Trinity Sunday is one of my
favorite Sundays of the liturgical year.
As I read blogs and preacher helps I was surprised to learn that not all
worship planners share this love. In
fact most worship leaders seem to rather dread it or knock it as “the only
festival of the church year that celebrates a doctrine.” I suspect the reason for this is that many
begin their planning by thinking about the sermon and so start by feeling the
need to preach a sermon on the Trinity that would wow their seminary theology
profs and also be meaningful to the people in the pews in front of them. Old tapes about impossible term papers start
playing - and it goes downhill from there.
Not having to preach a Trinity Sermon, I begin by saying “It is God
Sunday, the call is not to explain God but to celebrate God’s mysterious, more
than we can ever explain presence. What
could be better!” Of course it is also a
chance to do a little worship education about the Trinity. But since even the Trinity is an inadequate
definition of God, I suggest that this may be a better week to celebrate God than to explain God.
If You Do Explore
Trinity with the Children…
p Introduce the trinity. Most children know “God and Jesus,” but fewer
hear much about the Holy Spirit – unless they heard the word during Pentecost
celebrations last week. So the task is
to add the Holy Spirit and to tie all three together. One way to begin is with Trinity images. Point to those in your worship space. Identify the three separate parts that are
bound together, e.g. each circle of the intertwined circles. Name the three persons of the Trinity and
briefly mention things we know about each one.
Early in the service challenge worshipers to be alert for “father, son,
and holy spirit” in your songs, prayers, and stories today. Even fill your pockets with wrapped candies
for anyone who can tell you as they leave the number of those references in
today’s worship.
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| God is like... |
p Warning: Lots of images of the Trinity
feature three things that together make one thing, e.g. clover of 3 leaves, egg
(yoke, white, shell),apple (either tree, food, seed or peel, core, flesh), even
Neapolitan ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry). Grasping these images requires the
ability to transfer qualities of one thing to something unlike it –
which is easier for adults than for children.
Children have an easier time exploring different names of a single
person, e.g. a person who is Granny, Mama and Darling (wife). The transfer is easier because children are
asked to relate qualities of people rather than qualities of inanimate objects
to the qualities of God who is more like a person than like an inanimate
object. One way to do this is to
identify all of your names, including your full name and your nicknames. You may want to identify times when you are
called by different names and note that no matter which name is used, you are
still you. Also hear the full names of
several worshipers and make similar comments.
Then ask if anyone knows God’s full name. From there discuss the three names for the Trinity.
p If
you regularly use musical congregational responses that name the Trinity (The
Doxology, Gloria Patri), interrupt after they are sung
today. Ask, “What did you just
sing?” Then, briefly walk through the
words defining difficult words and explaining the meaning of the whole song as it is sung where it is. Then, invite the
congregation to sing it again. (Do warn
the musicians of your plan.)
p Offer children a Trinity coloring sheet composed of a
big triangle divided into three sections titled something like -
Something
Jesus did.
A favorite
places in the world God created.
A
time I felt very close to God.
p Celebrate the three persons of the Trinity by singing
one familiar hymn about each one. “For
the Beauty of the Earth” or “This is My Father’s World” are good choices for
creator. (To stretch worshipers’
understanding of God, challenge them to sing this is my mother’s world.) “Jesus Loves Me” is of course the most child
friendly Jesus hymn. Select the Holy
Spirit hymn that is most familiar to your congregation and uses the simplest language. This might even turn into a lessons and
carols service honoring the Triune God.
If You Explore Who God Is…
p Celebrate
God who is more than we ever understand. Many children assume that the adults all know
everything there is to know about everything – including God. If during their childhood they are told
repeatedly that this is not true, when they begin asking important questions
about God they will know they are not being outrageous, but doing what everyone
does and has done for years. That makes
a big difference. So, today celebrate
both what we know about God and the God who is more than we can ever fully understand.
As you do, cite the unanswerable questions people of
all ages ask about God, such as but definitely not limited to
What was God
doing before God created the world?
How can there
never be a time before or after God?
How can God pay
attention to each person in the world all the time?
Why did God
create rattlesnakes and mosquitoes?
p If
there is a conversational time with children, gather “I wonders” about
God. Begin by telling some of the things
you wonder about. Invite them to tell
some of the things they wonder about. Be
sure all worshipers knows that no honest “I wonder” is too funny or too bad to
be pondered.
p To explore
the fact that our understanding of God changes and grows, share some of your “used
to thinks” about God and tell what you now think and how the change
occurred. For example, I used to think
God was a very old man but now think God is neither a man nor a woman. Also, express the expectation that what you
now think may become a “used to think” in the future. (This could be done in a children’s time, but
if it is done as part of the real sermon, children realize that you are talking
to the adults too and expect their ideas about God to change and grow.)
p Sandy
Sasso’s beautifully illustrated book In God’s Name notes that
after creation all animals and people had names. But God did not. So, each of the animals and people came up
with its own name for God, none of which was complete without the others. The book is a bit long. To shorten it, read only pages 5 and
16-31. (Read only the names on page 29
that you have read aloud.)
p Invite children (or all worshipers) to write a poem about God during worship
using a simple format. You might offer
it on a worship worksheet and then invite folks to post theirs in a set spot
with or without their name or to take it home to post where they can read it
and talk with God about in the coming week.
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
God
2 words that describe God __________,
__________
3 ing words that God does
_______,
______, ______
What you want to say to God
today
_____________________
A name for God ____________
By
YOUR NAME by__________________
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
p “Immortal,
Invisible, God Only Wise” is filled with
long complicated words that describe God who is more than we can fully
understand. If this is pointed out,
children enjoy all the impossible words praising God who is impossible for us
to understand. Before singing, point out
and define the first few words of verse one – immortal means God lives forever,
invisible means we can’t see God. Then
ponder the meaning of the first phrase of verse 2 (“Unresting, unhasting and
silent as light”). Finally, challenge
worshipers to pay attention as they sing to what it is trying to say about God.
p “Holy,
Holy, Holy” is often sung. Before singing it today, define the word holy
(most special and important, awesome) and briefly walk through the verses. This helps children learn the hymn and makes
all worshipers pay better attention to what they are singing.
1.
We praise God
2.
Everyone in heaven praises God
3.
Even though we do not fully understand
God, we praise God
4.
Everyone and everything on earth
praises God
The Texts
Genesis
1:1 – 2:4a
p With
this text we start reading our way through Genesis over the next two months. That means we read lots of the best known and
loved stories in the Bible. These are
stories that were told around campfires for hundreds of years before they were
written down. People knew them by
heart. Our challenge is to invite
worshipers to savor rather than just parse them. To do this utilize your very best
storytelling skills. Engage in readers’
theater. Use puppets. Read the stories
from Bible story books (especially when the Biblical texts have been “complicated”
by editors). Feature important
props. I’ll make lots of specific
suggestions, but once you start thinking this way, you’ll probably have ideas
of your own.
BTW – Because of
how the calendar falls, this year the lectionary skips the Propers that include
the stories of Noah, the call of Abraham and Sarah, and the birth of
Isaac. The Fall appears at other times
of the year and the story of the first murder does not appear at all. If you are planning a Genesis series, you may
want to rearrange things to include some of these stories.
p In
advance, ask the children to help you create a processional reading of
this scripture. Ask them to prepare
large poster board illustrations of things God made and to mount them on
dowels. As the accounts of the days are
read, children carry in the posters for that day down the central aisle. At the conclusion of the day, those children
say, “And there was evening and morning, the first/second…. day.” Children remain at the front until the entire
week is read. This could be done by as
few as six children or by as many as are available and fit in the space. With fewer children the last day’s posters
could include pictures of many kinds of critters. If there will be lots of children, each child
may make a poster of a single critter of their choosing. Singing a creation hymn immediately following
this processional reading gives the children time to return to their seats.
Day 1: day and
night (blank black and yellow shapes)
Day 2: the sky
(sky blue shape – with a rainbow if someone insists)
Day 3: division
of land and seas (big planet earth) and creation of plants
Day 4: the sun
and the moon and stars
Day 5: water
creatures and birds
Day 6: animals
and people
This is a project for several church classes
for several weeks. One week will be
needed to make the posters. One
rehearsal will be needed just before the service. And, adult help getting everyone started down
the aisle in correct order is essential.
It is not a small effort, but both children and adults enjoy reading the
familiar story this way and the children feel they are definitely part of the
worshiping community.
Anna Shirley simplifies
this for younger children by giving them crepe paper streamers of different
colors on dowels. Choose colors to go
with what was created on each day. The
children danced their streamer down the central aisle as their day was read and
added it to a large display (maybe a large vase?) that remained in place throughout
worship. (Visit her website at Anna's Hosannas.)
p Give
the children an In the Beginning God
Created worship worksheet on which to draw pictures of each thing created
on the day it was created.
p There
are several DVDs and even CDs available of James Weldon Johnson’s poem “The Creation”
which retells the creation story from an African American perspective. It is also presented in a picture book: The Creation (ISBN 9780823412075).
p God Created, by Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones, is a
beautifully somewhat abstractly illustrated interpretation of the Creation that
is especially appropriate on Trinity Sunday.
In begins “In the beginning… Silence.
Spirit.” then lists many of the things God created going beyond the
plants and creatures to include “shouting and singing,” “hugs and friendship,” “questions
and answers,” and on the last page “God created you.” With a little encouragement you can draw
listeners to into joining you in the repeated phrase “and so much more.” The book can be read aloud and savored in
about 4 minutes.
p Pair
the creation story with Psalm 8 to explore our place in the world at the
beginning of summer and Ordinary Time. During summer children generally spend more
time outside. Challenge them to take
care of God’s world. There are lots of
things they can do, e.g. not toying with or hurting the critters and plants
where they play, not leaving trash (dropped candy or gum wrappers!), leaving
every place we go a little better than we found it, etc. During Ordinary Time in worship we focus on
learning and growing as disciples and a church.
This pair of texts tells us we are created in God’s image, said by God
to be good, and are given the task of care for the world. That is a good start for Ordinary Time.
p Hymns
to God the Creator that children especially enjoy:
-
“All Things Bright and Beautiful” may
be familiar and is filled with familiar, concrete words about creation.
-
“Earth and All Stars” has a repeated
chorus. Children enjoy calling on very
modern things to praise God.
-
“All Creatures of Our God and King”
has a familiar tune, the names of lots of animals, and repeated “alleluias.”
Psalm
8
p Read
from Today’s English Version which uses
vocabulary children understand more readily – “Lord” instead of “Sovereign,”
“greatness” instead of “majesty,” and the moon and stars that you “made” rather
than “established.” Most adults will not
notice the difference, but the children will.
p To
explore our relationship with God and our place in the world, read “Partners,”
a midrash about the creation story in which God introduces people to their role
as God’s partners. The final definition
of partner is “…someone you work with on a big thing that neither of you can do
alone. If you have a partner, it means
that you can never give up, because your partner is depending on you….” Find this two page story (read aloud in 3
minutes) in Does God Have A Big Toe? By Marc Gellman.
2
Corinthians 13:11-13
p Paul
concludes his letter to the Corinthians who tended to fight with each other
about almost anything, “agree with one another, live in peace.” That is good advice on Trinity Sunday when we
celebrate the mystery of God. The
blind men exploring the elephant story fits well here. If those blind men talked to each other about
what each one had learned about the elephant rather than fight insisting that
only what they knew about the elephant was true, they would learn a lot
more. Likewise if we talk about all the
different things we know about God, we will learn more about God than we will
insisting that only what we know is true.
p Use
verse 13 just before the benediction to do a little worship education. Note that Paul ends this letter with the same
words we often use at the end of a worship service. Read the verse, then put it into your own
words. My version would be
May Jesus Christ
who forgives us,
God who created
us and loves us always,
and the Holy
Spirit who is with us helping us and caring for the world through us
be with you all
today and every day.
As you do, define any words or phrases you
traditionally use, e.g. “the communion of the Holy Spirit.” (Children hear communion as a reference to
the sacrament and miss the intended meaning of the phrase.) Finally, offer the benediction as you
generally say it so that worshipers will hear it with fuller understanding.
Matthew
28:16-20
p The
Great Commission is closely tied to the Ascension story. So if you did not use batons or explore the call to
become Jesus’ hands and feet on June 1, check out the possibilities at
Year A - Ascension of the Lord being sure to catch the baton ideas raised in the Comments. These images make great sense as you move
into Ordinary Time and perhaps as the children move into summer vacation from
school. At this time especially it
answers the question “after all we have seen in Jesus and the Creator and the
Spirit, what are we supposed to do?”
Identify ways children can be disciples during the summer.
p On
Trinity Sunday point out that we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. We are confirmed
with these same words. Brides and grooms
say those words over their wedding rings.
When people are very, very sick and die and are buried those words are said. Walk briefly through each rite saying the
words. In summary, note that saying
these words at important times in our lives reminds us that each of us belong
to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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