Faithful Celebrations: Making Time for God in Autumn - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1640650067 ISBN 13: 9781640650060

Publisher: Church Publishing, 2018

Synopsis

Many of our experiences in life happen when several generations are together—at church, at home, in our communities. Holidays and family events are times for celebration, learning, rituals, food, and fun. For each edition of Faithful Celebrations, you will discover plenty of activities to learn more about the season, holiday, or special day for church settings, at home, camp, or anywhere in between. This abundance of ideas allows you to create meaningful celebrations within a faith context throughout the year. Each event to be celebrated includes key ideas, a cluster of activities to experience the key ideas, materials needed, full instructions for implementation, background history and information, music, art, recipes, and prayer resources to use in a small, intimate or large multi-generational group. Faithful Celebrations: Making Time for God in Autumn includes Back to School, Labor Day, St. Francis International Day of Peace, Halloween, All Saints, and Thanksgiving.

About this title

About the Author

Sharon Ely Pearson a retired Christian educator, editor, and author with 35-plus years of experience in Christian formation on the local, judicatory, and church-wide level. Known for her knowledge of published curricula across the church, she has written or edited numerous books. She is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and a lifelong Episcopalian. She lives in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Faithful Celebrations

Making Time For God In Autumn

By Sharon Ely Pearson

Church Publishing Incorporated

Copyright © 2018 Sharon Ely Pearson
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-64065-006-0

Contents

Introduction, 
BUILDING A CHURCH FAMILY, 
BACK TO SCHOOL, 
LABOR DAY, 
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, 
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE, 
ALL HALLOWS' EVE, 
ALL SAINTS' DAY, 
THANKSGIVING, 

CHAPTER 1

BUILDING A CHURCH FAMILY

INTRODUCTION

Fall is the time when many churches gather together again after summer vacation. It's a good time to explore what membership in the family of God bestows on us and requires of us.

Our membership begins at Baptism, our full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into the Church, the Body of Christ. The bond that God establishes with us at baptism lasts forever and cannot be broken. Baptism also forges our bond with other members of the Church. This bond unites us despite all such distinctions as race, sex, culture, and even age. Our children are as much members of the Body of Christ as we are.

The ancient and dramatic baptismal rite of the Church, designed for adult converts, made these bonds unforgettable. Three years of instruction and preparation culminated in days of fasting and prayer. At dawn, after an all-night vigil, the converts were plunged naked into running water as they affirmed the faith. They were clothed in robes, brought into the Church for the kiss of peace from their new family, and welcomed to participate in the Eucharistic celebration of sharing one bread, one cup.

A New Way of Life

Even children who had been baptized as infants could see by the annual reenactment of the initiation of converts that to be a member of God's family was to be committed to a radically new way of life. This understanding did not always survive the transformation of Holy Baptism from the central liturgy of the Church to a private ceremony for parents and godparents. Private celebrations shifted the emphasis from God's family to the nuclear family. Now that baptism has been restored as a public rite of the Church, celebrated in the context of the Sunday Eucharist or at other feasts, children can once more begin to witness something of the mystery of God's adoption, enacted in baptism.

In this chapter, you'll find that many activities celebrate our relationship with the Church — both our present church family and the Church throughout history — that began with our baptism. Many suggestions give participants time for conversation and an opportunity to get to know each other better. Additional activities challenge participants to think of concrete ways to love and serve others as members of the Body of Christ.

Renewing Ourselves, Renewing Our Church Family

With the end of summer's lazy days, many of us — adults and children — feel renewed in purpose and energy. Now is the time, in an intergenerational session, to examine our baptismal calling. To what does God call us? How can we support one another in answering God's call?

Activities in this Celebration have been included to help think through these questions and provide opportunities to join others in the church family as we answer God's call. Seeking answers to these questions together can draw us closer to each other and to God, renewing us as the family of God.

Another opportunity, which may be a separate celebration, is to hold a church fair. This can be a festival of games, food, and fun hosted by organizations in your congregation or it can be a ministry fair in which organizations and individuals can highlight their ministries with displays, interactions, teaching, and invitations for others to join.

Whatever you choose to do as you "kick off" the start to your fall programming, this Celebration is a great way to reunite everyone for a new beginning after having been away on summer vacation, camp, or weekends away. Whether it is a Sunday or weekday evening, start your "academic" year claiming your roots and identity as part of the family of God in your neighborhood or community.

Tips for Leaders

Do not try to aim a large group discussion at the very youngest participants. Instead, try to ask open-ended questions, for example, "What do you think? What do you feel?" Such questions allow all ages to respond. Be aware of different needs of the various age levels when they answer.

• Young children, seeking pleasure and excitement, often give imaginative and fantastical answers.

• Older primary and intermediate children, seeking approval, often give whatever answers the questioner seems to want.

• Teenagers, seeking to hide their identity struggles, may not want to answer at all, lest anyone in the group disagree.

• Some adults, seeking to reconcile new information with an orderly worldview, may give systematic and logical answers.

• And some adults, seeking to explore ambiguities, may answer with another question!

WORSHIP

Opening Prayer

Almighty and ever living God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this church family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Alternatively, you could also read aloud Genesis 28:10–22, Jacob's dream at Bethel in which he woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place — and I did not know it!"

CRAFTS

Name Tags

This activity helps the participants become better acquainted and more aware of each member's uniqueness.

Materials

• large blank name tags
• scissors
• markers or crayons
• assorted small stickers
• masking tape

Directions

1. Ask each participant to find a partner, encouraging older participants to pair with younger ones.

2. Give everyone 10–15 minutes to find out as much as possible about their partners and then make nametags for each other.

3. To include toddlers and preschoolers in this activity, have them join a pair with one of their parents so the adults can make nametags for each other and then make one for the preschool child.

4. Each nametag should use pictures or words to convey as much as possible about the person for whom it is made. Some may choose to do an acrostic, using each letter of the name to describe a quality, gift, talent, or interest of that person.

5. Use masking tape to attach nametags. After everyone has a nametag, serve punch and cookies and ask people to circulate to read each other's tags.

Suggest the following questions to help kick off the discussion:

• What do you like to eat?

• What is your favorite color? Why?

• What games do you like?

• What's your favorite part of the day?

• What work do you like to do?

• What animals do you like?

• What's your favorite song?

An acrostic example

Makes photographs as hobby
Always on time
Reads mysteries
Is a teacher
Artistic
Helping Hand Cut-Outs

Materials

• 9" x 12" construction paper, assorted colors, 1 sheet per participant
• markers
• clear tape
• scissors

Directions

1. Give each participant a piece of construction paper, scissors, and a marker.

2. Ask each participant to draw around their hands and then cut out the two drawings.

3. Ask the participants to think about a way they sought out God or served Christ this past week and write it on one of the hands.

4. Ask them to then think about ways they might seek out God or serve Christ in the coming week and write that on the other hand. Adults will need to help preschool children with using scissors and writing.

5. Ask all participants to tape the hands together to make a long string of helping hands of different sizes, colors, and ideas. Post the string in your meeting space or in a long hallway.

Rainbow Sign of Good News

Materials

• 4-foot sheet of white butcher paper
• markers (9 colors, if possible)
• masking tape
• Bibles (at least 9)
• printed Rainbow Scripture Slips (see page 9 or download
atwww.churchpublishing.org/faithfulcelebrations2)
• scissors
• basket or container

Directions

1. Before the session, print out the Rainbow Scripture Slips found on page 9 (or download), cut these apart, and place them in the basket or other container.

2. Divide into ten smaller groups.

3. Ask one group to make a large picture of a rainbow by taping the butcher paper to a smooth wall and drawing the outline of each band of the rainbow. Use a different color marker for each band. The rainbow should fill the entire sheet and include nine bands.

4. Have the remaining nine groups draw a slip of paper from the basket. Ask each group to look up its passage and to compose one sentence that sums up good news that the passage announces to us. The sentence should be in the present tense. For example: The good news in the story of Noah and the ark is that God promises never to destroy the world again.

5. Ask each group to send someone to the rainbow to write the group's sentence on one of the colored bands. Group 1 should write their sentence on the lowest band, and each group will add its sentence in numerical order, moving up. Group 9 writes their sentence on the top band, announcing Jesus' love for us and our joy.

6. After all the groups are finished, reconvene and ask each group to tell which story the group read and what good news the story has for us.

Rainbow Scripture Slips

Mark 4:35–39 Mark 10:13–16 John 14:15–17
Mark 6:34–44 Mark 16:1–7 Acts 2:1–4
Mark 6:54–56 John 3:16–17 John 15:9–17

Sidewalk Art

Proclaim the good news for all to see as they pass by your church.

Materials

• Bibles
• sidewalk outside your building
• sidewalk chalk
• printed Rainbow Scripture Slips (see above)
• scissors
• basket or container

Directions

1. Before the session, construct Rainbow Scripture Slips on paper or download the slips found at HYPERLINK "http://www.churchpublishing.org/faithfulcelebrations2", cut them apart, and place them in the basket or other container.

2. Invite participants to consider ways we proclaim God's good news.

3. Divide into nine groups and ask each group to draw one Rainbow Scripture Slip from the basket.

4. Ask each group to read its passage, then go outdoors and use colored chalk to write and draw on the sidewalk the good news announced by the group's passage. Encourage multi-colored lettering and pictures that tell the story or message of each passage.

5. When the groups are done, invite everyone to wander around and see each other's work. The first good rain will wash away your sidewalk art, but you will have proclaimed the good news to your community with color and creativity.

Balloons and Pennants

As members of a faith community, we have common principles that we live by: our Baptismal Covenant, the Ten Commandments, and the Greatest Commandment. In this activity we focus on Matthew 22:36–40.

Materials

• Bibles (one for each group)
• balloons
• ribbon
• clear tape
• scissors
• 12" x 18" construction paper or poster board
• glue
• markers

Directions

1. Invite the group to brainstorm rules that we must live by. If discussion is slow, suggest that we have traffic rules, school rules, rules in our workplaces, and rules for games. Explain that the Bible gives us two rules that are more important to God than all the other rules we must follow.

2. Divide everyone into smaller groups and distribute Bibles. Invite each group to look up and read aloud Matthew 22:36–40. Then discuss in those small groups:

• What are the two most important rules?

• Why are these rules more important than any others?

• Is it Christian to love ourselves? How can we show love for ourselves?

• If we love others as we love ourselves, how will we treat others? How will we express anger to others? How will we respond when someone hurts us?

• How can we show people we love them?

3. Provide a piece of construction paper or poster board, scissors, glue, balloons, ribbon, clear tape, and markers to each group. Ask them to make a pennant that announces God's two most important rules and to decorate the pennant with a bunch of balloons.

4. Encourage diversity and creative thinking. Ask each group to make its pennant as festive as possible.

5. Have each group share their pennant.

6. Donate these pennants to decorate classrooms or other rooms in your church, or donate them to a senior living facility.

STORYTELLING

Stories about Jesus

This is a less structured activity that allows participants to tell their own Bible stories.

Materials (optional)

• large sheets of newsprint
• markers or crayons

Directions

1. Invite everyone to sit in a circle.

2. Ask each participant to think of a favorite story about Jesus.

3. Ask volunteers to tell their stories as briefly and dramatically as possible.

4. Continue for as much time as you have allotted for this activity.

You may prefer to ask each participant to draw a picture of their favorite story first. Participants can then use their pictures to tell the stories.

This activity may be used for all ages or may be limited to certain age groups. You may choose to break into several smaller groups if you have a large number of participants. This is an especially effective activity if older participants are encouraged to treat the stories of younger participants with deep respect.

Bible Reflections

This is a silent reflection followed by discussion based on Matthew 25:31–40. It can help participants focus on the mission of the Gospel and how your congregation or family is living it out, individually and corporately.

Materials

• Bible

Directions

1. Invite participants to close their eyes as you read a passage of scripture aloud.

2. Explain that at certain points in the story you will pause after each question Jesus asks for a minute or two. This is for each participant to answer silently, as though the question is a personal one.

3. Read aloud Matthew 25:31–40. Pause after verse 37, after verse 38, and after verse 39 for personal silent reflection.

4. After this meditation, ask participants to open their eyes and discuss:

• How central are the kinds of good works mentioned in this passage to peace and justice?

• How central are such works to being a Christian? How can we be involved with helping the needy when we have families to support or other jobs to do?

• Do we benefit in some personal way here and now by helping people in need? How do our small acts of kindness cause a ripple effect?

• If we take a close look at our checkbooks, what does this tell us about how highly we value peace and justice?

• What are we doing personally to work for justice and peace?

• What is our congregation doing to encourage peace and justice?

Guessing the Good News

This is like a game of charades, only it involves a small group silently acting out a Bible story, with the audience guessing what "Good News" is being proclaimed by the actors.

Materials

• Bibles

Directions

• Ask a small group to prepare to present Matthew 11:2–6 in mime to the entire group.

• A narrator can begin by reading aloud verses 2–4.

• The small group then, silently, acts out verses 5–6.

• Ask the audience, without reading the passage, to guess what good news is being mimed.

"[T]he blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them." — Matthew 11:5

"Breaking News" Interviews

Materials

• Bibles
• printed Rainbow Scripture Slips (see page 9)
• scissors
• basket or container

Directions

1. Before the session, write the nine scripture passages noted on page 9 and place them in the basket or other container.

2. Divide the participants into nine groups. Each group selects a scripture slip, reads the passage, and then comes up with a mock "breaking news" interview based on the passage.

3. One person pretends to be an eyewitness who saw the event described in the group's Bible passage or heard Jesus say the words of the passage. The other members play reporters who question the eyewitness about what has just happened that has sparked rumors of good news all over the countryside. The reporters should try to get as many details about the story from the eyewitness as possible.

4. Reconvene and present the interviews to the whole group when it regathers. Or if you are short of time, ask each group to tell what good news was announced by its passage.

5. For a more ambitious project, record this activity with a camera or cell phone.

Lost Sheep Melodrama

All ages can participate in this role play of the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Here Jesus tells us that all of heaven rejoices when a sinner repents, like a shepherd who has found a lost sheep.

Materials

• Bibles
• oversized cardstock or poster board (3 sheets)
• thick markers

Directions

1. Invite the group to read aloud Luke 15:4–7, the Parable of the Lost Sheep.

2. Explain that the children in the group are going to act out this story for the larger group. Have a few group members make cue cards for the audience by printing in large letters each of these phrases on the poster board provided:

• Cheer and clap!

• Boo and hiss!

• Thanks be to God!

3. Ask one member of the group to narrate the story and another to hold up the cue cards. Other members of the group can play the parts of the shepherd, the lost sheep, and the other 99 sheep.

4. The narrator recounts the story, inviting the members playing the shepherd and the lost sheep to improvise their own dialogue. The lost sheep might be a young child who scampers all around the room (and amongst the audience) pretending to explore trees, rocks, and streams.

5. Use the cue cards to tell the audience how to respond at various points in the story. Save the cue card that reads: "Thanks be to God!" for the end of the story.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Faithful Celebrations by Sharon Ely Pearson. Copyright © 2018 Sharon Ely Pearson. Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1640650067
• ISBN 13: 9781640650060
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192
• Editor: Pearson Sharon Ely