As We Approach Holy Week...

Last Sunday in the True Vine Atrium the children created some lovely artwork. We used it decorate our prayer table and the children shared their work during our prayer. When I first read the psalm to the left with the artist I asked her "when do we open our eyes?" I was thinking of waking up each morning, as I always do with this scripture reading. The child surprised me by saying "when we are born!" We thought together about the beauty of the newborn proclaiming God's praise for the gift of life. I  was still pondering this response at prayer time, when I asked the group the same question. Wasn't I surprised when another child's first thought was for the moment of our birth?  It is such a blessing to ponder scripture with children!

We are drawing close to Holy Week! This Sunday we will be participating in the Last Supper Celebration in atrium. I love walking through the scripture together with the children as we share matzo and drink grape juice. You can learn more about this celebration in the post Last Supper Celebration. You can also see photos of last year's celebration here.

Our Family Maundy Thursday Service is coming up! We will gather at 5:30 pm in the Chapel on Thursday, March 28th for foot washing and Holy Communion. Holy Week is not an easy fit for the spirituality of young children, but this service speaks to them in a meaningful way with scripture they know and an acknowledgement of the death and resurrection of Jesus in a way that isn't frightening. It was designed especially with young children in mind - short and to the point! If you are local please plan to bring your family to this special gathering.

Communal Prayer

This year I've been making some changes in Communal Prayer in the True Vine Atrium. For the last several years, the children have been leading a fairly structured service of songs, prayers and readings at the end of each atrium. This has been fine but unremarkable.

Last summer when I was training for Level Three catechesis I realized that this type of formal prayer was intended to be used with the 9-12 year old children. Communal prayer for the 6-9 year olds is meant to be an expansion of the open and spontaneous prayer practiced with the youngest children. This was a huge surprise to me! But I was relieved to learn that I've been doing this "wrong" because I felt intuitively that we weren't meeting the children's needs with our prayer service, and that we could probably be doing much more by doing less.

Since we began meeting in September I have been experimenting with a more relaxed prayer time. Generally I have been picking a few songs to sing together and reading a psalm from a prayer card, or a piece of scripture that is meaningful. I've begun inviting a bit of spontaneous prayer from the children and it is going well. Up to this point, I've been leading (with a little help from the children), but now that we are becoming accustomed to this style of prayer I will be asking children to take the lead. I still feel unsure about what this prayer time will look like, but I believe we are on the road, and I will keep looking to the children to lead the way!

We've been incorporating children's artwork into our prayer time when possible.  Last Sunday we had two lovely prayer cards copied by the children that we read and prayed together. I took some photos and have included them in this post for you to enjoy.

Below you can see the prayer table from Sunday. Our flowers were brightly colored and very attractive to the children! Every flower was used and the table was brimming! It makes me happy just looking at it!

Recent Projects

Last Sunday we completed a project we've been working on for about six weeks in the True Vine Atrium. I brought this 3D model of the Temple in Jesus' time back with me from Israel with my third graders in mind. I loved the large scale model of first century Jerusalem that we saw in Israel, and the children have enjoyed seeing pictures of it and learning a bit more about the Temple in Jesus' day. 

The puzzle was almost impossible (there were a ton of small pieces and the directions weren't very helpful) but the children were determined and worked intently on it each week. The persistence of a core group of children paid off when the last pieces of the puzzle were added on Sunday! We are thinking about painting the Temple with our watercolors, and then I hope to bring it downstairs to the Great Hall so that the congregation can see it. Lynn (a catechist from the Golden Thread Atrium) saw the Temple and wanted one for her group. I was able to buy one in the U.S. from Judaism.com. I hope our fourth, fifth, and sixth graders are ready for a challenge!

Another interesting development in the True Vine Atrium has been the use of Stockmar Modeling Beeswax by the children. This is a wonderful product! It is very soothing to handle, doesn't dry out, leaves no residue on your hands, and it smells great! I bought it this year to use with children who find it difficult to sit for a presentation. We have had it on a bookshelf and have been quietly putting it into the hands of children who might benefit from using it during presentations and prayer time. Several weeks ago, the children discovered our stash and brought the whole box down from the shelf. They have been happily sculpting ever since. There were several interesting creations this week. 

The first was this beautiful sculpture of the Holy Family. I love the smiles on Mary and Joseph's faces and the way that Jesus is so carefully wrapped in his blanket.

Another piece complete this week was this sculpture of Jesus on the cross. As the artist was showing us his work, one of the children commented that Jesus looked like an angel. This prompted some thoughtful looks and comments from the children. The artist went on to create another figure of Jesus as a baby, but I wasn't able to get a picture of it. We have been disassembling our art work at the end of atrium so that others may use the modeling beeswax the next week. 

Only two more Sundays of Christian formation at Christ Church before the summer rest. We have many children moving up this year. They will be recognized during our final celebration on Sunday, June 3rd.

A Child's Prayer

Take a look at this beautiful prayer written by a seven year old in the True Vine Atrium. This was created spontaneously during work time in the atrium. It just takes my breath away...

"Oh God. Oh holy God thank you for life. 

Imagine what the world would be like without life."

Maps of the Land of Israel

The geography works are an important part of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd because they help us to remember that Jesus was a real person who lived in a particular place at a particular time in history. In the True Vine Atrium, the geography work is extensive, and children explore the regions, cities, and topographical features of the land of Israel using pin maps and booklets. In preparation for Christ Church's pilgrimage to Israel, many of the children have been making their own maps and researching and highlighting places our group will visit. These have been really lovely and I thought I'd share a few pictures here for you to enjoy. To learn more about geography in the atrium, check out this post on Geography.

Suggestions for Parents

Children from the True Vine Atrium
waiting to join their parents in Church.

A new year of Christian Formation is underway at Christ Episcopal Church! There was great energy and excitement in the air on Sunday as our atria and our youth and adult classes met for the first time.


On Saturday, I met with parents who are new to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, to give them an orientation to the ministry. Included in the information I shared with them were some suggestions for parents, which I thought would be helpful for all of us involved with the Catechesis to remember as the new year begins. Enjoy!

Suggestions for Parents

As a parent, you can support child's growth by bringing them to the Atrium regularly and arriving on time as much as possible. New presentations are made to the children almost every week, and we widen our discovery of the faith as we go along. As you are able, dedicate Sunday mornings to the spiritual growth of your children.

Please know that children may not wish to talk about what they have been doing in the Atrium, or may not be able to. Going to the Atrium is more like going to Church than going to school. Just as it might feel strange to have someone question you about what you did or felt in worship, children may not wish to answer questions about their time in the Atrium, or may not be able to put into words what has happened there. You can support your child’s work in the Atrium by offering affirming comments about your child’s time spend growing with God. Also noticing elements of the Liturgy that correspond with things we are learning in Atrium can be helpful. When you have questions about what your child is doing in the Atrium, talk to a Catechist to learn more. 

There are very few papers and crafts sent home from the Atrium. Children take something home on the inside from their time in the Atrium, just as we do from Church. Art work and collages that children create in the Atrium are collected in a folder. A few times during the year, your child will review his or her folder with a Catechist and then bring all of their work home. In my family, we collected this work in a large old fashioned scrapbook, and we have enjoyed having this keepsake from atrium, and seeing how the children's work progressed over the years. 


We will communicate regularly with families about life in the Atrium via email and through our blog, Thoughts from the Sheepfold. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to receive new blog post via email in the box on the right margin of the blog. We are always happy to meet with parents to talk about their child's development, and about what we are doing in atrium!

Tour of the Atrium: Art

Today on the tour, I want to share photos of the art supplies in the Good Shepherd Atrium. Making art is a great way for children to continue meditating on the piece of scripture or moment of the liturgy which they are exploring. Occasionally we offer the children a specific group project that they can help to create, such as making the "Alleluia" banner before Lent. But in general, rather than completing specific crafts as a group, a supply of good quality art materials is always available in the room and children choose what they would like to do on their own.

Many materials in the room have an artistic extension connected to them - for example after becoming familiar with the altar, children can make a booklet of rubbings of the articles of the altar. In the photo on the left, you can see a sandpaper representation of the paten (the plate that holds the bread). The children place a piece of paper over the clipboard and rub it with a crayon to make an impression.


After working with the colors of the Church year, children can make a collage of the chasubles labeling when they are worn. (You can see an example on the right). Extensions like these are available throughout the room and the children enjoy doing them over and over.


Here is a quick look at some of the art materials available in the Good Shepherd Atrium.

This is our light table, used for tracing. The basket on the left holds many simple religious images, and words of scripture that children like to trace and illustrate. On the bookshelf to the right are some clip boards, stacks of tracing paper and plain white paper, and trays of colored pencils that children can pick up to use at other tables in the room.

This shelf holds gluing trays and mats on the top shelf. On the second shelf you see crayons and pencils on the left, a cutting exercise (which is good practical life work) in the center, and a whole punch and rings or pipe cleaners for making booklets on the right. On the bottom shelf on the left, is a punching exercise (using a stylus with a pin on the end to punch out the image of a chalice or paten). On the right are the materials needed to learn to glue in the atrium. From time to time, we also set out stamps, modeling clay, and watercolor paints for the children to use for their reflection.