Material Making in the Summer Months

It's been quiet on the blog this summer, but I've been as busy as ever with the Catechesis! In June, Lynn and I completed our Level 3 training with a wonderful seven day session in Saginaw, Michigan, led by the amazing Donna Turner. It was a fabulous experience, and it feels great to be familiar with all three levels of the Catechesis.

Seeing all the Level 3 works inspired me to return to Level 2 with a new eye. I've been revisiting album pages and thinking about materials. The new online material manual (available to catechists at the National Association website) makes it really easy to work through materials to see which pieces may have changed or may be missing from the atrium. Many of our tracing packets needed to be updated, and as a result I have been spending my evenings tracing and coloring. I'm enjoying it!

A few weekends ago several Christ Church Catechists and I attended a Regional Gathering for people with an interest in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd held at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in Concord, Ohio. It was great to connect with other catechists and spend time together. A special blessing for me was the chance to hear Betty Hissong speak about some of the influential leaders of the Catechesis. Betty is one of the pioneers of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and an amazing and faith-filled leader herself. It was a fun morning, and I was so glad to participate.

I've also been working on our calendar for fall and connecting with teachers and catechists. September 15th will be here before we know it! I can't wait to begin again!

Level 3 Training!

Lynn studying a material after a presentation.

In June, Catechist Lynn Winkelman and I attended an eight day training for Level 3 of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in Saginaw, Michigan. This was the first half of the training -- we will return next summer for seven more days to finish the course.  Lynn completed Level 3 training previously but wanted to take the training again to learn more. 

Watching a presentation.

One of the things that makes the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd unique is the commitment to training that it requires. There is no book you can read or curriculum you can buy to teach the catechesis. Instead courses are offered around the country (and the world) taught by formation leaders recognized by the National Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Good Shepherd Catechesis is offered to three age groupings of children - 3-6 year olds (Level 1), 6-9 year olds (Level 2), and 9-12 year olds (Level 3). A ninety hour training is required for each level, and everyone begins by taking Level 1 training and working their way up.

Making materials.

As you can imagine, catechesis training is a big time commitment and it can be expensive. On the other hand, training is a significant faith formation experience for participants. The trainings are very rich. The National Association describes them in this way on their website:  "Each formation course includes preparations in giving the presentations (the lessons) to children, provides a solid background in the theological and pedagogical underpinnings of this work, assists the catechist in preparing his/her album, introduces the prepared environment, the atrium, and guides catechists in making the handmade materials used for the children’s work."

Donna Turner was a fabulous leader!

Practicing with materials.

Our Level 3 training was incredible! Donna Turner led our group and she is so knowledgeable about the 9-12 year old child, the materials, and the atrium. She also has a respectful, caring, playful, and graceful way of leading and teaching that I dream of someday bringing to my work in the atrium. We had a wonderful group of catechists and the training facility was perfect. It was an amazing week! Lynn and I came away from the training with our hearts and minds buzzing - making connections between our work in atrium, the children we serve, and our own faith. I can't wait to be back in the atrium in the Fall, and am already looking forward to Part Two of our training in June 2013!

Part of our working atrium for Level 3 training.

To learn more about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training and to find out about training in your area visit the National Association's website "Courses for Adults" page.

Rose (right) organized the course and prepared supplies and materials
ahead of time so that we could begin making materials right away! 

Material making after class.

Abraham: A Man of His Time

In this post, Level 3 Catechist Lynn Winkelman shares some of her own preparation for presenting the Abraham materials to the nine to eleven year olds in the Golden Thread Atrium.

Honestly, I dreaded studying Abraham with the children and put it off until this year.  The reason for this is that I have never been comfortable with the “Sacrifice of Isaac.” Like many of you, I was taught that Abraham’s willingness to obey God’s command to kill his son Isaac was evidence that he was a great man of faith. I could never reconcile my own understanding of God with a God that would ask such a thing of a parent. My own daughter asked her father several years ago about this story and what he thought of the “test of obedience” given to Abraham. To my surprise, (because of the tradition I had been raised in), he responded that Abraham actually failed the test by agreeing to sacrifice Isaac. He told her that God never wanted death in his honor.


I came to a new understanding of this story in my EfM class ** and some new materials developed for the Level III Atrium that made the teaching of the whole story of Abraham, including the “sacrifice of Isaac,” congruent with the God of love and life.

The new scholarship on this story suggests that this was a lesson that was intended to show that human sacrifice was unnecessary and never acceptable to God. To understand why this lesson was important we must see Abraham as a man of his time and place. Human sacrifice to the Gods was practiced by many cultures in his part of the world, even sacrifice of ones child. 

So, it should not be so surprising to us that Abraham considered such a command a test of faith. The part of the story where God stops him from killing Isaac demonstrates that, for the descendants of Abraham, human sacrifice would never be a part of their worship or culture. This relationship with the one true God was different from anything Abraham saw around him.

Knowing this, I looked forward to presenting the study of Abraham to the children, including the story of Isaac.


** EfM or Education for Ministry is an ongoing course that meets weekly at Christ Episcopal Church. Speak with Leslie if you would like to learn more!

The Golden Thread Atrium

With this post, I'd like to introduce Lynn Winkelman, who is our Level III trained catechist. Lynn is a wise and wonderful catechist and a gifted artist - she has made so many beautiful materials for our atria over the past eight years. Last summer she created nearly all of the materials she will need for her Level III atrium singlehandedly! One of Lynn's strengths is her ability to see and appreciate each child individually.  She is always the first to remember that a child's boredom or misbehavior is an invitation to the catechist to change herself or the environment to meet the needs of the children we are serving.


I've asked Lynn to share a bit about Level III, and what has been happening in her atrium this year!  The Level III atrium includes children in fourth, fifth, and sometimes sixth grade (depending on our Journey to Adulthood schedule).

The Level III Atrium, recently named the Golden Thread Atrium, is in its third year at Christ Church. It is now that the child is developmentally ready to begin the study of the Hebrew Scriptures and the rich theology that is present in these stories. Everything from their earlier atrium time has prepared them for this great undertaking. The major stories are divided over the 3 years they are in Level III. As an example, the first year I presented Creation, The Fall and The Flood. The second year we studied Moses and the Exodus. This third year we worked on Abraham from September until Christmas. We will also undertake a study of the four Major Prophets: Isaiah, Amos, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.