Tag: Faith

Start of School/Formation During COVID

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Usually or normally, we would….  Doesn’t it seem that we start a lot of things that way these days?  We are faced with developing a new normal.  Once our children head back to school in the Fall, we give them a week (or two depending on the calendar) and then we would have our big “Rally Day/Start of Christian Formation/Christian Formation Kick off.”

Where once we would have a big barbecue after the Blessing of Backpacks (see blog for how we are doing this now) filled with games and talking, we are faced with children starting school online and the inability to safely gather large groups of people.  The following week (if not Labor Day), we would have balloons lining the hallways, gifts waiting for each student, and Christian Formation/Sunday School classrooms filled with excited volunteers and children.  How do we bring that excitement when we cannot gather?  After asking myself, “What is the mission behind these events?  What is it that makes them so valuable?”  The answer for our church is community, relationships, connection (or re-connection) and learning about God.

The challenge becomes how can we create the things that made these days special during COVID-19 spread?  To build community, I am introducing a church-wide game.  We are having a Lego-My-Bible LEGO Master Tournament.  Everyone will participate by either building or helping vote (see previous blog on how I am doing this).  To build relationships, I am creating a prayer and pen pal buddy.  Children sign up (so only those who truly want to do this).  I will match them by age/grade.  Children write letters, schedule facetime talks, and think of little gifts they can make for each other.  Most importantly, they pray for each other, which is formation and relationship building.  I will share prayers to help when they cannot find the words.  I, also, have started a letter writing campaign with the goal of writing a letter to each child by hand (that is over 150).  I am hoping to get some volunteers to write encouraging letters in October to all children if we are still in “Shelter-at-Home” status. Connection is a little bit harder.  It is hard to connect to something bigger when we are alone.  I plan to continue weekly formation and chapel on line each week, but am adding other ways that are not as organized.  Lunch with Deacon Lauren on Zoom is my plan.  With a small age appropriate topic, I plan to spend lunch hour once a week with children by age/grade.  The goal is to connect to each other as we “share” a meal together.  Learning about God will continue in partnership form.  I plan to post live-streams that can be watched throughout the week, Children’s worship twice weekly and the Family Bible/Devotions on my “For Families” page.

Translating this for your church, what is the reason/purpose you do the events for school and start of Christian Formation/Sunday School?  What are your goals?  How can you take those things and translate them to online?  If you are having trouble finding alternatives to your goals, please feel free to contact me and I will help think of ideas.

Have a blessed and safe start of the school/program year!

Celebrating with Families: Fifth Grade Breakfast

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One of the most important things a children’s ministry can do is be a part of a family’s everyday life.  Moving outside of Sunday.  This tells the child and the family, that they are important, they matter, and God is a part of their lives beyond church.

Helping families develop rituals will help them find ways to incorporate their faith into the special moments.  Most families love to find ways to celebrate and include their faith, but are unsure what to do.

It is, also, important for the church to acknowledge and celebrate the milestones in a child’s life.  This says, you are a part of our family.  God loves you.  We love you.  We are here for you.

An important milestone in a child’s life that often gets overlooked is a child’s move from Elementary School to Middle School.  Children have mixed feelings about this move.  Along with excitement, there is fear of the unknown, stress of the what ifs, and grief over what is being left behind.  Parents are feeling these mixed feelings too.  Their child is growing and moving into the teenage part of life.  The obstacles and dangers are real.  The expectations parents place on themselves as they try to include so much in their child’s life can cause stress and anxiety.

One of the things I do to celebrate and help is to hold a Fifth Grade Breakfast.  We invite the parents and their fifth grade child.  Our fourth graders serve and act as hosts.  We do this at the end of fifth grade, usually the weekend before school ends.

We start off with prayer and then enjoy a buffet breakfast.  Once everyone has eaten about ¾ of their plate, we start the program.  After thanking the parents for sharing their child with me, I tell the children how much it has meant to me to be a part of their lives.  I remind them of their spiritual journey and there are many steps left.  I remind them how faith can help them and how much they are loved by their church family.

I give the parents a developmental chart which includes what to expect for the next six years including spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, and other aspects growth.  Similar to the developmental sheet parents got when their child was an infant, this helps parents to know what is coming and how to help or step back while their child moves through this last part of childhood.

Our Youth Leaders, then, talk about youth group and youth formation.  Emphasizing the importance of this in their developmental journey.  We offer support of the parents, as well as, the teen.

After questions and answers, we ask each of the parents to say how their child was a blessing to them.  It is very beautiful to hear and the children are very moved.

We end it with a blessing and a promise that I will always be there for them and this church will always be their home.

Because COVID-19 physical distancing, we could not do our fifth grade breakfast.  We mailed each family a developmental chart and mailed a card to each child telling them how much we love them.  If it is possible, we will hold the fifth grade breakfast at the start of the program year before their sixth grade year starts.  If not, the contact is important.

Using the Jesus Doll & Kit for Lent

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Jesus Doll makes children smile


Lent is a time to focus on our relationships with God and each other. One bridge to the Sunday Morning “box” and to one’s home is with a Jesus Doll.  It helps families become rooted in Jesus in an easy way. After adding a home kit, it has been a wonderful tool to tie our parish and faith to a family’s home life.  Children have loved their turn with the doll and kit.  Parents love having a format to discuss Jesus and faith. One mother told me that her family had never discussed Jesus so much!

The family gets the Jesus Doll and Home kit on Sunday morning and return it the following Sunday.  I send an email during the week to let the coming family know their turn with the doll and kit will start the coming Sunday.  I, also, send an email to the family who has the doll, asking them to send pictures and reminding them to bring it with them on Sunday. We have a large parish, so generally I stick to our Kindergarten Class, but all children love the opportunity to take “Jesus” into their home.

The photographs returned are full of smiles as the child(ren) take Jesus on their different adventures.  Jesus has visited preschool classes, parks, parties, and zoos while with the children.  Jesus, also, joins the family at dinner and bedtime. The books (made from a photo service), are cherished. I title it “Jesus Came to our Homes” and the year. I put the photos in story content.

Parents receive a letter in the kit:

    This is your week with St. Paul’s Jesus Doll and bag.  Enclosed in the bag, you will find a folder with an activity sheet for each child in your family as soon as Jesus comes home and then an activity sheet when Jesus is ready to come back to church.  Please, return the sheets with the doll and book in the bag.  They will be used to make a display and a book.

       The bag, also, contains the book If Jesus Came to My House.  Please read this with your child and use it throughout your time with the Jesus doll as a time to talk about Jesus in our homes and in our lives.

       Please email a photo of your child(ren) with the Jesus Doll and one photo of Jesus doing an activity with your family.  These with the words will be put into a Shutterfly book that will travel with the doll in the future.  Copies will be available for purchase if you would like your own.    

       Included in this folder is a Parent Insights Page.  Please write anything you would like to share about this experience for your family. 

      Please, return the doll and the bag with all the contents the next time you come to the church.  The doll and bag with new sheets will be passed on to the next family.

     Any discussion questions you have with your children that you would like to pass on, please let Lauren know and those will be compiled to travel with the doll.

Enjoy your visit with Jesus at your home and I hope you find ways to include Jesus in all your activities even beyond the doll’s visit.

Additionally, each kit contains

  • Two Activity Sheets for each child: one sheet asks the child to write or draw what they would like to do with Jesus during the coming week and the other is their favorite times with Jesus (write or draw) for child to return and then are displayed.
  • Insight Page for parents to return
  • Book: If Jesus Came to My House
  • Jesus Doll
  • Photo book from previous years

The Jesus Doll and Home Kit was such a success, that I purchased a second Jesus Doll and book. This one goes to our school for classes to use. Jesus, also, attends our parish events. I get various pictures of Jesus with parishioners or “doing” some of our regular activities.

Click on any of the highlighted items to see what I used.  Any items purchased through this link helps to fund this site.

Respect the Dignity of Every Human: Loving Your Neighbor

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With Martin Luther King, JR. Day approaching, it is an opportunity for the church to offer a lesson or event based on our Baptismal Vows and the Commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Children will have learned in school about MLK’s “I have a Dream” speech. (Have some copies on hand, just in case).  Jesus’ “dream” of all people being treated with dignity showed through in his Parable of the Good Samaritan, his talks of the lowly as named by society, and his meeting the Samaritan woman at the well.

An event or lesson would include the telling of the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the woman at the Well. It would include opportunities to interact with people the children/families would not normally socialize with or feel comfortable doing so. This is a great time to expand people’s comfort zone. Some ideas include: invite someone from the homeless shelter, a family who is being helped by the food bank, people of different cultures, someone living in a nursing home, and someone who benefits from your parish outreach program.

Have the guests prepare with: what would you like us to know about you?  What is a typical day like for you?  Since we vow to respect the dignity of every human being, what are ways you feel disrespected and how can we interact with you that helps you to feel respected?

Have some activities.  If from a different culture, maybe a craft or activity from that culture.

If from an outreach program, have information about the program, a list of ways to get involved and a small project to get the children involved in the outreach program.

This can make adults feel uncomfortable, but that is why we avoid the outcast. This is a chance to learn empathy, compassion, and how to treat others with respect and dignity.

Here are some children’s books on Martin Luther King, Jr: I am Martin Luther King, Jr (Ordinary People Change the World), I have a Dream Book & CD, A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr.

For other people: Courageous People Who Changed the Worl (Little Heroes), First They were Children: Seven People Who Changed the World

Christmas & Epiphany: Bethlehem Village Event

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Nothing brings greater understanding to a child (or any person) than participating and living out something they did not fully grasp.  Having a Bethlehem Village, where life is recreated in Bethlehem arond the time Jesus was born, brings the time to life and creates an understanding of what life was like and how very different life was from today’s times.

To create Bethlehem Village, three parts are required.  The first part is the decorations to turn the area into Bethlehem.  The second part is “shops” or stations with educational, interactive and fun activities and crafts. The third is volunteers who take the part of the villagers.

All enter Bethlehem through the Tour Guides Shop.  They sign in at a Guest book and recieve their passport with a listing of all the shops and activities

For decorations, I use bales of hay, lots of fabric for table covers, scenic background, and props.  Each shop is a table covered in a bright fabric with educational materials, props, pictures, and a work area.

The shops and workers are the leather-maker, the metal worker, the carpenter, the baker, Hebrew School, the Synagogue, the shepherd, the potter and the inn-keeper. Each shop has lots of information of what would have been in the shop during Jesus’ time and how things were used by the people.  For activities, here is a listing of what I have done:      Leather- Maker’s Shop- fake leather bookmarks, bracelets, making leather bags (to carry small items).   Metal Worker-gold picture using gold foil and a wood  “pencil” to draw on back. Flip over and have an embossed picture.    Carptenter- wood ornaments, wood objects or blocks of wood to paint, and sandpaper.    Baker- barley to grind, bakery treats (cookies) to eat.  Hebrew School-Hebrew Alphabet, primer, guide, pencils, paper,dreidal with instructions and coloring pages for the children.  Synagogue-Menorah, meditations with objects, list of sins and suggested sacrifieces from the Bible, coins for coin changing.  Sheperds-toy sheep, mazes, puzzles, coloring pages.  Potter-clay for them to shape and take home.  Inn-keeper- small cot with various cleaning items, drinks, and activity to make a “Welcome” door sign.

At each shop, their passport is stamped.

After an hour of Bethlehem Village, the Magi (kings), come searching for Jesus.  We follow them into the Nave where a retelling of the Nativity story is done and the Magi speak about why they search for Jesus.  We sing some songs and say some prayers.   We have an area for parents to take pictures of their child and the Magi.

The volunteers are gathered in advance, given their parts with information about what their shop was like.  They read up on the work and the life, so that when, they come to do Bethlehem Village, they are prepared for any questions the visitors might have.

There are lots of different ways to do a Behtlehem Village.  If you do it before Christmas, the Shepherds could come looking for Jesus (instead of the Magi.)  Petting zoos, large animal cut-outs, or more characters can be added.  For smaller, just choose four shops to have and have it before the usual Christmas Pageant.

Getting the word out to surrounding neighbors and schools, makes the event an ideal “on-ramp” for people who have not regularly attended a church.  This event is fun, educational, and promotes fellowship, as well as, hospitality.

For information on items used in the shops or decorations, please click on the link.  By purchasing items through the links, helps to fund this site.  Thank you.

 

Advent/Christmas Family Movie Event

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Watching a Christmas movie, may not feel like an event a church should host, but it can be a gift of slowing down, spending time in community, and giving a faith perspective on a season rushing towards a Christmas overload.

Choose a family movie that is appropriate for all ages.  I have done Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Elf, and other classics.  Some movies are wonderful for adults (It’s a Wonderful Life), but are too slow for the younger crowd.  I try to pick movies that are less than one and a half hours.  Preview the movie and come up with five to seven discussion questions that as a community of faith, what are the ethics, faith, and love-based questions that come up?

Publicize the event!

Have popcorn, snacks, lemonade, water and tea.  Make it an intergenerational event, to encourage fellowship and community.  Have a table of activities for the very young to do if they become bored. One option, that is a lot of fun, is choose an activity or word to call out every time a certain thing happens on screen (it makes it like a movie scavenger hunt.)

After the movie, have the discussion, encouraging all (and all ages) to answer.  It makes for great community building and encourages those who normally would not interact, to get to know each other.

This activity is a great activity for the Sunday before Christmas (as an intergenerational Christian Formation event.)

Clicking on a link and purchasing the product helps to fund this site.  Thank you!

Christmas Pageant

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The Christmas Pageant is a part of tradition.  It can be as big and rehearsed or as small and spontaneous as one chooses.  It is a beautiful way to tell the story of the nativity, get children involved, encourage participation, and increase joy during a hectic, time-crunched time of year.

The easiest and most inclusive pageant, is the simple reading of scripture, with hymns included, and children pantomiming it out.  If a parish is looking for something bigger, there are lots of scripts out there and these produce beautiful pageants (but do not include those newcomers or visitors.)

The Christmas Pageant can be appropriately done on the Fourth Sunday of Advent during the Sunday School (Christian Formation) time, on Christmas Eve during the earliest Service (as the Ministry of the Word) or on Epiphany as an Epiphany Pageant (just add the Magi).

If the Fourth Sunday in Advent or Epiphany is chosen, add to the festivities with crafts, and refreshments.  Publicize, invite, and encourage children from outside the church to come and participate. On Christmas Eve, new families attend and, usually, everyone leaves afterwards for scheduled plans.

In advance, I print instructions for families with children telling them where to go to get dressed and where to go afterwards to return the costume.  Every child, who walks through our door, gets a chance to participate.

In the costume room, I have volunteers waiting to help the children.  Each child is asked whether they would like to be an angel, shepherd or animal.  I have chosen and rehearsed with older children to be Mary, Joseph, Lead Angel (guides the little angels), Lead Shepherd (guides the little shepherds) and Lead Animal Tamer (guides the animals). I, also, have chosen and rehearsed with the readers/narrators their parts in advance.  The Lead parts have rehearsed the songs we will sing, too.  It is the first verse of known carols, so the congregation/audience may participate too.

Costumes can be a problem for 100 children.  For angels, I have men’s small shirts which I hot-glued gold or silver garland around the bottom and sleeves.  I use the same garland for halos.  Only lead angels get wings if the pageant is done during a service (not enough room for wings, otherwise).  For shepherds, I use small men’s colored  Continue reading “Christmas Pageant” →

Advent: Angels Event – an Intergenerational & Family Event

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Angels are, probably, one of the most used creatures in movies, art, theater, books, and other forms of media.  Yet, very rarely, are angels shown as the angels in the Bible.  Most of what people know about angels comes from the arts, not the Bible.

Hosting an Angelic Event during Advent encourages learning, Bible knowlege growth, fun, fellowship, and a way to keep the holiday season faith focused.

Families, congregation member, children and youth gather for stories of angels in the Bible verses the angels depicted in the arts.   This, also, encourages parents to be their children’s main faith teacher, build a time of community, encourage exploration and help families to think of church and faith beyond Sunday mornings.

I set this up as stations to encourage everyone to move about and explore.  One can have as many or as few stations as one would like.  I, also, set up a cookie and lemonade table for when people get hungry, as well as chairs for fellowship.

The stations I have used are:

  • Crafts- 2 Stations set up opposite in the room                                                                                                                          Coffee Filter Angel: need coffee filters, cotton balls, gold pipe cleaners                                                                            Ornament Angel: including a beaded angel (kit) and wood angel ornament (I use permanet markers for them to decorate so they can take it home with them that evening.)
  • Games and Puzzle Stations- Wood Searches, hidden objects, and mazes with angels.  I , also, copy a picture of an angel on cardstock for anyone to make into a puzzle Angel.  This is two stations.Matching Game- I have angels in art copied and let children cut them out to make into a matching game.  Will need scissors to cut the angels out and bags to put their game in to take home.Nativity Rock, paper, scissors (Mary, Joseph, Angel: Mary wins Joseph wins Angel, Angel wins Mary) and a Bingo game featuring angels in the arts and Biblical Stories with angels. (Nativity Bingo and Biblical Bingo are two already made sets you can purchase or make your own.)
  • Learning about Angels: Make Q & A posters (interactive-queston on one sheet taped to posterboard with answer on another piece of paper.  They lift up the question to read the answer.)  Questions include- What are the types of angels mentioned in the Bible?   What are the four roles of Cherubim? How many times are Seraphim mentioned in the Bible?  What forms do the Living Creatures Angels take?  What angels have names in the Bible? How many angels are there (according to the Bible)? Do angels have wings? Are angels easy to spot (see)?   What three people in the Bible does an angel come visit to tell them they will have a baby?  What does Gabriel’s name mean?   Were angels created by God or have they always been there?   Are guardian angels mentioned in the Bible?    The answers have Biblical Scripture text.
  • Angel Reading Station-books, angel dolls, angel statues, Christmas tree angels (Here is a few angel dolls to start off –one blonde and one brunette. For angel statues, here is one neutral hair and one child friendly.                   
  • Angels in the Arts-pictures with information of how angels have been depicted and any information about the artist, the media work, or the angel.   A book with some information and pictures in Angels in the Arts.           
  • Station with name tags and Information sheet for parents on activities to do with child for faith.
  • Small Child station with coloring pages, crayons, and simple crafts to make.
  • Ornament Angels (display of different angels borrowed from different people in the church.)

I schedule a volunteer at each station.  Every year, the ornament can be changes and other stations can be added.

 

Clicking on the links of items above and buying through the link, helps fund this site.  Thank you.

Advent: Las Posadas – Journey to Bethlehem

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Las Posadas commemorates the entry into Bethlehem by Mary and Joseph. This festival derives from the Central and South American tradition of the same name.  Las Posadas translates to the inns.  We follow Mary and Joseph as they look for a place to stay, singing songs of comfort as they travel.  This is a church-wide, intergenerational event full of fun and fellowship.  It is another way to bring faith into the rush of the holiday season.

I find an expecting couple to play the parts of Mary and Joseph.  They dress in costume. I have a musician lead the singing.  Sometimes, I have a guitarist accompany us as we sing.  A devil is required and normally this is played by one of our teens.  The devil, dressed in red, is fun loving and is chased away by our “boos!”

Traditionally, there are nine inns.  I ask eight ministries to decorate doors of our school classrooms, office doors, and meeting doors.  I encourage the ministries to decorate the doors to represent their ministry.  Some very beautiful doors have been done.  The ministry mans their “inn.”  The ninth inn is the Nave.  It is decorated with tissue paper flowers, candles, hanging fiesta garland, and luminaries.  Luminaries line the hallways of our path.

At the starting location, I have sombreros, maracas, battery operated candles, and programs ready.  The inns are decorated and all are in place. I read the scripture Luke 2: 1-5.  Joseph and Mary discuss the end of the long journey and Mary says that the time has come to deliver her child.  We sing our song and follow Joseph and Mary as they go to the first door.  At each of the first eight doors, Jospeh stops and knocks.  The innkeeper answers.  Jospeh asks if there is room.  The innkeeper apologizes that there is not room and then asks to join their journey.  As we travel (it resembles a parade), we sing the song of comfort.  After each door, the group traveling grows as the people of the inn join us.  Periodically, the devil appears to try to distract us from our journey.  We yell, “Boo!” To send the devil running away.

As we arrive at the ninth door, the Nave, it is answered by one of our clergy, who states, “There is no room in the inn, but they can stay in the stable. It is warm and dry.”  Joseph accepts the kindness of the innkeeper and we all enter the church nave.  There Mary and Joseph sit in chairs at the front and we all sit in the pews.  I tell the story of Las Posadas, we sing more songs, we say a few prayers, and we share a few words of love and peace to the couple and to each other.

We then head to a reception.  We serve a dinner, have a piñata, and do a community service project as an offering of love.  Usually, I have the children decorate placemats for the local nursing home to use for a dinner.

This program works well in schools, as well as church.

Clicking on the items and ordering them through this site helps fund this site.  Thank you  and Feliz Navidad.

Advent: St. Nicholas Festival

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Hosting a St. Nicholas Festival brings smiles, excitement, and joy from children, families, volunteers, and newcomers hoping to find something that takes the materialism out of the holiday. It is a wonderful on-ramp for new children and families looking for a church. It is a gift to give the surrounding community looking for a faith-based celebration of the Christmas spirit.

St. Nicholas feast day is December 6. In some parts of the world, such as The Netherlands, this is the day children receive Christmas gifts.  There are many ways for churches to bring this feast day to life and help replace the “give me a list” Santa Claus with “how can we love others and love God” St. Nicholas.

I plan the festival to have stations, usually 8 to 10.  Families can go to any station they desire as many times as they would like.  After forty-five minutes, we gather all and head to the Nave, where the children leave their shoes in the Loggia.  We have a short worship service (15 minutes), where we hear a knock on the door and St. Nicholas enters.  He shares information with the children, we bring offerings from the stations (will explain when I explain the stations) and we sing lots of songs.  St. Nicholas does do a short homily on giving and loving God.  After we have completed the worship service, the children are invited to come sit in the Bishop’s chair, with St. Nicholas standing beside them, for pictures.  (This takes about 10-15 minutes for all to talk to St. Nicholas and get pictures.) When we return to the Loggia, the children discover one of their shoes is filled with a bag of candy, stickers, bookmarks, pencils, and another small gift.   The children are so excited!  We then move to another room for cookies, hot chocolate or lemonade.  The whole event is about one and a half hour.

For free ideas, visit St.Nicholas Center.

For stations, I have found these the most successful:

  • Making a Bishop’s Miter (hat)- supplies are red paper, glitter crosses, tape, staples, and the pattern found at the St. Nicholas site.
  • Community Service/Outreach-we have collected slippers for a nursing home, diapers for a family homeless shelter, blankets for our police to give it to the homeless, made placemats for a community meal, food for a food pantry, etc.  We bring these in to the worship for an offering.
  • Making Christmas Cards-supplies are cardstock, stamps, stickers, and markers.
  • St. Nicholas Ornament- handprint one or easy face one come in easy kits.
  • Letter to St. Nicholas (Child asks for something for someone else)-supplies are stationary or postcards, pens, pencils, and mailbox.  We bring these in to the worship for St. Nicholas.
  • St. Nicholas Festival Around the World-I researched the festival around the world and laminated each country.  The table is filled with statues, toys, wood-shoes, etc. from around the world.
  • Puzzle and Games-supplies include coloring sheets, word puzzles, hidden object pictures,  match card games, Bingo game using St. Nicholas symbols, pens, pencils, and crayons.
  • St. Nicholas Information-supplies include information sheets, book, statues, other books, prayer cards, icons, and other items that tell about St. Nicholas.  The volunteer working the station is very knowledgeable about St. Nicholas and shares with each person information about the saint.
  • St. Nicholas Craft-Pattern from the St. Nicholas Center.
  • Storytelling-I have the Godly Play story of St. Nicholas going all the time.  There are floor pillows and blankets for people to sit on.

Continue reading “Advent: St. Nicholas Festival” →