On Sunday we will have our Last Supper Celebration. I look forward to this special day every year. As a group we are invited to experience the Last Supper with Jesus, just as his followers did. The children always seem to participate in this celebration with peace and joy, and it is a pleasure to be a part of it.
The Cenacle or Last Supper material helps to prepare the children for this celebration. We have recently presented it (or re-presented it) to everyone and many have chosen to work with it individually during atrium in the past few weeks. Receiving communion week after week is also wonderful preparation for the children for this celebration!
The celebration itself is fairly simple and is child-led. Before the celebration begins, each person is given a name tag with the name and a short description of one of Jesus' followers. One child takes on the role of Jesus. With a few children reading the lines and performing the actions of Jesus, Peter, and John, and the rest of us participating as Jesus' followers, we reenact the great moments of the Last Supper using the scripture reading from the Cenacle material. We also remember Jesus' death and resurrection. In the end, we sit together eating matzo, drinking grape juice, and singing some of our favorite atrium songs.
It isn't easy to snap a picture during a celebration, but I'll try to take one at some point on Sunday to share with you!
Save the Date: Our Family Maundy Thursday Service will be on April 21st at 5:30 pm in the Chapel. This is one of my favorite services of the year, in part because it draws upon the Last Supper Celebration for its inspiration, and because it resonates so well with the children. I hope to see you and your family there!
It isn't easy to snap a picture during a celebration, but I'll try to take one at some point on Sunday to share with you!
I'm trying again,hope this reaches you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat idea! I help out with our Sunday School program and our kids would love to do something like this - we've recently been having them perform skits based on the Bible stories we've been reading and they've been getting into it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog!
http://www.whoopsidaisy-tonya.blogspot.com/
Thanks for your comment and for stopping by Tonya! I'm enjoying reading your blog! As a Christian educator I'm thrilled to know that you are helping out with Sunday School!!! The skits sound like fun!
ReplyDeleteLeslie - Back when I went through Level 1 formation in the early 1990's this Last Supper celebration wasn't part of the catechesis. I'm intrigued! Is matzoh and grape juice all you eat or do you also share other foods which would have been common in the first century near east (grapes, dates, legumes, etc.)? I'd love more information.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is beautiful. I've posted links to it on our regional catechesis group FB page (NW Texas Catechesis of the Good Shepherd). Having just started to blog about my atrium work myself, I'd love to learn more about how you have formatted and organized Thoughts from the Sheepfold.
Hi Kay, It's so nice to "meet" you! I love your blog, and your FB page (which I have already joined!) in terrific - what a great way to talk among catechists. One of my hopes when beginning this blog was to hear from more catechists and learn from their experiences. I'm so glad to have found you and am already pondering some of the insights you are sharing. Thank you! I'd be happy to talk with you about creating the blog. If I can be of help, email me at education@cometochristchurch.org with your contact information and we can write back and forth or set up a call.
DeleteRegarding the celebration- it must be a regional thing. I know my trainer (Betty Hissong) had a photo of her Last Supper Celebration in the back of Religious Potential oh so long ago. We only have juice an matzoh in the celebration. Contact me and I can give you more details about how we do the celebration!
Thanks so much for reading! Its great hearing from you!