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!

Chalk Art

The chalk board in the Sunday School room used to be a problematic distraction from the things I had planned for the kids. I tried putting away the chalk. The kids always got it out again. Finally I figured out the obvious: don't fight it, use it.

I don't let the kids use the chalkboard just anytime, but during the times I give them choices about what to do (modeled after an approach I picked up at a Godly Play training session), working on the chalkboard is one of the options. One or more of the children often choose to work with chalk and their work appears meaningful.

I've photographed some of their work before erasing it and plan to include some pictures in the display of personal Christmas items at church beginning Christmas Eve. They're pleased about this and I hope it communicates to them that their work is valuable, which I believe it is.

Church Uniforms

A few Sunday mornings back a special event was being celebrated at church. The church was unusually full with people who had come specifically for the occassion. They were dressed up, men in dark suits, etc. The attire was quite appropriate to the occasion, but certainly more formal then the congregation as a whole dresses usually. A child asked me, "Why are all those men wearing the same uniform?"