As part of its religious education rebuilding stage, Church of the Ascension Fountain Hills has hired one of its own to be the face of its religious education program.

Parish councilmember Caleb Guy has taken on the task of bringing back religious education programs that haven’t existed at Ascension since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Those programs include vacation bible school, monthly family night and children’s literature of the word, where children from Kindergarten through fifth grade can get a more “kid-friendly” reading of the gospel.

“So, the kids can understand a little bit better or don’t have to sit there and just be lost for the entire hour,” Guy said.

Ideally, Guy says he envisions bringing back Bible study for separate age groups (kindergarten through fifth grade, sixth through eighth grade and high school) including activities and crafts, community outreach and volunteering.

To kick off his tenure as religious education coordinator, Guy is preparing for Ascension’s vacation bible school, June 26-30. The five-day event is currently enrolling children aged four through fifth grade and the theme will be Outer Space.

Before taking this role, Guy became a stay-at-home dad to his daughter Millie (3) and Declan (1) to help raise his children while his wife, Cynthia, worked.

“If you were to look at my resume, there's a nice three-year gap there where it was just cartoons and snack time with the kids,” Guy said.

Guy has been a member of Church of the Ascension since 2017, when he met his wife in a singles group. Prior to living in Fountain Hills, he lived in the West Valley where he moved from his hometown of Alden, Mich. Guy is a retired Marine Corps veteran and is a member of the American Legion Post #58.

With two young children, Guy said Ascension’s religious education program is important to him as a father and because he has begun to observe a lack of social skills in younger children. Attending a recent parish conference meeting, Guy learned about diminished conflict-resolution skills and a lack of maturity in children due in part to excessive time spent online, where interaction with other children is virtual.

“If somebody said something mean to you, you just unfollow them or defriend them and then you don’t have to deal with that person anymore. You didn’t actually have to sit there and talk to the person and work through whatever the conflict was,” Guy said. “It’s not something that I want my kids to develop into.”

When the job for the religious education coordinator came up, Guy decided to “put his money where his mouth is” and throw his hat in the ring.

“It’s something that I care about and I have the opportunity to do it, so why not?” he said.

Church of the Ascension Fountain Hills is located at 12615 N. Fountain Hills Blvd. Those interested in volunteering or registering their children for VBS can visit vbspro.events/p/events/c175a8.