This article was published by Episcopal News Service on April 15, 2025. Shireen Korkzan, author.
Between September and June, the Revs. Kimberlee Auletta and Sarah Kooperkamp, co-rectors of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Brooklyn, New York, begin most Sundays channeling their inner Fred Rogers and Shari Lewis with a puppet show that’s also a toddler-oriented worship service. On Wednesdays, they lead a mixed-age after-school Christian education program.
These youth-oriented ministries have helped transform the parish into a growing church home for families in the borough’s Windsor Terrace neighborhood.
“We understand that most kids in a lot of places – not just in New York City – are not coming to church every weekend because of sports and art classes and other activities, and many parents lament that their children don’t have time for Sunday school. But we realized that maybe we’re not supposed to compete with sports,” Auletta told Episcopal News Service. “Maybe, instead, we can offer church at another time to meet these youth where they are and give families what they need to provide a really deep spiritual and religious foundation for our youth.”
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