Toolbox For Faith

Each year, I spend two days at the Price’s Fork Fair. The fair is nice, small community event that provides a wonderful opportunity for outreach to the community. Our booth at the fair offers free activities for kids - a ball toss game and face painting. Everyone who comes by the booth gets a faith-themed coloring book, a small bag of candy and some faith-themed prizes (typically we spend about $200 for prizes and supplies). We also have Bibles, grief resources and information on the congregation available at our table. The booth is staffed by me and at least one volunteer from the congregation. For me, our booth is a ‘ministry of presence.’ We are present as God’s people to show God’s love to others, to proclaim God’s caring through our actions and to share the story of Jesus.

I spent last week on a Mission Trip with a group of junior high students including three from our congregation. This was the first mission trip for our youth and it was a wonderful week. We accomplished some meaningful ministry on the trip, but one of the most powerful moments happened on the way home. When we stopped for lunch, one young lady got her Bible out of her bag and said, “I got this for camp, but I don’t know that I have ever really read it.” She opened to Genesis chapter one and started reading. She spent the drive from Richmond to Blacksburg - reading, asking a few questions, stopping to reflect and then diving back in to the reading. By the time we got home, she had finished the first 30 chapters of Genesis.

Sometimes we learn something and it inspires us to act. Sometimes we act and it inspires us to learn. It seems to me the key is to discover which methodology connects to you and to the people with which God has blessed you. What I discovered this week is that for my youth, having them live a life of compassion and service is a wonderful way to inspire them to learn more about God.

This summer I am writing Lectionary focused Sunday School material for a class of kids who range in age from kindergarten to fifth grade. In searching around online, I found a couple of interesting websites that have helpful resources and tools.

Here are a few helpful sites if you are interested.
Sermons4Kids.com

Lesson Plans that Work (from ECUSA)

Make your own Word Search

You can also look at the “With Children” section which is at the end of the links provided weekly by Textweek

I had the opportunity this weekend to help lead a workshop which focused on Nurturing Faith in Children. Although we shared many specific examples, our discussion centered around the “Four Keys for Nurturing FaithLife in the Home” developed by Vibrant Faith Ministries. The Four Keys: Caring Conversation, Devotional Life, Service and Rituals and Tradition describe areas which help nurture faith in young people. You can find a fuller explanation of the Four Keys on the Family of Faith page on St. Michael’s website.

I have learned a great deal about faith in youth and families from the materials produced by Vibrant Faith and I have found their resources to be extremely helpful. There is a page filled free articles and downloads and they have a store which includes both the resources that Vibrant Faith has developed and the best youth and family resources they have found. If you haven’t taken a look at their site, I would highly recommend taking a few moments to check it out.

(Note: Vibrant Faith Ministries was formerly known as The Youth and Family Institute.)

Each year on Palm Sunday instead of a sermon, we read the story of the Passion as a congregation using a responsive reading with multiple readers. The response from the congregation is always very favorable. If you haven’t seen the booklets you can use for worship, you can get them from Augsburg Fortress. Here is the link for the Passion according to Luke.

In the Hands-On Holy Week service that I posted on Friday, I referenced a booklet for kids entitled, “Three Amazing Days”. The booklet is well done and focuses on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and an Easter Vigil. It is available in two formats: Pre-Reader and Young Reader. There is also a booklet that focuses on Lent and Easter. It too is available in Pre-Reader and Young Reader. The booklets were designed to support the current Lutheran hymnal, but they are very general and would probably support most liturgical hymnals.

Here’s a copy of a Holy Week for Youth Service. I use a series of props (nails, crown of thorn, etc.) for the kids to hold and look at during the service. It is very informal and has worked well. I have always done it with a group of 20 or less, but I imagine you could do something similar with a large group.

Journey to Jerusalem Youth and Family 2010