Lent Preparations

I've spent much of my day working on Sunday School, and I'm very excited about both of our classrooms.

I'm excited about Godly Play because we had 10 children in class yesterday--too many to even fit around the table! But they were very attentive during the story time, shared well during work time, and were easily redirected when needed.
Things are going well there, and I'm working on cutting down another table to go into their room.

I'm preparing materials for the Stations of the Cross cycle of WorkshopCycles, and there is so much great stuff in there. For their journal pages, we're going to have space for kids to draw the station they're learning about that week and ask them to complete a phrase about the week (ie "nails are...")
I have such hope about all the children will be learning--they could really lead their families and the rest of the congregation in the observance of a Holy Lent.

Back to work!

Drawing our prayers

I taught Godly Play for the preschool classroom this week. I took a long piece of paper and put it on their small table and we drew our prayers for the first activity of the morning. The kids did a really great job of it and stayed on task.
They then brought the paper forward at the Offertory, and we laid it under the altar for the rest of the service.


Prayers for my cousins:


For the wooden car I'm making with my grandpa and dad:


For Granny E who died (she's wearing the sweater I gave her for christmas):


For my fish. (And that big circle? "It's the thing that connects all my prayers.")


What do your kids want to pray about today? Take out some crayons and find out.

God in the Family

The kids we spent Thanksgiving with (have I mentioned how happy I am to have my new computer mostly under control?) are 2nd generation Greek. The parents are a delightful gentle southern Episcopal man and an animated soul-ful Greek Orthodox woman. I remember the first Icon he was given by her family. He wasn't quite sure about what to do with it or how to "use" it. And now, their house is full of Icons in the most normal, everyday sort of way.


Living with them for a week, I came to understand Icons in a new way. As they are scattered about in their home, these icons are less Holy Things To Be Revered and more Family...less Church People and more There's A Great Story About This Person...less unsettling and more comforting.

Their children are growing up with icons all around them just like the family photos that are all around them. It's a way for God's World (which some kids only get when they go to church) to intersect all the time with Our World.

What a gift to give your children.

New Computer Lab

Miraculous things happen in all sorts of ways. Our little church recently received the big blessing of a Computer Lab for our WorkshopCycles (Rotation) Sunday school.

A long storage area was cleaned out, and over the course of 6 weeks 6 computers, 2 long tables, and a printer found their way into the space.

Here's a photo from our first day in the Computer Lab:


And an illustration created in the lab:


When I proposed moving to Workshop Rotation Model last spring, I thought we were pushing our limits, but I also felt it would really enrich the whole parish if we could pull it off. I can't believe how far we've come in 9 months. Our Sunday school is full, we have willing and able helpers, and children are really enjoying their time in Sunday school.
I'm so thankful for all who have helped get this program up and running, and for all who keep it working from week to week.

(I'm also glad to be back in the blogging saddle after my computer updates)

I'm learning how to deal with a new computer.

When I learn how to upload pics to/from my new Mac laptop, I'll post my backlogs.
Target date: January 10.

Blessings!

Chidren's Place in Church

Our parish has coffee hour in the crossing of our nave. It makes our church building feel much more like home.
Although our children don't do this during worship, I delight in the places our children are drawn to after the service.

Under the altar:


And under (and often in) the pulpit:


I believe grandpa God is chuckling.

Writing a Letter on a Torah Scroll

Recently I was part of a profoundly moving event. A trustee has donated a Torah scroll to Hillel at Kenyon College. This scroll was hidden during the Holocost by a Roman Catholic priest, and a few years ago was salvaged by a Rabbi whose life calling is to save and refurbish scrolls lost in the Holocost.

Around 100 of us were invited to write a letter of the scroll. The rabbi spoke to us beforehand about his calling, his group, and this scroll in particular. And then, he helped us write the a word on the scroll.


In Jewish understanding, writing a Torah is about as close to God as you can get. The Rabbi said that as we are writing our letter, we will be as close to God as the Rabbi that is giving offering in the most holy of holies (the most interior space of the temple). Jewish lore says that anything you pray for while writing a Torah will be heard and answered.

We said a prayer before we began, I washed my hands, and then together the Rabbi and I used a turkey feather quill and blessed ink to fill in several letters at the end of Deutoronomy on this scroll. It was a holy moment, and I am so thankful for having the gift of the invitation to do this.