I have recently completed my second full year as Director of Christian Education, and hence, this is the third annual report I have written. As I look back over the past two reports, I am struck by a few words that keep popping up: flexibility, change, pivot, and transition, to name a few. This is the reality of the world in which we currently live. While we all probably feel that we don’t need one more lesson about how tough things make us stronger, I’m sure we all would agree that learning how to make the best of a difficult situation is a skill that everyone needs. Our church school children have developed this beautifully over the past few years. I thank them and their families for their positive and patient spirit.
The winter and spring of 2021 saw our church school continue its theme of “Story”. At the start of that school year, in September 2020, we started by investigating Black American folktales. As 2021 began, we started looking at Native American origin stories. We learned that these stories had multiple purposes. They explained the origin of something in nature, and they also taught lessons about how people should act. Our kids then decided to write some original stories in this style. We first looked at what was around us in nature, including the land, water, trees, animals, birds, fish. When we thought about lessons regarding behavior, we looked at the banner that has been hanging above the door between the sanctuary and the chapel, the “Be the Church” banner.
We spent a few months writing stories as we met on Zoom. When it came time to film the stories, the kids had one request – that we do it together, in person. It wasn’t simple, but it was possible, and it was important. We ultimately completed writing and filming two stories – “How the Rainbow Trout Got its Colors” and“The Moose and the Butterfly: A Story of Two Friends.” It was wonderful to come together, safely masked, to wear butterfly wings and fish head costumes and see the stories come to life.
With the ever-changing COVID situation, Peter and I did some thinking about what church school would look like when the new school year started in September of 2021. Since many of our children were not yet eligible to be vaccinated, we decided to meet outside for as long as the weather would allow. So, “church school al fresco” was born. We met on Sunday mornings under a tent generously loaned to us by Wesley Methodist Church. We met outside until mid-October, when we moved inside to the church dining room. That area allows us plenty of space to spread out with family groups socially-distant from others.
The theme for this year connects to the previous year’s use of the “Be the Church” banner. We are taking each phrase from the banner and reading bible passages that illustrate them. Then, the children are responding to the words with original creations – photographs, sketches, paintings, poems, short stories, etc. Our plan is to put them all together into our own Be the Church book, with each phrase of the banner a chapter of the book. Stay tuned!
This past December saw the return of our church’s live nativity extravaganza. As history promised, it was freezing cold. In spite of the temperature, we had a great group of 14 kids (and two moms) who brought the Christmas story to life. When someone asked how it went, I said three things that I feel illustrate it well. 1. The angels were all crying because they were cold; 2. The magi jumped their cue and arrived in Bethlehem long before the star appeared; and 3. Baby Jesus spit up on me. All in all, a successful evening!
I would like to thank Peter for helping me to figure out how to navigate the current, and often-changing, situation of COVID and still offer our church children a valid experience. Thank you to the parents who helped in so many ways, from scenery and sound effects while filming the Children’s Day plays, to stepping in to fill roles in the live nativity. Thank you also for helping your kids to log on to Zoom meetings when we have needed to meet remotely. Your help is immeasurable and greatly appreciated.
Thank you for letting me spend time with your kids. As I wrote on Children’s Day: Most importantly, I want to thank the children. Throughout this insane year, you have been rock stars! You showed up week after week with smiles and positive attitudes. This was in spite of the fact that you had often spent much of your school week on Zoom. I’m sure the last thing you wanted to do on Sunday morning was to be in front of a screen, at least with me. But you did so, happily. Thank you for introducing me to your dogs, cats, rabbits, chinchillas, etc. Thank you for your humor and creative energy. Thank you for forcing me to look at the year in a glass-half-full way. Instead of focusing on what we don’t have, thanks for encouraging me to look at how lucky we are and how much we really do have. Thank you for reminding us what it really means to Be the Church!
Respectfully submitted,
Lori Morse