Christmas: Birth, Death or Resurrection?

I recently asked a child what we celebrate at Christmas.

I thought by this point in their life they would be well enough exposed to have the concept of Christmas as celebrating Jesus birth down.

The answer started out accurately...

It has something to do with Jesus.

Yes, what about Jesus?

When he got on the cross?

No...

When he came back?

No...

When he was born.

Yes.

It made me think that as an adult I take a lot for granted. I wonder how often I fail to realize the impact of the fact that kids don't have the years of context and experience that adults have.

Kids (and all of us) need the stories told over and over.

Sometimes kids understand more than I expect, and sometimes less. I have to remember to be clear and not to assume too much in either direction.

As concerning as the child's lack of clarity about Christmas is, in some ways I feel quite encouraged by the responses. If you're going to be wrong about what we celebrate at Christmas, I'd say this child had great "wrong"(?) answers: Jesus' death and resurrection.

Even if we have some details to sort out, we're onto something here.

Come to think of it, that statement applies pretty well to a lot of us.

Godly Play Question

Note: I blog not just for the sake of talking, but for conversation. When I say question in the title of this post, I mean I'm interested in your response.

One of the things done in Godly Play is to snuff a candle in a way such that smoke builds up in a snuffer and can be seen wafting into the room. The language that goes with this action talks about the light being changed so that instead of being in just one place the light can be in every place. One is to notice the smoke getting thinner & thinner, filling the room, saying that even when the light can not be seen, it is there.

A lot of the concept behind that I understand and like.

But I can't come to terms with part of it that seems so contradictory as to be ineffective at best, with the potential to be damagingly counterproductive at worst.

As far as my common sense or admittedly limited scientific knowledge tells me, when you put the candle out, the light is NOT there, neither is it everywhere. The smoke is there and is dissipating through the room. But the smoke is not the light. The light is gone, done, dead, out. To claim that it is still there, only changed, and now everywhere, or filling the room seems just bogus. This seems so obvious to me, that I don't understand how we expect to claim otherwise and have people (mostly children in this case) believe it or use the image as an effective spiritual symbol.

What do you think? For those of you more experienced in Godly Play, what do you make of this? Am I misunderstanding something? Does this bother you? How have kids you've worked with responded to this?

I've taken the liberty to adapt what I say a bit. (I hope this doesn't leave experienced practitioners too aghast.) But I'm not fully satisfied with my adaptation either...I could explain why, but this post is a bit long already. Let me know if anyone is interested enough and I'll say more about that in another post.

Thanks for any insight.

More on the King

Each week's Godly Play Advent story involves retelling part of the story from each previous week of Advent.

My training in Godly Play is quite limited. I'm not sure if I did it right or not, but in the 2nd week of Advent I didn't repeat the part from Advent I about the king.

The child who included the king in their drawing last week asked why I hadn't told about the king.

Obiously the part about the king made a significant impression. Wow. Interesting, again!

Drawing the Story

I told the Godly Play story for Advent I on Sunday.

One child present made a drawing. It included representations of the materials used to tell the story and a picture of the king (with crown).

As I wrote that, I just put it together with the fact that this child had been a king for Halloween. Interesting.

Anyway, I was excited to see the evidence of engagement I think the picture represented.

Book: Cherry Pies and Lullabies

I used this book for All Saints.

The text repeats a simple appealing pattern reflecting that things are passed on generation to generation and as they are, they both change and remain the same.

It's fun to observe details of the pictures...for the benefit of any who may get the book I won't tell you why.

Other titles with a related theme that I put on the Kids' Table at church for All Saints:

• Plowie: A Story From the Prairie
• The Keeping Quilt
• Matthew Wheelock's Wall
• The Always Prayer Shawl

All available through the Minneapolis Public Library.

Making Ribbon Sticks - and Doing Things Differently

My experiment in doing things differently is off to an encouraging start.

Today we made blue ribbon sticks for Advent after the 10:00 service.
There was also a Bishop's Committee report forum, led by Lou, which I believe included report of my attendance at the last Bishop's Committee meeting in which, among other things, I identified the need not to do so much of what I do at church in children's & family ministry alone.

Out of today's events comes the following.

Thank you to:

• Everyone who brought blue ribbon
• Anthony(??) whose name have to ask his name again...for helping move the table
• Madge for volunteering to help a couple weeks ago, being right there today & making a point of inviting kids to participate
• Deacon Sandy for going around "ordering" adults to participate
• All the adults & children who participated. (I hope you enjoyed yourselves.)
• Patti for getting a napkin to clean up my daughter's spilled juice*
• Aron for putting the activity in the space it was in & for announcing it
• George for agreeing to staple the ribbons onto the sticks on Wednesday
• Ethel & Madge for their offers of help in the future
• People who I imagine were involved in ways I didn't notice or don't recall.

I feel like we did something together today. That seems good. That will make using the ribbon sticks all the better too.

I've had more than my usual amount of conversations with other people at church in the last couple weeks too. Being where more people are makes that possible. They haven't all been big conversations. But I feel like they're important.

* I only found out about this spilled juice episode later as my kids & I talked about the difficulties they had when I was so taken up with the other interactions of the activity that I wasn't responding to them very well....Mommy my juice spilled and I was trying to tell you but you didn't hear me and then that other lady got a napkin to wipe it up.... Note to Aron & Bishop's Committee: isn't this story an interesting juxtaposition with my story of the juice spill of a couple weeks ago?

The Bishop's Committee

I attended part of the Bishop's Committee meeting at church last night to talk with them about my work in ministry to children and families.

Thank you to them for having me, for their interaction with me and their support.

As the people on the Bishop's Committee know from what I presented to them, some important things have happened since I last blogged (which has been way too long ago.) As a result I'm thinking, talking, planning about ways to invest my time and energy differently in ministry to children and families.

I think one of the big things is that I need to free up time for relationship building. I also have lots of other ideas, but I need to work out which of those things I'll pursue and how I'll pursue them. I think dealing with those questions within the context of stronger and more extensive relationships with people at church will be important.

I've heard that insanity is doing the same things over and over while expecting different results. I'm looking for different ways to do things in the hope of improved results.

"Yeah"

I enjoyed little evidences yesterday of my kids picking up on things from church, engaging with them, and enjoying them:

• a comment about why they selected a can of pears to bring for the food basket: because they (the recipients) don't have to cook them (I think we talked about this being a relevant issue for some of the recipients once).
• a question about the location of a favorite coloring sheet (may I add, with pride & gratification, that I drew this particular coloring sheet)
• attentiveness to the drummer who played for the gospel procession (I probably don't have the right word for that)
• a question about when we could walk the labyrinth again (it was way back at Lent that we had the labyrinth at church.)
• the craning and moving around to be able to see what was going on when Aron invited all the kids up to participate in a baptism
• my kids' interest and great fun in interacting with another child at church and Sunday School
• one of my kids taking the initiative to write great-grandparents' names on a ribbon stick being prepared for next Sunday's All Saints observance. (I had mentioned doing that, but I think only briefly once, maybe another time at home, but it was done without further direction or assistance, even in spelling the names!)

I also enjoyed the fact that my kids' behavior was better than usual during church today (let's hope we're making genuine progress, not just hitting good luck for a day)

AND I got to interact and visit with another parent more than usual. It was a pleasure to visit and to make an acquaintance a little better acquaintance.

It was a good day.

Community with Aquaintances

Thoughts about relationships at church, or limitations thereof, with parenting as a contributing factor to both the problem & the need, posted on my other blog: A Grown-up In Church.

Seeking Spirit Sparks

What do I hear, what do I see?

God, there is so much that happens all at once in a group of kids in Sunday School. I don't think I can multi-task well enough to take it all in. As I'm working with the group, help me notice the things that are most important. What energizes each of the kids? Which ones are having trouble engaging? What's going on at those times? Help me understand what underlies those dynamics - what makes these kids tick? What are their wants, needs, interests, questions? How can I respond to these insights to help make their time at church time that will serve their spiritual lives well now and throughout their lives?

Saying More by Saying Less

No surprise to people who know kids: you loose their attention so fast when you talk.

However, talking is one of my most natural modes of communication. I often use an excessive amount of words when I do it, even for conversations with adults.

During Sunday School I try to engage kids in active participation. We have some routines they know & respond to well. I add some energy, some theatrics, hands on stuff, visual stuff, cues to maintain focus...still sometimes I find myself talking when it seems no one is listening.

I watch my kids' teachers and I'm impressed. I watch them on purpose to try to pick up on their techniques.

I want to find more & better ways to say more while saying less.

In Session

It's been too long since I've written.

Meanwhile, my neighbor & I made a set of ribbon sticks that seemed to be make a good first run during the rally Sunday procession.

What I hope will be a new tradition has started and Aron has read a few good kid's books related to the day's gospel during Sunday morning services. Kids seem engaged in listening. One book in particular elicited a spontaneous positive comment from one of my kids. I always like the spontaneous feedback.

Sunday School is under way. I've noticed some particular interest in certain Sunday School activities. For example, on the way to Sunday School I've heard, "I'll do the thanks be to God part."

So, this is good and we'll carry on.

Visiting Another Church

My kids & I visited another church Sunday so I could check out something they do in their service (more on that another time maybe).

In the process I got to do a bit of something I want to do more of. I got to expose my kids to a church other than the one we normally go to.

They got to see a female priest...hear a different style of music...experience a different physical worship environment...

Little things maybe. Not huge differences from our own church....same denomination, etc.

Still, it's a piece of something bigger I think is important:
letting kids (really all people) know there are meaningful variations in religious belief, expression & practice and that they can legitimately explore and make choices among them.

Reflections on my experience and various conversations with friends & family lead me to believe that it's unfortunately difficult sometimes to realize that. Much damage has been done by some well meaning efforts to keep people in, what is understood as, a definitive right way. Sometimes those efforts have been carried out by means of certain explicit strict mandates. Sometimes those efforts have been carried out through clear but unwritten rules saying on various topics: dare to think beyond these lines and you are in danger of hell. Sometimes it's as simple as a prideful attitude of superiority. Sadly, I think often the Spirit has been quenched.

There's a song that says, "Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on us..."
I say that here as a prayer.

And maybe I can make a contribution to the spiritual lives of my kids, by giving them opportunity to see the Spirit afresh in diverse worship settings.

I Can't Use These Texts!

So much for enjoyment....I've been looking at the lectionary texts for our rally Sunday.

The first text is one of judgement with one of the more mild lines being "they are stupid children."

One of the (familiar) verses from Psalm 51 is "Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, a sinner from my mother's womb."

There's a lot of this kind of emphasis on sinfulness, judgement, etc. in these texts.

I do think awareness of sin, our need for grace and such things are important for several significant reasons. But how you teach that, especially if you use some of these texts, without doing it in a way that's demeaning to a child by communicating to them that they're a no good, evil doing, stupid kid and if they're lucky God will be nice enough not to do them in for it?

My Old Testament professor at United Seminary talked about texts of terror. He believes that there are some texts that no matter how they are presented in a context such as a church service will be heard in an inappropriate and damaging way by some people present. He believes these texts should not be used in church services, but reserved for contexts in which appropriate discussion about them can take place such as might be done in some Bible studies.

I had my own texts of terror when I was a kid. There were things that really haunted me, for years.

How do I be faithful to what I believe, to what we believe, to the texts, and to our tradition in a way that will be helpful and not harmful to the kids at church?

May I say that I think what it takes to work with kids in a church setting is, generally speaking, way under rated. Childhood is a formative time. Furthermore children's' cognitive abilities and skills are still developing, they are not the same as an adult's. This means that working with kids calls for an adequate handle on religious and theological issues, plus the ability to present them in age appropriate ways. In my experience, this is no small task.

Pray for me and for our kids.

Let's Have Fun

I'm a little serious sometimes. (In fact that's probably a pretty big understatement and certainly not news to anyone who knows me personally.) I will not say being serious is a bad thing. But a more lightheartedness & levity would no doubt serve me & those around me well.

I've been thinking about the upcoming year of church programming, Sunday School, etc. I think whether you talk to kids, to adults about their current experiences, or to adults about their experiences as kids, one of the big problems related to church is how often it's experienced as boring.

I don't think it should be that way. I think there are things we can do about that. Lets find them. I'm thinking my goal for this year for church and Sunday School programming might be to have fun. In expansive order, not in order of priority specifically to:

• Enjoy ourselves
• Enjoy each other
• Enjoy church
• Enjoy God

Don't worry, I won't be throwing out theology or anything like that. I don't think I could do that if I wanted to, it seems like its just wired into me. But if kids (or adults) can't do what they do at church with enjoyment, I don't think they'll want to do it very long. I think healthy & lively spirituality grows out of an inner drive of the spirit (of the person) and the Spirit (God) in communion with each other. This tends to be exciting and engaging. I don't think a healthy & lively spirituality is well nurtured out of an inner drive for duty that has turned to drudgery.

So, lets look for sparks of joy and fuel them so we increasingly enjoy our worship, our learning, our fellowship and our service.

Exasperation and Grace

Sometimes I become so exasperated, frustrated, angry, embarrassed and humiliated in face of my children's' behaviour during church that I'm close to tears and I feel like fleeing rather than staying in the presence of the congregation witnessing the situation.

I suppose I notice a lot more of the behavior issues than most people in the congregation (I certainly hope so) but I really get about to the end of my rope sometimes. Besides that, I can hardly imagine that some people in the congregation don't think my parenting is seriously deficient and insecurity about that makes me just want to crawl in a hole.

Not to say that there aren't issues, but I have to tell you about the grace that happened again today. I apologized to a person I don't really know who I thought might be particularly unhappy about the disruptions caused by my kids. They smiled and very kindly (and I believe sincerely) told me it was alright. Whew. Thank you, thank you, thank you, again.

This is the context in which I hear "...you have graciously accepted us as living members of your son, our saviour, Jesus Christ..."

They Have to Be Doing Something

Last week was Vacation Bible Camp. Gethsemane joined St Mark's Cathedral.

My job was basically to be in charge of the 3-4 year olds.

One of the adults (who I think was sent to help for a couple days when it was becoming apparent what a difficult and desperate situation it was to be in charge of the 3-4 year olds) pointed out about this age that they have to be doing something.

I think that has good applicability beyond age 4 and its gotten me thinking in terms of what we offer kids (or adults) the chance to do (other than sit still and be quite) when they're at church.

Here are examples of positive responses from my kids or others that stand out to me :

• Participation in the Palm Sunday procession elicited a spontaneous "that was fun."
• During some music last week one of my kids wanted me to dance with them.
• Going forward and receiving communion seems important and to be desired.
• Dipping fingers in the baptismal water to make the sign of the cross is frequently done.
• Lighting a candle, making an offering and praying for someone is requested.
• Art work is popular. Someone made a note on the art room chalk board "Art Room - Yes!"

I'm thinking about more ways we can make church an active, doing experience. Not doing for the sake of doing itself....but as a way to express and engage with things that often remain cerebral and unengaging to kids, and even to many of us adults.

Cleaned Up Art Room

I just have to mention this because I'm so gratified. If you're a Gethsemane person & you've seen the mess the art room we use in Sunday School has been...take a peak now. It's not "done"...the floor isn't swept, there are a couple other things...but what a breath of fresh air. I spent hours today sorting through markers & paper & paint & glitter mixed with feathers & sequins & face paint... It looks so much better now. I can just feel the potential of the organized & opened up space. This will be better for all involved. Now both of the Sunday School rooms have some transformation and the start of Sunday School will be here before I know it.

Something They Like

In spite of all the boredom sometimes associated with church, preferences to be in the play room, occassional requests not to go, and the impression that the most compelling part of the experience might be cookies after the service, I've also noted the following.

When my family was doing a little exercise that involved each of us saying something we like about each of the rest of us, one of my kids listed about me, the fact that I take them to church.

When things came together on a recent Sunday such that we didn't go to church, one of my kids was clearly disappointed.

My kids want to be able to have communion. They will say so, and if behavior issues have caused us to make an exit from the service, they want to get back in in time to receive communion.

To the best of my knowledege none of this comes from any negative motivation such as fear. I don't think things have been presented to them that way and I certainly hope that's not how they've heard things.

I think there are things that genuinely interest them and draw them to church. I don't know exactly what they are. I'd like to imagine deep positive spiritual impulses. It could easily be things much more mundane. Then again, we draw too much distinction between the the spiritual and the mundane. They're intricately intertwined.

I'd like to know what goes through my kids' heads. I'm probably better off not knowing for sure (as if I could). If I could put my finger on it, I'd be likely to go in and muck it up. This way I might keep a more open mind & heart: observing, experimenting, learning as we go, watching for the wind & the flame of the Spirit as it moves.

Crowded Altar

The kids' rug was crowded yesterday. Sometimes so was the altar. Not really crowded, there was plenty of room, it was just that Aron's kids made their way up to him a couple times during the service, adding an extra person or two at the altar.

It was wonderful. I don't know if I can find the words to explain it...but I felt it. There was something good about it. Something moving about it.

I can very much appreciate the benefits of formality, adherence to rules of ritual, silence and solemnity, etc. But there is also something good and right about the freedom and presence of the kids Sunday.

What is that good and right thing? My (hopefully not too rambling) thoughts and theories to explain my sense of it follow.

Jesus' words, "suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not." This makes sense. How could Aron, as a priest or as a father forbid the presence of his children with him as he ministers in a service? He couldn't. They belong there. "For of such is the kingdom of heaven." The kids help us realize that this service isn't just about something that we as adults access through our abilities to think and believe and act in a formalized manner. It's about real life and it has to touch us and apply where the rubber meets the road in day to day life and relationships - otherwise what does it mean?

It reminds us that church (at least ideally) is an egalitarian thing. The meanings of church and the Christian community apply to everyone, not just those who can sit still and quiet long enough, or who can understand enough, etc. The way we conduct church should reflect that.

It reminds us that the gospel talks about the importance of us all being as little children. It's not just the priest's kids who belong there on the altar. We all do. The kids' presence just helps us see that. On the one hand I understand the importance of designated roles in which people serve as bearers of religious symbols and the meanings they convey. Yet on the other hand, sometimes those roles separate us too much from each other and from some aspects of our spiritual lives. All of us - laity and clergy alike, children and adults alike, healthy and sick alike, women and men alike...and those fitting many other dichotomies in which we think - all of us, like the kids on the altar, are wandering around in holy places, both profoundly aware and profoundly naive of that which surrounds us; holy places of both religion and life in general that speak of the ultimacies of life & death, that are filled with the presence of the divine, that are infused with struggle as well as grace and love. We are all moving about in this holy place of life with things to receive and things to give.

The image of a little girl at the altar next to her parent celebrating the Eucharist and the deacon standing behind, can be a powerful image.

Crowded Carpet

There was a crowd of kids in church yesterday. It was wonderful.

The carpet in the kids' area was full of small kids and parents.

It was so much easier to manage the behavior of my youngest because there were so many other kids around to keep things from getting too adult oriented and boring.

It was so much easier to manage the behavior of my oldest because sitting with me in a pew today made more sense than sprawling on the rug fighting over things with a younger sibling.

And I could start to imagine and feel what it might be like to have this kind of group of kids as a regular part of our Sunday morning worship and the Gethsemane community.

Welcome. Welcome back. And thank you.

Somebody Has Been Painting in My Room

I was like the 3 bears coming back to their house to find that somebody had been doing things there.

I peeked into my Sunday School art room and found that somebody had been in the art room and messed it all up. (Well it's always a mess. Now it's worse).

I went to the next room and found that someone had been there and re-arranged things rather nicely. Did somebody run some kind of program while I'd been away? Were they planning for something I don't know about yet?

Then it clicked.....somebody has been in this room and they've painted it all up! The ugly paint under the awful chalkboard that was taken down months ago has been replaced by a warm blue color all over the walls. Wonderful!

Unlike the bears, I have yet to find the person who did all these things. If they have run off, I'm sure someone knows where to find them. They should be sought out and thanked.

Freedom Follow Up

After I wrote Freedom one of the songs I sing with kids stuck home.

One of the songs we sing in Sunday School says "I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing."
We do all kinds of verses: pray....clap....dance...


Well, let me tell you....I don't.
I often don't clap when the Spirit says clap or dance when the Spirit says dance, etc.,
especially not in church (of all places!)...or if I do I keep it mild there.
I feel too self conscious. People would notice & watch & think who knows what.


I'd like to visit a charismatic type church every now and then, just for it to be easier to let loose.


Kids are a little more free than adults when it comes to doing what the Spirit says like this.
How can we make sure not to quench that in them?
How can we be better models for them?
How can we let them be models for us?

Music

During Sunday School this week we spent time more time than usual singing songs & playing instruments along. Some of the kids really enjoyed it. They had songs they wanted to sing & songs they wanted to teach.

I've watched some engaging musical things in my kids' school contexts lately too.

I need more good kids' music to use in church.

I should try to remember more of what I sang in Sunday School as a kid. Some of that I'll use, some I probably won't.

Any suggestions out there?

The Bible is Popular

The Sunday School kids are surprisingly (to me) interested in finding Bible references.

We often look up one of the lectionary readings. Then one of the kids will read some or all of the text. (Some of them love the chance to be the reader too.)

Some kids with limited reading ability are even excited to find the right spot in the Bible.

What makes this so engaging for the kids?

Now that I see this much I'll try to make it work better....obvious basics like be sure there's a Bible available for everyone, same translation so they don't get lost following along...and I have a few other ideas that might be fun too.

Vacation Bible Camp Announcement

Gethsemane is joining St Mark's Cathedral for "Pilgrimage: Seeking the Kingdom of God," August 6-10, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Pilgrims will step back in time to experience the Medieval period, travel to foreign lands, and meet five different Saints. Along the way pilgrims will enjoy music, street fairs, Bible stories and general merriment as we seek to know ourselves, each other, the Creator, the Savior and the Holy Spirit. The program is for children aged 4 through completed 4th grade. Registration is due by July 16th. Watch for more information or contact me.

Freedom

If I were uninhibited I would dance in church.

If I were uninhibited I would raise my hands in church.

This Sunday at about a time in the service when I felt like raising my hands, but of course was too inhibited to do so, my 4 year old was prancing around the kids' rug area with a basket of toys raised above his head.

Am I projecting my sense of things onto him, or did he feel what I felt and have more freedom to respond than I did?

Cookies for Members

Things came together in such a way that my kids and I ended up missing the church service and just arriving at church for Sunday School last Sunday.

While still at home, this brought up a question. If you don't go to church can you still get cookies (during the coffee hour after the service)? One of my kid's responses yielded good news and bad news.

Bad news: The responding child may lack a sense of open hospitality that welcomes everbody.

Good news: The responding child feels like they belong at Gethsemane!

They explained that you couldn't just walk in off the street and have cookies, but that if you're a member and you're there before the cookies get put away you can have cookies.
So, my husband, who was leading this conversation, followed up by asking,
"Are you a member?" Response: "Yes."
"Is [your sibling] a member?" "Yes."
"Is Mommy a member?" "Yes."
"Am I a member?" (Now, I should say that my husband is Taoist and his involvement in church is much differerent and more limited than mine.)
Response: "Sort of."

All very interesting.
But my favorite part is that sense of my child's of being part of the church.
That's significant I think.

What a Response!

There were lots of kids in Sunday School today that weren't there last week when I did the Godly Play Good Shepherd presentation. I ended up doing it again.

Wow, what a response. Great responses to some of the wondering questions were coming faster than I could comprehend or acknowledge them.

I have to try to do more of this.

Godly Play Experiment

Lasts week's Scripture readings were just too perfect a fit for the Godly Play presentation of the Good Shepherd not to use it, since I've been wanting to work into Godly Play anyway.

So, I made myself a set of materials as close as I could come to what I was supposed to have, practiced the story & did it. I was amazed at how well my kids responded to the materials when I was working with them at home, and how they paid attention during the presentation. Well, most of the time anyway. I do have to admit that one kid (yes, my own) degenerated into potty mouth talk at one point.

They wanted to work with the materials. They had ideas about how they should be arranged. It almost seemed like they were already familiar with the sheep & shepherd story. My kids each attended a year of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at another church so I asked about if they had heard about the topic before and if so where. The answer wasn't very clear....something like "I can't really explain it." So, I conclude either this is stuff that is very graspable, or more likely, they absorbed it previously without really being able to identify when and where. Of course this is happening to them all the time, but its interesting to see likely evidence of it. I only hope they are absorbing as little bad or troublesome stuff as possible and and lots of good and helpful stuff.

"Keep the Kids Away" - A New Take

During church Sunday it clicked for me why it might have been that some of Jesus' followers weren't too keen on letting children near Jesus. I guess I'd always assumed it was just general disrespect for children. I'm not sure why it took me this long to put two and two together and see another possiblity.

Maybe the disciples wanted to keep kids away from Jesus because kids do things like disrupt quiet parts of liturgy with talking and loud noises. Maybe it was because they distract the adults with them, impairing adults' ability to engage in religious services or meaningful conversations. Maybe it was because of the way kids try parents' patience by pushing, pulling, clinging and fidgeting. Maybe it was because kids embarrass their parents by putting parental shortcomings on display for congregations of people to see. (Not that I have experience with any of this of course!)

But of course scripture says that Jesus welcomed the children. Let me sum up a lot by saying, I'M GLAD! I'm glad for me kids. I'm glad for me - I need that kind of welcome and affirmation. After my kids have been behaving poorly, my patience has worn thin, my anger flared and my frustration soared, coming forward with my kids, each of us extending our hands to receive communion is a wonderful and welcome grace.

Stories & Pictures by Kids

I have a new book. Someone came across it in a thrift store and bought it for me!

It's called Jesus, This Is Your Life, Stories & Pictures by Kids.
It's edited by Jeff Kunkel, a Methodist minister, dated 2001, published by Augsburg Fortress.

It's full of stories from the gospels written in the words of 5-12 year old kids, accompanied by illustrations also done by the kids.

Initially I got exited about it because of how the project of creating the book as well as the sensibilities of the editor relate to my own projects and perspectives.

I often give the kids in Sunday School time to create drawings, paintings and other art work in response to the biblical text or the topic of the day. The goal is to offer a way for them to work with the story and express themselves related to it. That process can also lead to something interesting and meaningful to the creator and other viewers. I haven't published a book like Kunkel has, but some of the kids' work was exhibited in the Christmas display, some is now on view outside the Sunday School rooms, and I have some more ideas rattling around.

As I've looked further at the book I've also become more interested in the stories. When I think about how I'm going to tell a Bible story to kids, I easily become bogged down in issues about faithfulness and accuracy related to the text. Without entering a discussion on the nature of Scripture and appropriate ways to handle it, I will contrast my experience with what I observe in the children's stories. The children's approach seems much more free and unconstrained. They re-tell the stories in their own words resulting in stories that are readable, relate-able, fun and interesting.

Those at Gethsemane can look for the book on the Kids' Table or ask me about it.

Children's Books for Everybody

Last Sunday grown-ups at Gethsemane's Adult Forum got to enjoy poems from the kids' book Food Fight. Over the next few weeks the forum will continue to focus on the Millennium Development Goals. Each week the adults and kids will spend part of the forum / Sunday School time together. I anticipate each week including a story from the children's book Going to School in India. If you're a child, youth or adult from Gethsemane, or if you're in our area, you're invited to come & see what its about.

I'm realizing that books can be great to use with kids and that some of those same books are great for adults. The reasons vary, depending on the book and the goals of the reader.

I recently heard about a priest who reads a children's book during the Sunday morning service each week. When she doesn't the adults miss it.

Maybe over time I can share some books I like with you and we can find some more good ones together. If more of you have favorites, I'd like to hear what they are. Let me know.

Explain it to a Kid

I left the Ash Wednesday service thinking about how I would explain the smudges on my forehead to my children. I formulated & reformulated explanations. I tried to arrive at one that would be accurate, understandable, brief and convey what I wanted to my children.

What a tool for exploration and growth of one's faith & beliefs figuring out how to talk about them with kids can be!

Try it out! Pick any topic you want, or go with the one about the ashes.

Where did you struggle? What insights did you gain? What questions did you discover?

Processes like this can be happily invigorating or horribly scary.
Rest in God, let the Spirit lead you.

My Blogs are Back!

Finally everything seems staightened out! I'll be able to write again!

Anticipate updates about once a week here and/or at http://www.agrown-upinchurch.blogspot.com/.

I hope you'll join me in thought, conversation and action.

Why No Posts?

I guess you could call it technical difficulties.....I haven't been able to get access to post and I'm not 100% sure how I got here this time!! At least I'm here, which is progress. So...hopefully this isn't the last post you see for a long time again....if it is, now you know why. If worse comes to worse, check the comments on this post....I may end up deciding to start all over, on either a temporary or permanent basis....If I do I'll post the new address in the comments here (I seem to be able to post comments on my blog, but nothing else.) So, back to trouble shooting....and hopefully writing again soon!