Welcome to the resource page for families with youth/older school aged kids!
This is where we will put resources each week for kids to learn and explore their faith, sometimes on their own, sometimes with an adult's help.
Here's how it works:
Each week, we'll post a few new resources in this space. Try one idea over the course of the week and see how it goes.
Sometime during the week, if you get a chance, head over to our feedback blog, and let us know how it's going.
That's it!
Right now, we're getting ready for Lent, which starts with Ash Wednesday on February 18. Remember to come to our services at St. Paul's on that day, at 7am, noon, or 6:30pm.
This is where we will put resources each week for kids to learn and explore their faith, sometimes on their own, sometimes with an adult's help.
Here's how it works:
Each week, we'll post a few new resources in this space. Try one idea over the course of the week and see how it goes.
Sometime during the week, if you get a chance, head over to our feedback blog, and let us know how it's going.
That's it!
Right now, we're getting ready for Lent, which starts with Ash Wednesday on February 18. Remember to come to our services at St. Paul's on that day, at 7am, noon, or 6:30pm.
New this week
- The most important contest of all contests is approaching--have YOU filled out your bracket yet? Find out all you need to know about Lent Madness right here.
- The always-insightful monks at SSJE have a new Lenten series of videos that will be going live each day, around the theme of Time, and how we can be more faithful with our time. Join in and take some time out of each day for God!
- This video makes you stop and think about how attached you are to that handy smart phone by your side. How can you use technology to strengthen your relationships with other people and with God?
- As the seasons change, people's needs change as well. Take some time to pray for the specific challenges that winter brings to many.
- In this season of decorations and lights everywhere, decide what's really important. In this activity, come together with your family to talk about which traditions and which decorations have meaning and power for each of you.
- As we approach the end of 2014, take a moment with your family and reflect back on the year that has been. Was it good? Was it not-so-great?
- Are you tracking and participating in the Global Advent Calendar that SSJE is coordinating? It's right here, and it's amazing.
- Haven't figured out your Advent wreath situation yet? Sybil MacBeth (who came up with the doodle method of praying we did in Sept) has you covered.
- Giving is a big part of Advent, and you can join in the worldwide observance of Advent in a new way this year. SSJE (an Anglican order of blogging monks--it's a thing!) has organized a daily email blast, which will send you a word a day throughout Advent. They ask that you respond, via your smart phone. Take a picture you think connects to the word and post it to Twitter or Instagram, tagged with the word, (#renew, #rejoice, #thrive, etc) and #advent. Then, see what everyone else has done. (It's all explained here.)
- Do you struggle with a particular negative situation? Try playing the 'Best Thing About' game. Think of a person, a situation, a place, and take turns saying things like “The best thing about my church is the music we sing.” To help spark ideas, get a pack of wide, wooden sticks, and write down people’s names, places, pets, etc. Place the sticks in a decorative jar, keeping it in a place where the family or children gather. Draw one stick out for each time you play the game.
- Let it Go… let it GO…
Rather than discard “good” clutter, designate one day a month for the family to toss thing which have served you well, but you don’t need any more. Put them all together, say a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing. List them on a site like Freecycle or put them on the street with a sign that says “Free Store”. - (Thanks to Build Faith for these ideas and activities this month.)
- Fall is upon us, and falling leaves make a good way to pray. Learn how, here.
- Feeling overwhelmed? Need a break but can't fly to the Bahamas? Loyola Press has a series of 3-minute mediations to help you take a break from your day and re-center.
- Everything in front of page 355 in the prayer book often seems confusing --but it doesn't have to be. There are prayers in there for families to use together in the morning and evening. Check out page 137. For more information on this type of praying (called the Daily Office), here's Fr. Matthew Moretz to explain. If you don't have time to read out of a book, podcasts come to the rescue once again! There are several folks who record the prayers each day, including two from our own diocese: Fr. Marcus Halley and Fr. David Kendrick. Listen to the morning's prayers and readings while you're getting ready and greet the day a bit calmer, or listen to compline while you're going to sleep.
- Want to turn your child's phone addiction to a good purpose? Social Media prayers--a way to turn what your child sees on Facebook, Twitter, etc into prayers for those around her/him.
- A poet was asked to interpret Psalm 1 through cartoons. You can look at the others, as well. What do you think of their interpretations? (G-dcast, the group that did these, is a progressive Jewish group that makes comic-style animations of the Hebrew Bible. Everything they do is really amazing, though not everything is always in kid-friendly language.)
- Need something to listen to in the car? There's a podcast to help you pray! Check out PrayAsYouGo, which puts out daily prayers.
- Psalms at dinner. This week, try reading Psalm 23, or another of the shorter psalms as a blessing before dinner, then discussing it. How does that psalm make you feel? Have you ever felt like the writer of the psalm seems to feel? When? Why?