tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995851195771634116.post1315031809858469418..comments2024-03-23T16:00:11.309-04:00Comments on Worshiping With Children: Year C - Proper 4, 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Second Sunday after Pentecost (June 2, 2013)Worshiping with Childrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12023055938126631743noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995851195771634116.post-54845393188118072682013-06-01T20:34:12.335-04:002013-06-01T20:34:12.335-04:00Great site, but am very concerned about the use of...Great site, but am very concerned about the use of the sponsorship idea. I know it is based on Sesame Street being brought to children by letters and numbers, but it also gets children used to and comfortable with the idea of advertising and commercial sponsorship on tv in their daily life. This may be a fact of life, esp in the US, but it represents a pressure on children that should be resisted and not endorsed by the Church. (Here in the UK, it is only relatively recently that programmes have been broadcast as "Sponsored by ..." a particular company. Nothing has been "brought to us by ..." yet! But we are seeing an increase in the frequency and duration of advertising breaks and some want to remove the ban on product placement in TV programmes. We have laws supposedly controlling the amount of advertising of children's toys, but the reality is that there is a huge amount of it.) <br /><br />I am especially concerned that linking God or Trust with advertising also encourages the congregation (adults as much or more than kids) to see God in consumerist terms, as a product we accept or reject according to how it suits us. <br /><br />Of course believers are not coerced and so do have a choice to believe/trust or not! But presenting faith in this way risks implying that choosing to Trust God is only one option, there are other products out there, which might be more congenial! <br /><br />There is already plenty of evidence that Western Christians tend to treat church as a product or service, if it isn't quite right they go somewhere else - Faith as "faithfulness" to a particular body or community in its struggles as well as its joys seems to be becoming a rare commodity. (Note that the Centurion's faith was based on his recognition of the authority of Jesus, in turn this recognition was shaped by his understanding that his military authority was not (primarily) personal, it existed because he was in a relationship with a power structure - As long as he represented "Rome", he had authority over his men. He would understand the need for commitment and faithfulness).<br /><br />Karoly Haasz -khaasz01@gmail.com Your sign-in is somewhat problematic for me. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995851195771634116.post-6882368339801541572013-05-28T18:19:11.835-04:002013-05-28T18:19:11.835-04:00What a great idea! Not many worshipers of any age...What a great idea! Not many worshipers of any age could tell the whole story of Elijah. Connecting the symbols for each week should help them both retain and connect the stories.Worshiping with Childrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12023055938126631743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4995851195771634116.post-78152901923155182932013-05-28T16:10:03.892-04:002013-05-28T16:10:03.892-04:00I love the vividness of the Elijah stories. I'...I love the vividness of the Elijah stories. I'm going to provide one symbol each Sunday (we used your "Moses table" a few summers ago) to add to a display. This week it could be either a piece of wood or a flame of some kind. Next week will be a handful of barley to represent the grain. After that maybe a grapevine, and the following week maybe a paper fan to represent the wind? Then possibly a toy chariot or some puffy cotton to represent clouds? Also playing with having the children "act out" the stories as they're read...Becky Ardell Downshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06668654420252380253noreply@blogger.com