Dear Friends,
Last week, I wrote my little note to you all which is, so much of the time, as much of a sermon-style reflection as anything practical, when I stumbled into an entirely practical question, which I obviously posed on Twitter: How do kids learn to use their Bibles?
The congregation where I currently serve presents children with their first full Bibles, rather than storybook Bibles, in 4th grade, and the curriculum we use for that age group (the older Intermediate Episcopal Children’s Curriculum) encourages them to learn to use it, but it never quite feels like enough. And I say that as someone whose most powerful Bible navigation tool is a song I learned in second grade. In my first year in college, I could move through my Bible more quickly than seminary-bound seniors in my Wisdom Literature class. Which is to say, it’s a skill I have, but not a skill I’ve really seen taught.
Godly Play, of course, has its Introduction to the Holy Bible lesson, as well as the more extended Books of the Bible lesson, but the first of those is much more about the Sacred nature of the Bible than how to use it, and the second is much more structural, but can make it harder to see the Bible as a whole. These aren’t quite the right tools for 10 year olds suddenly confronted with 1000 very thin pages. So, how do we get there?
This is a real question, y’all. How do you help Upper Elementary students become confident using the Bible? Is this a goal you have with your program or your children? I’m laminating some Books of the Bible bookmarks, I’ve got coloring pages we can post on the walls, and I’m plotting some team scavenger hunt races, but it’s tricky business. We purposely choose Bible translations that are developmentally appropriate for their reading level, but figuring out where things are in them is a whole other challenge.
In other news, please share a laugh with me about the authorship of this bookmark I looked at while Googling last week -
Blessing The Work
I’m sure that many of you, like me, are headed back into your Sunday School season this week, now that we’re past Labor Day, and amidst the excitement there’s also plenty of stress. I sat down in my office on Tuesday amidst boxes of supplies and piles of paper and just felt overwhelmed. And, at the same time, with the wisdom that comes from all of the general chaos of the pandemic, I know: it’s really hard to break Sunday School in the same way that it’s really hard to break church. Simply being together is the thing that matters.
One place I turn for inspiration in this work is the Facebook Page “Illuminating Care,” which refuses to allow the idea that something is “just babysitting” (one of the classic myths of Sunday School and feminization of this ministry) to be a tool for minimizing this role. It highlights the extraordinary importance of care work, and why we should honor and respect it.
Care – in all its forms – is part of the work of discipling, and it is also a public good and an act of love. Love is at the core of our faith, is the heart of the relationship between aspects of the Trinity. It is why our communities matter. Love shows up.
May the showing up be blessed.
Amen,
Bird