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Hi Everyone!
Happy Spring! How are we all doing? We love hearing from you!
Parents you are doing a great job! Keep up the good work. You all are in our prayers and we hope that you are doing well. Please stay connected as we navigate this time apart together.
Sunday school meets on Zoom, Sundays, at 9:00 a.m. We’re excited!!
Children’s Choir meet on Zoom, Wednesdays.
Please contact us for the links.
God’s deep peace be with you and your family, with our world, leaders, medical professionals, those who are ill and all facing economic impacts.
Beth Tobin, Deacon
Education and Children’s Ministry
Worship:
Gloria Dei will post worship online at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday: www.GloriaDeiOlympia.org or Facebook: Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Olympia
Wednesday Evening Worship: Holden Evening Prayers will be posted on Wednesdays
Here are the scripture readings for this Sunday, March 22:
- 1 Samuel 16:1-13 - David is chosen and anointed king
- Psalm 23
- Ephesians 5:8-14 - Live as children of the light
- John 9:1-21 - Jesus heals the man born blind
It’s great practice for your kids to look up Scripture in the Bible.
Use the technique of placing the spine down and opening the Bible half way should get you in or near the Psalms. Navigate to Psalm 23 from there. If you open half way, and the split the right half again you should land somewhere in the gospels. Navigate to John from there. Help make sure your children understand that the larger numbers are the chapter numbers and the smaller numbers are the verse numbers. For older students you could have some fun and do Bible races: Bibles lay closed, hands behind your back, someone calls out a Scripture reference and players race to see who can find it first!
Using Sunday’s Scripture Throughout the Week:
I’ve heard some of you are incorporating Bible time into your daily home school schedules.
Here are some ideas that you can use throughout the week to expand on Sunday's lessons: http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2014/02/year-fourth-sunday-of-lent-march-30-2014.html
A Template for How to Do Worship at Home with Kids:
This is a great resource for how to do worship at home with children specific to this Sunday with a focus on Psalm 23: https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2020/03/worshiping-at-home-on-march-22-2020.html
Some alternate words to use with this format that children from Gloria Dei might be more familiar with:
1) Calling Yourselves to Worship:
Leader: The Lord be with you.
Response: And also with you.
2) The prayer suggestion in the link is great:
For an alternative, please see the Sunday School section below.
3) Benediction:
This is the benediction GDLC kids are use to hearing:
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace. Amen.
4) Sending: Leader:
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Response: Thanks be to God!
For those of you who like to plan and work ahead:
Worship ideas for children for the rest of the spring:
https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/p/date-index.html
Sunday School:
Join Sunday School Zoom Style for all ages, Sundays, at 9:00 a.m.
What to expect:
- We will gather, check in, and say hello
- Open with Prayer
- Introduction to the Lesson
- Guided practice and discussion using your supplies at home.
- Regroup and Share
- Closing Prayer/Prayer Table
We will be reading the Bible story from our current favorite children’s storybook Bible, “Children of God Storybook Bible” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. ISBN 978-0-310-71912-0 If you end up liking the book and decide you want to order it, we encourage you to support our local businesses. Browsers Bookstore in Olympia, is taking online and phone orders.
Sunday School Supplies for Sunday, March 22:
If you are able, please have the following items handy:
- Paper - any kind, that can be written on, drawn on, and cut up. One sheet per participant. Recycled paper will work too.
- Pencils, or markers, or crayons - something to write or draw with
- Scissors
- Access to water (We will use a tiny bit of water for the lesson and also use water for the prayer table, so a small bowl and a bit of water to pour at the appointed time would work great…. That said, all of the kids like to pour the welcome water when we do the prayer table, so depending on your situation, each child might want to pour their own welcome water when we get to the prayer table part. Just a heads up.)
- Rocks - 7 or so that will fit in your hand - more rocks are fine. Again, depending on your situation, each child might want to have their own rocks. We will be building a prayer cross with our rocks. Here’s a link showing what we will be doing with the rocks. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=225196265274299
- Optional: Prayer Table supplies as you are able - see next section for the home scavenger hunt.
Prayer Table Scavenger Hunt for Kids
Children love to help build the prayer table during Sunday school at church. Click here for information about creating a prayer table of your own using a variety of items you might have on hand.
Prayer Table for Home - Lent
This includes directions for how to set up and use a prayer table at home along with an explanation of the symbolism, meaning, and wording for you to use as you wish.
A list of items found at home to consider using on your prayer table is included and can be used for your kids to do a scavenger hunt. If you are looking for an activity or projects for your kids, suggestions for how children can make some of the items are also included.
Children’s Choir via Zoom
If your child likes to sing, wants to connect with other kids, and has time, we are meeting for Zoom rehearsals on Wednesdays. Please contact us to request an invitation link.
Twos - PreK/Kindergarten 5:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Kindergarten - 6th Graders 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Other Cool Resource Links and Ideas
Bible Story Table:
A Bible story table invites children to creatively use the toys they have at home to recreate scenes and retell Bible stories in their own words. This link has cool insights and inspiration for setting one up at church, but you can glean ideas and see how you can adapt the idea at home. As children get in to creative imaginative play, they could spend hours on something like this! https://www.rotation.org/topic/a-diorama-workshop
If you want to take the lesson about David being chosen and anointed further:
This week’s free resources include:
• A child’s activity page
• Psalm 23 Coloring page
• Psalm 23 devotional and activity page
• Lectio Divina based on Psalm 23
• Coloring page with the prompt, “God, today I pray for…"
Godly Play Resources for Home:
Here’s an Introduction to Stories of God at Home.
Some of the images are free using the links below. The purchase price for the other materials have been greatly reduced for the next two weeks.
Gloria Dei Godly Play children were working through the Faces of Easter. You could download and print the images so students could color their own Faces of Easter prints.
The Faces of Easter storytelling link:
This is the same link I shared last week that would be great for everyone to watch as we get ready for Easter. So powerful! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlFho5BRyEc
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Happy New Year! Consider this monthly Bible study as a great New Year’s Resolution to help you dig into the Bible and grow in faith throughout the year.
