derived from the Living the Good News Sunday school curriculum book, as well as a weekly Sunday school "newspaper" - follow the lectionary, each week’s lessons are contemplated by both children and their parents. The result is greater discussion of spirituality between them.

"The parents are learning to be more responsive. They are more open about expressing their religious attitudes. My son brings in and shows me what he did in Sunday school," one parent noted.

Another parent added, "The adults are coming into a whole new spiritual awakening." Yet another says, "The adults are enjoying a sense of community - and it’s duplicated for the children."

The changes made in the Sunday school grew, in part, out of a need identified by the Growth and Study Committee, which realized that if the church wanted to thrive, it had to make itself and its Sunday school more attractive to families.

Since the new changes, the Sunday school has doubled in size and is near to tripling, growing in a single year from only a handful of students to 18-20 regular members. Parental support is so strong that last summer parents and other parishioners took turns taking responsibility for the Sunday school each week so that it could continue through the summer.

The Rev. Ms. Mann noted that a lot of what the church has been able to accomplish has been attributable to a workshop she and some other parishioners took, led by the Rev. Alice Mann (Louise’s sister), who is the New England consultant for the Alban Institute in Washington, D.C.

"It gave us the big picture of what it means to grow, and to look at ourselves from an outsider perspective. We knew we wanted to change. Alice gave us some of the practicalities of what that meant," she said.

They learned, for example, that they must be active rather than passive communicators of who they are and what they are about.

In this process, they have also learned that "you need to be willing to ask for what you need out loud" and that "when you ask for what you need, you’re likely to receive it. By asking Frank to come and be with us, it’s created an atmosphere that it’s O.K. to ask for what we need and that changes the whole dynamic. People in the congregation are starting to do that with each other."

At the Church of the Holy Name, the intentional transformation of the adults has profoundly affected the experience of its children, which in turn has deepened the spiritual dimension of the entire church. It is an illuminating illustration of the interconnection of adults’ and children’s spirituality, a connection not lost on the congregation.

"One thing Louise said really struck me: The children aren’t the future of the church, they’re the present," one father recalled. And a grandmother added, "The church needs its children." At this church, children and adults are growing together, enjoying the fruit of "a more spiritual church."