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| Our Approach to Religious Education |
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Many of us who were raised in the Church may remember our “Sunday School” experience with mixed emotions. There may have been some wonderful adult Christians, people of faith and love, whose example we remember and tried to imitate. We probably learned more about God by simply being around them rather than from any religious content they may have tried to “teach” us.
On the other hand, we may look back and characterize those years as “BORING” because they were very much like being in school, only the content may have seemed far more difficult to handle.
We believe that “knowing God” is much more important than “knowing about God.” In our religious education we try to provide an environment where children are free to meet God on their own terms. |
| Nursery |
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| Nursery care is provided at the 10:30 service for children three and under. Our dedicated nursery room is located on the lower level. The paid nursery staff has been certified by The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago upon the completion of the Keeping God’s People Safe training course. |
| Christian Education for Children |
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With the opening of her first “children’s house” in 1907, Maria Montessori initiated what has become a worldwide movement. This tradition honors the child’s natural sense of the sacred and seeks to provide a richly structured environment in which the religious potential of a child may freely develop.
Inspired by his advanced Montessori studies with Sofia Cavaletti in 1971, Dr. Jerome Berryman developed a comprehensive religious education curriculum based on the pioneering work of Montessori and Cavaletti. This approach to religious education has come to be known as “Godly Play.” Godly Play teaches trust in a gracious God who is real and accessible in all the mystery of life, both the sad and the joyful (rather than hunger for the non-renewable magic that comes from the latest toy or video game).
Godly Play teaches children to respect the space, materials, and people they work with, learning to enjoy each with care and patience. Godly Play teaches the classic rhythm for living modeled in the Bible – the alternation of action and reflection, engagement and prayer. Godly Play helps both teachers and learners to build a spiritual rule of life. Godly Play teaches kindness and mutuality by its ritual character and by how it organizes space, learning materials and the community of children, embodying the biblical ethic of how the people of God are to live together. Godly Play’s way of “wondering” and responding to the Bible’s sacred stories is, in fact, a contemporary expression of the ancient spiritual practice of lectio divino (Latin for “sacred” or “spiritual reading”). Instead of meditating abstractly on God’s word, the children “meditate” in an artistic and active way. Thus, Godly Play helps children know God – not just know about God or about the Bible. Godly Play teaches that everything in God’s creation is charged with the possibility of holiness, including each of us, and that we are in relationship with everything in Creation. There is no sacred vs. profane; all ground is holy ground. Godly Play puts God back into the center of daily life.
Godly Play affirms and honors elements in our Christian tradition which have often been ignored in recent centuries: non-verbal communication, quietness, receptivity, awe and wonder. In our own time we are rediscovering what valuable spiritual resources these elements of our tradition are. |
| The Godly Play Classroom |
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Godly Play begins with a time of welcoming and settling in for the day’s presentation. This gathering time helps children to be ready for the days’ story or parable. The storyteller then uses creative materials to tell the biblical story or parable. The children are invited to “wonder” about the presentation.
The children then choose their “work” for the day. They may choose to focus on a story they have already heard, to work with art materials, to work with cleaning materials, or even simply to take a nap.
After their work has been put away, the children gather again in the circle for a “feast” and begin their transition to the Eucharist in church.
Godly Play is innovative. It re-sacralizes the everyday things of the world (e.g. bread, wine, candles, oils, wood, linens, clay), re-teaching a sacramental worldview in a society that is so often simply utilitarian and materialistic. Godly Play meets each Sunday during the academic year from 9:30 to 10:15 AM when children are able to join their parents in church for the celebration of the Eucharist. |
| Children and Worship |
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We all become full members of the Church in Holy Baptism whether baptized as infants, children or adults. When they are baptized at Holy Trinity, children are welcome to participate in the Eucharist and receive communion each week.
All of us “understand” communion in ways that are appropriate to our own age level and experience. All of us, children and adults alike, reflect on this experience all through life, not just when we are preparing to receive communion for the first time.
Children at Holy Trinity will experience a “Solemn Communion Retreat” as part of their religious formation sometime during the time they are between six and nine years old. This presumes, however, that they are already receiving communion.
If you have come from a parish or Christian tradition where this has not been the practice, we are happy to work with your children to help them begin receiving communion and deepen their understanding of how it is a wonderful sign of God’s love for them. |
| Intergenerational Events |
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| On several occasions through the year, children and adults meet at the same time for a joyful time of learning together. Intergenerational events help us to see our faith as a life-long endeavor. Life is a journey along which we are constantly moving and growing. These events usually focus on the different seasons of the Church Year. |
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