Year B - Trinity Sunday (June 3, 2012)

Trinity Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays of the liturgical year.   So, as I read blogs and preacher helps I was surprised to learn that not all worship planners share this love.  In fact most 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 worship planners begin planning 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 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. 

p Having said that, I start by sending you to the post for Trinity Sunday (Year A) that begins with ideas about talking about the Trinity with children.  I also add a Trinity children’s story, a suggestion for using great art to talk about what the Trinity is not, a way to invite worshipers to write a simple poem about God, and two sacrament connections before moving on to the texts for the day.

pDavid Stoddard, the rector of Church Our Savior in Charlottesville, Virginia, told this story to a group of elementary aged children during worship last year shortly after Prince William and Kate’s royal wedding.  (This year you might have to start with a magazine picture from the wedding - there are still plenty of them around! - to help children remember the wedding a year later.)  As he talked about the wedding he recalled the use of all of Prince William’s names (William Arthur Philip Louis) in his vows.  He noted that at special times we use our full names and asked the children to share theirs.  He also shared his.  Then he asked, “I wonder if anyone knows God’s full name.”  One child offered the correct answer, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”  He then did a brief comment on each person in the Trinity and noted that just as all of our names are just different names for us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all names for God.  

This came from the Wikipedia entry on Trinity
and claimed to be in common domain.

p Display/project this piece of art.  Identify each person of the Trinity in it.  Then point out that this is an artist’s idea about the Trinity not a photograph of the Trinity.  The Holy Spirit is not a bird.  God the Father is not an old man.  Jesus is probably as close to correct as any of the three.  Go on to explain that these three figures are not actually three separate figures that could sit around in a room near each other.  They are three parts of God or three ways we know God.  Pause before admitting that it is really hard to paint or to understand the Trinity.  It is a mystery.  The more we understand about it the more there seems to be to wonder about.  This could be a children’s time or could be folded into the sermon to entice children to listen to it – at least for a little while.

p In many congregations Communion and or Baptisms will be celebrated this Sunday.  It is an opportunity to identify Trinity connections to them.

Like the Trinity, Communion is a mystery.  No one can fully explain what happens when we celebrate communion or exactly what it always means.  Sometimes the same communion service means different things to different people sharing it.  As we grow and have more and more experiences with Communion, our understanding of it grows and changes.  Illustrate this mysteriousness with stories of several rather different communion experiences in your life or by interviewing several prepared worshipers of all ages about important communions in their lives.

If you will baptize people today, before the sacrament read the Trinitarian formula used.  Note that this is one thing shared by all Christians everywhere.  We have lots of differences but we are all baptized in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Briefly add to that saying something like, we are baptized in the name of God who created and loves each one of us, in the name of Jesus who both shows us how to live and forgives us when we mess up, and in the name of the Holy Spirit – God with us always.  You might even want to pause for a short prayer thanking God for loving us in these three ways in baptism and every day.

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

The Texts

Isaiah offers a mysterious vision of God on the heavenly throne.  Psalm 29 describes the mysterious, even frightening power of a thunderstorm storm.  Romans ponders the mysterious truth that this powerful God invites us to be in relationship, i.e. to be God’s children.  And, the gospel is the story of Nicodemus’ inability to deal with mystery.  Read together they set us up to ponder the mystery of God. 

Isaiah 6:1-8

p The seraphs call out “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

Point out places the word is stitched, carved or painted into your sanctuary. 

Define holy and translate “Hallowed be thy name” in the Lord’s Prayer to “holy be your name”.  Use the phrase as a congregational response in a prayer or praise litany about God/trinity. 

Sing “Holy, Holy, Holy” as a way of joining Isaiah and the seraphs in praising God.  Have the musicians pull out all the stops between verses or on the last verse.  Non-readers with the urging of people around them can sing the three holys at the beginning of each verse.

  

p Sing “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” out of season to capture Isaiah’s feelings in the presence of God.  Since tough vocabulary make this a hard song for young readers to sing, consider having it sung by the choir or a soloist in response to the reading of the scripture or after a conversation about the mysterious, awesome presence of God. 

p Many congregations enjoy singing “Here I Am, Lord.”  Children and others with limited Biblical knowledge will miss many of the symbols in the verses.  But, even non-readers can pick up on the chorus.

I Smell the Incense :
A Child's View of the Armenian Orthodox Faith,
by Ahnoosh

p If you use incense in worship, this is a good Sunday to use it before reading this vision and to talk about its meaning.  If you do this, what about sharing what you do and say to educate those of us who generally worship without the benefits of incense?!

p If you use the great prayer of Thanksgiving in celebrating Communion, just before moving into that liturgy, point out the phrase “Therefore, with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven, we worship and adore your glorious name, praising you forevermore:”  Explain how it fits into the prayer.  Practice the sung or spoken response your congregation uses.  Then, suggest that when we pray and sing this every time we celebrate communion, we are putting ourselves smack dab in the middle of Isaiah’s vision. 

p Display and briefly discuss a couple of great art renderings of Isaiah’s vision.  Then provide children (all worshipers?) with paper and crayons with which to draw their version of the scene.  Invite artists to post their drawings at the close of the service on a board set of for that purpose.  With their permission print some of them in the church newsletter or on the church website to encourage Sermon Art.

  

Psalm 29

p This is a psalm to experience and enjoy rather than explain in great detail.

p Before reading the psalm together, point out the big thunderstorm images - lightning like fire in the sky making everything look like it is jumping in the flashes, the noise of thunder, and the power of the wind.  Imagine being in a boat on the sea in such a storm.  Then note that that God is even more powerful and great than the most powerful thunderstorm.  Urge worshipers to listen for that power as the psalm is read.

p Before reading the psalm, make the noise of a storm.  Call on musicians (children with rhythm instruments to which organ or drum are added).  Or, invite worshipers to slap the backs of the pews in front of them with their hands.  (This works best with wooden pews and worshipers standing.)  Like an orchestra conductor signal a cut, then go directly into the reading of the psalm with whole congregation reading in exuberant, stormy unison.

p Direct the congregation’s reading of the psalm getting louder and louder with different groups reading different verses or adding groups so that each verse gets even louder.  Pause after verse 9, take a breath together, say the last two verses quietly.  (Before the reading you may want to read the last two verses, point out some of the storm images in the earlier verses, and point out the pause after verse 9.) 

p Psalm 29 shows up on Baptism of the Lord Sunday each year of the lectionary and to date I have different ideas for each year.  (Did I mention that I really enjoy this psalm?!)  So,

go to Baptism of the Lord (Year A) for directions for tracing the path of a storm in from the sea across the mountains and out into the desert and directions for coloring page activity.

go to Baptism of the Lord (Year B) for congregational reading script which adds the question “How strong is the Lord?” between verses.

Romans 8:12-17

p Find ideas about the children of God in  this text at Proper 11, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) -   if you have not exhausted being children of God reading the 1 John texts during Easter season.

p Both adoption as opposed to slavery in the Roman world and the privileges and responsibilities of heirs in that world and today are complex issues.  I’d focus elsewhere with the children today.

John 3:1-17

p Children sympathize with Nicodemus. Nicodemus came to Jesus with literal, left brained questions and Jesus answered him with poetic metaphors. They understand Jesus’ answers about a second birth and the wind no more than Nicodemus did.  For them the part that makes sense is verses 16-17.  Here Jesus says to Nicodemus and to them that God loves you and everyone.  Indeed God is more interested in loving us than in judging us. You can trust God to be like this.  (For children John may be making Paul’s point in Romans about God’s amazing love better than Paul did.)

At end of school year, there is a lot of judgment in awards and grades.  So it is a good time to stress God’s love rather than judgment.  God loves us whether we got awards or flunked.  Maybe put heart stickers on the back of hands saying “God loves you no matter what.”

JESUS MAFA. Nicodemus, from Art in the Christian Tradition,
 a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
 http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48385
[retrieved April 26, 2012].Add caption

p If this school just ended in your area, use this text to talk about the coming summer rather than to celebrate the Trinity.  Display the Jesus Mafa picture of Jesus talking with Nicodemus.  Ask how many people were there and what time of day it was.  Then note that Nicodemus wanted to know about Jesus, but he wasn’t sure he wanted other people to know it.  He came to see Jesus alone and at night.  He wasn’t very brave.  Jesus wanted Nicodemus to be braver.  We know that later Nicodemus stood up for Jesus at his trial and that he bravely helped claim Jesus’ dead body and put it in a cave tomb.  Conclude by challenging the children to be brave standing up for Jesus this summer wherever we are – at camp, the pool, etc.  

Year B - The Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 20, 2012)

U These are not easy texts for children.  That makes me inclined to celebrate the Ascension of the Lord which could be celebrated either on Thursday of this week or on this Sunday.  It is also a fact that the Ascension story both completes the Easter Season and sets the stage for Pentecost next Sunday.  Go to Year B - Ascension of the Lord for Ascension Day suggestions.  

U Whether you use the Seventh Sunday of Easter texts or Ascension texts, enjoy the final Sunday of Easter with lots of alleluias in songs and prayers.  “Come Christians Join to Sing” is one choice with a repeated chorus of alleluias for the young readers and verses that praise the risen, ascending Christ in simple words for the older readers.

U Schools close for the academic year anytime between mid-May and late June.  That event is intensely important to all the children and most of their parents and teachers.  Go to School Is Out!!!!! to explore ways to include the joys and trials of the end of the school year in your congregation’s worship.  I will also include some text-specific suggestions in the upcoming Sundays.

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

U The end of the school year is all about achievement.  Awards are given for academic achievements.  Grades are reported.  Even the fun stuff like the annual field day is all about winning ribbons and trophies.  Add to that the pressure to be chosen to be on the team and get off the bench to play in summer sports and to be accepted for special summer camps and May becomes a month of wanting to be chosen.  We know nothing about either Matthias or Justus except that Matthias was chosen and Justus was not.  Ouch.  Shortly thereafter there was an election of deacons and Justus didn’t make that list either.  Double ouch.  After pondering Justus’ unchosen-ness, go back to Matthias.  Point out that though he is the chosen one here, we don’t hear a single thing about what he did.  You might also run down the list of the 12 disciples pointing out how many of them we know nothing about.  Then point out that these un-famous, unknown people started the church that spread across the entire world.  God seems to use average, un-special, un-famous disciples (like us?) to do important work.   From there you can go straight to praying for everyday disciples or explore the places everyday disciples will be needed every day this summer at pools, on sports fields, in the back seat of cars, at home, etc.

Sing “Guide My Feet” with its repeated phrases to prepare to be God’s everyday disciples every day this summer.  

Psalm 1

U The over simplification of the difference between good people and bad people in this psalm appeals to children who do not yet realize that almost no one wears a totally white or black hat.  So direct the psalm to them.  The adults, who struggle with the nuanced differences between the good and evil, will listen and get the psalmist’s point too. 

U Visualize the major images in the psalm with a display that juxtaposes a lush leafy plant and a vase of dry brittle weeds/straw.  (BTW, talk in advance with the flower arranger so the weeds aren’t an elegant display!)  Point to the displays before reading the psalm or talk about them during the sermon to explore the psalmist’s message.

U Scornful, scoffers, and chaff are unfamiliar words to most children, so choose your translation carefully and point out strange words before reading if needed.  (There is no translation that includes none of these words.  So, choose the one that fits you congregation and introduce its “hard words.”)

U The psalm becomes clearer when read by two readers – one “the good” and the other “the wicked.”  They begin standing back to back.  Each one turns to face the congregation to read their verses, pivots back into place.  For maximum effect, “the good” wears white and “the wicked” wears dark colors.  Go to Year A - Proper 25, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time and scroll down to Psalm 1 for the script.

U Alice in Wonderland is not all that familiar to children today.  But, Alice’s problems with choosing the bad advice of signs that said “EAT ME” and “DRINK ME” could be explored as examples of what happens when we follow the advice of the wicked.

1 John 5:9-13

U Discussion of John’s message about eternal life has to begin with children by exploring the possibility of being physically alive but feeling dead.  To children to be alive is to be breathing, eating, and active.  If you describe the possibility of being physically alive, but being so mean, crabby, sad, unhappy, and greedy that you might as well be dead, older children will catch the difference, but the younger ones will not. 

U To further explore eternal life, present a series of pairs of mini posters.  Each pair offers an example of being alive but dead and an example of being eternally alive.  Present each pair citing examples and comparing how it feels to live in each one.  (Younger children appreciate the clue offered if the life words are printed on bright yellow paper with a glitter pen and the death words are printed in black on gray paper.)  The conclusion of this discussion is that Jesus came to bring us real life, eternal life.

It is MINE! – Let’s share it

I hate you! – Let’s be friends

ME! (what I want and need)– You? (what do you want and need)

John 17:6-19

U Children will quickly get lost in John’s convoluted version of Jesus’ prayer.  They count on worship leaders to tell them what is going on and to summarize Jesus’ prayer.  What is going on is that when Jesus knew that he was going to be killed very soon, he prayed not for himself but for his friends.  He loved them.  He told God that he had taught them everything God sent him to explain to them.  He asked God to protect them.  The protection he wanted was not that they have easy lives, but that they not get trapped into evil.

U Invite children to pray for their friends as Jesus prayed for his. The youngest can draw pictures of their friends (maybe even of them playing with a particular friend) talking to God about that friend as they draw.  The oldest children may prefer to write prayers for friends thanking God for what is special about each one and writing out prayer wishes for that person.  For them it might be the beginning of a “praying for friends notebook.”

Another way to pray for friends is to make a large scribble on a sheet of paper, write the name (or draw a picture of) a friend in each section, then decorate each section with parking pens as you tell God about that friend.  Children could take these prayers home, drop them in the offering plate, or mount them at a designated spot after worship.

U Continue Jesus’ prayer for disciples by praying for groups or individuals in your congregation and around the world with the congregation responding to each petition with Jesus’ prayer, “Holy Father, keep them safe in your name.”  To help the children participate in this, point out the prayer response in Jesus’ prayer, note it’s meaning, and practice saying it together once before praying together.

U To introduce the phrase “in the world” list with children all the places they will go during the coming week.  Then identify those places as “the world.”  Explain that Jesus knew that it is sometimes hard to be God’s people in those everyday places so he prayed that God would be with and protect his friends “in the world.”  

To do some worship education go from this conversation to “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” in the Lord’s Prayer.  Identify this as a way we pray for God to be with us and protect us everyday “in our world.”  Conclude by simply praying the Lord’s Prayer together or by praying a responsive prayer in which you name some of the places people will be this week and ask God to be with us and protect us from evil as we work and play there.  The congregation responds to prayers about each spot by praying aloud the phrase from the Lord’s Prayer.

U Especially if you are a Methodist, this may be a day to explore the phrase “sanctify them”.  Make the word sanctify or sanctification the sponsor of the day - ala Sesame Street.  At the beginning of worship present it on a large poster which will remain displayed throughout the service.  Enjoy saying the impossibly long, complicated word together.  Briefly define it and encourage worshipers to listen for it in your songs and prayers.  Does somebody have a good, child-friendly definition of this word?  

  

Year A - The Sunday after the Ascension of Christ (June 5, 2011)

The Ascension is not one of the best known stories about Jesus, but it offers several rather diverse possibilities for children.  It…

1.      provides an “end” to Jesus’ story and answers the question “where is Jesus now?”

2.      clearly insists that Jesus “passed the baton” to his disciples and us

3.      is an opportunity to review Advent through Easter

So, I suggest using the Ascension texts on the last Sunday of Easter. 

Acts 1:1-11 and Luke 24:44-53

R   Display pictures of Jesus’ birth, healing, teaching, Palm Sunday, Crucifixion, Empty Tomb, and Ascension.  With the children review Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  Then tell the story of the Ascension in your own words.  Stress that during his life on earth, his disciples knew Jesus as a very special person, after Easter Jesus was different.  He appeared and disappeared sometimes in locked but still ate fish and bread.  Thomas could touch him.  Since the Ascension, people have seen Jesus only in visions and dreams.  Jesus is still alive and is not just with God, but part of God. 

R   Instead of using pictures, bring out seasonal paraments from Advent through Easter.  If you have season banners, hang them all in sequence and walk your way through them.  Or, lay out your stoles in order and match them to their seasons.  Recall things you did during each season to remember that part of Jesus’ life.  Even add them (or let a different child add each one) to your robe as you talk about their seasons and then wear all of them for the rest of the service. 

R Both accounts of the Ascension make it clear that Jesus passes his ministry to his disciples.  Near the end of school many elementary schools have field days featuring, among other events, relay races.  Describe or ask some children to help you demonstrate the passing of a baton in a relay race.  Children could run the perimeter of the sanctuary, carrying a baton which they pass to the next child at the front of the sanctuary.  Then explain that though Jesus did not actually pass a baton to his disciples, he did tell them very clearly that they were to take up his ministry on earth.  His earthly part of the race was complete, but theirs was just starting. 

If you have a wood worker in the congregation, ask him or her to prepare a baton for each child or each worshiper.  Dowels can be cut into 8 inch lengths and the ends sanded.  Wood burn or draw with a marker a cross on each baton.  As you give one to each child say, “NAME, Jesus needs you to be his disciple.”  At the benediction raise a baton in one hand offering it to the whole congregation with words of challenge.  With the other hand bless them, reminding them that God will be with them as they carry their baton.

R Tell the story with movements which you invite the children to do with you.  Begin with hands and faces looking up (as Jesus ascends).  Drop your hands to your sides (as you ponder what the angels said).  Then, go into marching pose pumping your arms (as the disciples take up the task).  Repeat these motions and the angels words during the benediction.

RThe Ascension is about both endings and beginnings.  The end of the school year is also very much about endings and beginnings.  The school year just passed is over.  It is past, but everything children learned, the people they knew, and the things they did during the year will be part of them forever.  Jesus’ life on earth is officially over.  It is now in the past.  But Jesus is still alive in a new way.  Everything he said and did continues to matter.... 

The truth is I think this connection could be useful, but I also followed it to several really dead ends.  If you follow it a conclusion that really works, what about sharing it in Comments.

Acts 1:1-11

R   Have children bring pew Bibles with them to the front before the scripture reading.  Help everyone find the Table of Contents, then the list of New Testament books.  Together read the names of the first four books aloud.  Briefly note that these books contain all the stories about Jesus.  Then read aloud “The Acts of the Apostles” and introduce it as the story of the beginning of the church.  Without reading all the long complicated names of the letters, point out that all the rest of the books, except the last, are letters that people wrote to each other during the stories that are told in Acts.  Then, help the children find Acts 1:1 (give the page number) and read it stopping immediately after “In the first book, Theophilus.”  Identify Luke as “the first book” and introduce Luke – Acts as a two book set that was written for a friend named Theophilus (maybe Theo today).  Then read the rest of verses 1-5.  Briefly summarize the big change that is happening here as the disciples move from being with Jesus to becoming the church.  Send them back to their seats with their fingers holding the place to follow along as you read the whole text for the day.  (This will obviously work only when most of the children are readers.)

Psalm 47

R   Psalm 47 begins with a call for applause.  After pointing this out, teach the congregation a simple short clapping pattern which they then repeat after a worship leader or the choir says each verse or after verses 1, 4, 7, and 9.  You might try clapping the rhythm of the first line of “Peoples, Clap Your Hands!” (Genevan 47 which is # 194 in The Presbyterian Hymnal) or enlist the aid of a music leader in selecting another good pattern. 

R Tie Psalm 47 psalm to the Ascension by reminding people that Jesus was God in human skin.  That makes this a fitting praise for Jesus as he acends.

Psalm 93

R   Psalm 93 celebrates God who is more powerful than the flood waters or the sea surf.  If you have a sound team, work with them to produce a recording of powerful water sounds to play as the congregation reads the psalm aloud – loudly to be heard over the recording.  (Hint, hint: if you produce such a recording, could you post it, and let the rest of us know where to find it, the less technically able among us would be oh so grateful J.)

Verses 1,2,5    any water sounds

Verse 3            rushing water sounds (flood or big waterfall)

Verse4             heavy surf sounds

Ephesians 1:15-23

I think the Contemporary English Version (CEV) may offer the best translation of this text for children.  Today verses 19-23 can be heard as Paul’s comments to the Christians in Ephesus about the Ascension.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

^19 I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used ^20 when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right side in heaven. ^21 There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well. ^22 God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything. ^23 The church is Christ’s body and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Verses 19-21 describe Jesus Ascension power.  Verse 22-23 then describe the passing of Jesus’ ministry to the church.  Jesus is the Lord of the church.  The church is Jesus body present to do his ministry in the world.

RSpin out specific examples of today’s “forces, authorities, powers, and rulers” and celebrate the fact that Christ is more powerful.  For the children, list all armies (whether ours or theirs); terrorists who kill people to get their way; all presidents, prime ministers, and kings (the ones we like as well as the ones we don’t), any bully, etc.

R   The church as the body of Christ is a metaphor.  To help children explore both sides of the metaphor detail how different people and groups in your congregation serve as different parts of the body.  This would be an easy way to draw children into the “real” sermon.  Laugh with everyone about the idea that the minister might be the mouth of the church.  Then, point out that your mouth will not be around at the swimming pool or at the office this summer when someone needs to stand up for Jesus’ ways or say Jesus’ kind, loving words.  Insist that each of them must be Jesus’ mouth where they are.  Then go on to imagine who are the hands describing what they do being sure to include children serving as hands and so forth.  (Hmmm, I wonder how Jesus’ feet would play soccer?)  Offer children a sermon worksheet with outlines of the body parts you will explore.  Invite them to write or draw in each part at least one way they can be that part of Jesus’ body.

 



Get someone to improve on this and to feature the parts of Jesus' body
discussed in your sermon. 
As a last resort copy it with my permission and print it "as is."



 

School Is Out!!!

NOTE:  On this blog you have two sources of ideas for the Sunday nearest THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL: this article which includes general ideas that could be used any Sunday of the lectionary year and text-specific ideas included in the posts for the last few weeks of May and the first few weeks of June. 

The end of the school year is HUGE for children.  It is a marker of their growing up.  When the church recognizes this event, children feel loved and important.  When the church does not notice it, they feel marginalized.  One of the best places to raise the event is in the congregation’s worship.  As it is done, children and their parents feel loved and included.  Other worshipers remember their school days and enjoy all the hoopla.  (The end of the school year is one experience every person in the room shares.)

As we plan for including the end of school in our worship, we must be sensitive to the many feelings children bring to it.  Some are bursting with pride at work well done.  Some are profoundly relieved that what is an ordeal is over at least for a while – IF they don’t have to go to summer school.  Some are stung by the news that they will repeat the grade they have just suffered through. 

Kids are also looking toward summer with different levels of excitement.  Some anticipate sports camps, family vacations and free time.  Others are nervous about those same plans.  And still others see only boredom and maybe unwelcome child care arrangements ahead.

With all this in mind, there are several ways to raise the event in the congregation’s worship.

% At the very least mention the end of the school year in the congregation’s prayers voicing both appreciation of the year accomplished and looking forward to the summer.  Remember students, teachers, janitors, cafeteria workers, and all others who work at schools.

% Becky Ardell Downs suggested on a lenten Sunday focused on God's being more interested in loving us than in judging us that each child be given a report card from God.  Such a report card would be a big relief to all those who got report cards at the end of the school year.  Here is her suggestion:  

I ended up going with the "God does not grade us" idea and I actually made "God Report Cards" for all our kids (we have 6-15 each week, we had 8 this week). I asked the kids how they felt about getting report cards (SCARED!) and told them I had gotten report cards from God for each of them. They got all A's, of course, which made them all so happy, in subjects such as Love, Peace, Joy, Forgiveness, Kindness, Courage, ...etc. They just HAD to real quick show their moms. We read again the verse-- God didn't send Jesus to Judge or Grade us, but to love and save us. We don't have to be SCARED about God's grade for us! I was able to tie this into the sermon as well. (Of course I told the kids God didn't really make the report cards I gave them, and I invited them to fill in the rest of the card as they thought was right. My own son added some plusses to the A he got on kindness!)

% Just before the congregational prayer, invite the children to join you at the front.  Together identify things you want to say to God about the school year just ending and about the summer ahead.  Either cobble those concerns into a prayer that you offer with the children while you are together or incorporate them at the beginning of the congregation’s prayer.  The former helps children stick with you.  The latter demonstrates to them that their concerns are part of the whole church’s concerns.  (Warning: if this is done as a children’s time much earlier in the service, many children will not even hear it in the church’s prayers later.)

% A week or so ahead, invite the children to bring to the service one item they are looking forward to using during the summer, e.g. a soccer ball, sleeping bag, their library card, etc.  At some point invite them to come forward with these items.  Ask about them and how they will be used.  Ask children who arrive without items to name what they are looking forward to using.  After the conversation, offer a prayer asking God to be with the children as they use the items, asking God to help them use them with kindness and fairness, pray that the summer be as much fun as everyone is hoping and that all will be safe and loving throughout.

% Write end of the school year and/or beginning of summer psalms

Provide children with a paper and crayons or pencils.  One side is titled “Prayer for School.” The other is titled “Prayer for Summer.”  Add shadowy lines that might guide printers if they write what they want to tell God about each one or that could be ignored by those who prefer to draw pictures about school and summer that contain their prayers.  Ask ushers to distribute supplies as children are seated and give instructions early in the service or do so during a children’s time or just before reading the psalm for the day.  Talk about some possible topics for the psalms and invite children to display their psalms on a bulletin board, tape them on the communion rail after worship, or show them to you as they leave the sanctuary.

To call for more specific psalms, divide the titled prayers into sections as below.

!#:!#:!#:!#:!#:!#:!

A Psalm for the End of My School Year

Praise God for people, subjects, and activities at school: 

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Tell God about the things you are sorry about from school this year

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Tell God what you are looking forward to this summer

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Write or draw a last line for your psalm.

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

!#:!#:!#:!#:!#:!#:!

% The end of the school year suggests a benediction.  Below is one possibility.  But, I offer it with the concern that closing the service in this way will suggest to worshipers of all ages that it is fine to disappear until fall.  If you do an end of school benediction, it might be wise to surround it with words to the contrary.

UINUINUINUINUINUINUINU

Ask the groups in parentheses to stand for a special benediction, concluding with one for all in the congregation.

(Students stand) As you go forth into your summer, remember that God will be with you at the pool, at camp, at home, even at summer school, and wherever you go.  Have fun and be a good disciple. 

(Teachers stand) As you go forth into your summer, enjoy your change of pace.  Learn something new for the future.  And, remember that God is with you, watching over you and guiding you both in the classroom and out of it.

(Parents of children in school stand) As you go forth into a summer of new schedules and different activities for your children, there will be lots of juggling.  As you juggle, remember to love and enjoy your children.  And, know that God loves you and your children always.

(Everyone for whom the end of the school year will make no difference at all stands)  Hang in there.  It is easy to feel that everyone else is on vacation or doing interesting new things while you “keep at it.”  Remember that God is with you in the ongoing, everydayness of life. 

(All worshipers)  No matter where you are going this summer or what you will be doing, remember that God is with you always and in all places.  God loves you and watches over you.  So, go in peace.

UINUINUINUINUINUINUINU

% At some point in the service point to all the church activities planned for children and their families during the summer.  If children will be going to a church camp or conference, gather them up front and send them off in the name of the church and with an appropriate short prayer.  Name in town activities and encourage all to participate. 

% If many of your families will travel during the summer, start a bulletin board titled something like “First Church on the Road” and invite everyone to post pictures of themselves at other churches they visited.  Or, give families a picture of Jesus to color and perhaps laminate.  Invite them to take pictures of themselves with "flat Jesus" in places they go and even doing what they do without leaving town this summer.  Post these pictures on a bulletin board or web site to celebrate the church spread out during the summer.

This is a hodgepodge of general ideas - maybe a starter brainstorm.  Now, 

% Check the postings for the Sundays of late May and early June for text – specific suggestions.

% Add another possibility in a Comment here on on the Facebook page.  We all need all the ideas we can get!