Pentecost Family Service

Here is the "tongue of flame" labyrinth Sue mentioned in today's children's sermon.

Here is this week's Sunday School craft: tongues of flame headband.

You can share prayers for an upcoming family service here.

And to see our upcoming schedule of online gatherings, click here.

As I mentioned in the announcements, here is a list of resources for talking with kids about race.

10 Resources for Talking With Kids About Race

1. How young is too young to talk about race? infographic from the Children's Community School
2. God's Dream of Diversity: Celebrating Pentecost Grow Christians' Pentecost post from last year
3. Episcopal Church Racial Reconciliation info page
4. Time Magazine "Why White Parents Need to Do More Than Talk to Their Kids About Racism" 
5. "Talking to Kids about Race" Lee & Low, republished from Parenting Magazine.  Also this article with some tips for evaluating books you are thinking of reading or buying: "Beyond Good Intention: Selecting Multicultural Literature." The Lee & Low website is also a great place to find children's books that represent a diverse range of identities.
6. The Beatitudes: from Slavery to Civil Rights - a video read-aloud of this children's book that shows some important events in the history of the Civil Rights movement in parallel with the beatitudes text from the sermon on the Mount.  
7. Bookshop Santa Cruz's Anti-Racist Reading List for Young Readers from board books up to young adult
8.  National Geographic's article on Talking to kids about Race
9. Common Sense Media Guide: "How Parents Can Use Media to Raise Anti-Racist Kids"
10. Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein's Document Anti-Racism Resources for White People has a section with suggestions for raising anti-racist kids as well as resources adults can use to expand their own knowledge.  Thanks to Kristin C. for sharing this in the coffee hour Facebook Group!

And already since I posted this our Presiding Bishop has posted this statement: When the Cameras are Gone, We Will Still Be Here, which links to the Episcopal Church resource page on Responding to Racist Violence

I did not write these resources and some may not be right for every family, but I hope that this list is broad enough that you can find something in here that will be useful!

Observing Memorial Day with kids

This Memorial Day weekend will be an unusual one, but my hope is that it will be a meaningful and enjoyable one.  This post is a collection of resources to give you some additional ideas to observe Memorial Day with your family.

Prayers (perhaps before a meal):

Jesus said "greater love hath no man than this: to lay down his life for his friends."  This Memorial Day, we remember those who have died serving in our country's armed forces. 

Gracious God,

On this Memorial Day, we pray for those who courageously laid down their lives for the cause of freedom. May the examples of their sacrifice inspire in us the selfless love of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bless the families of our fallen troops, and fill their homes and their lives with Your strength and peace.

In union with people of goodwill of every nation, embolden us to answer the call to work for peace and justice, and thus, seek an end to violence and conflict around the globe.

We ask this in your holy name. Amen. 

(-Anonymous)

Thanksgivings: each person can share one freedom that they are thankful for, for example, our rights to choose our own religion, our freedom of speech, our safety, etc. 

The Lord's Prayer:

Our father, who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those

who trespass against us

and lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil

for thine is the kingdom,

and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Craft and Recipe Ideas: 

Patriotic Windsock (made from a toilet paper tube!) 

Paper Plate Star Wreath (while you may not be able to take the wreath to a war memorial or cemetery, you can display it at home!) 

Popsicle Stick Stars 

Flag cake

Red, white and blueberry popsicles

Happy Memorial Day! 

Rogationtide Blessing

Traditionally, rogation days were a time to "beat the bounds" of the parish, walking around its boundaries and praying over the fields for a good harvest in the fall. While we can't walk the boundaries of our parish or Saint Andrew's Campus right now, I think this is a time when our world needs all the blessings it can get! Here is a simple prayer service you can say either around the dinner table or walking around to different parts of your home (for example near the garden hose or bathtub for the prayer about water, the kitchen or garden for the part about food, the front door or an external wall for the part about shelter, etc.)

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray:

God, we thank you for the earth and everything on it, and especially for this place that we call our home.  Help us to see your love in creation, and to use what you have made well, in service of others. 

We thank you for the gift of water and for the life that it supports.  Bless us with just the right amount of water.  Help us to use the water wisely and to protect it. 

We thank you for our home.  May it continue to bless us with shelter and warmth, and may we take good care of it and make it a place of kindness and welcome. 

We thank you for the bugs and creepy crawly things on the earth.  Bless the ground and air with them so they can bless us with healthy soil and pollinated plants. 

We thank you for the wonderful foods the earth produces for us to eat.  Bless the people who grow and raise our food.  Bless us as we enjoy it, and help us to remember to be thankful. 

We thank you for all the blessings in our lives. Bless us with strong, healthy bodies, minds ready to learn, and hearts full of joy.  Strengthen us to love and serve others as you have loved and served us.  Amen. 

Ascension Sunday School Craft

This week's Sunday School craft helps us remember the story of Jesus' ascension into heaven.  First listen to the story, in either the 10:00 or family service.  Then, you can click here to get a fun ascension craft from the blog Catholic Playground! That blog post has a video of the craft in action, instructions, and the template. I had some trouble getting the printable template to open so (just in case) here it is as a PDF. 

If you would like some company to work on the craft, we will have craft time Tuesday morning at 9:15 on Whereby (RSVP here)! You will need to have the template, a blank sheet of paper, and some basic craft supplies (glue or tape, something to color with, and scissors). 

Family Service for Ascension Sunday

I forgot to mention this in the announcements (oops!), but you can find prayers for tomorrow (Memorial Day) along with some craft and recipe ideas here.

The Rogationtide blessing I mentioned is here.

The Sunday School Ascension craft that I mentioned is here. You can join me at 9:15 on Tuesday morning to make one or make it on your own! If you do join me on Tuesday you will need the printed template, scissors, glue or tape, and something to color with (crayons/markers/colored pencils).

You can share prayers for an upcoming family service here.

And to see our upcoming schedule of online gatherings, click here.

Family Service for May 17th, 2020

You can find the coloring page of Jesus blessing the children here.

The Sunday School dove craft that I mentioned is here.

You can share prayers for an upcoming family service here.

And to see our upcoming schedule of online gatherings, click here.

See you soon for Bishop Lucinda's visit! The forum from 9:15-10:00 is here, and the service will be linked at the top of our website.

Sunday School: Holy Spirit Doves

Hi everyone,

If you heard my children's sermon for this week's 10:00 Sunday service, you know that when I was younger, I noticed the painting of a dove over the entrance to the church I attended at the time.  Once I knew what it was, that dove helped me to remember each time I passed it to slow down and listen for God's voice. It was also a wonderful reminder that God is always with us no matter where we are, whatever is going on in the world around us, whether we notice God or not!

You can find a dove printable here that you can put somewhere to remind you to stop, say "Thank you" for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and take a second to listen for God's voice in your heart. To use this one, just cut out the body and wings, decorate, and glue or tape the wings on.  The extra ovals are feathers that you can stick on the wings if you would like. That's a lot of cutting and gluing so I usually don't use them and just draw on the wings.

If you don't have a printer, here's another one that you can make with a paper plate! And if you don't have a paper plate or a printer, you could draw your own dove or choose something in your house that you see every day to be that reminder for you instead.

Have a great week!
Chaplain Taylor

Family Service for Mother's Day

As always, please share your prayers for an upcoming family service. You can upload them here or email them to me at tashlock@st-andrews.org.

Our "Wednesday School" lesson will be available at this link on Wednesday to learn a bit about our bishop.

Here is our schedule of online gatherings.  If you plan to join one, please add your name (1 space per computer or iPad)

The Lord is My Shepherd

Hi everyone!

This week's lesson is called "The Lord is my Shepherd."

You can hear the story, sing a song, and see how to make the project here. You can download the template for the project here.  If you don't have a printer, you can draw a picture of a shepherd and sheep (and write your name on the sheep!) instead!

Have a wonderful week!
Chaplain Taylor

Good Shepherd Sunday Family Service

You can print the Good Shepherd coloring sheet here!

You can share prayers for an upcoming family service here.

And to see our upcoming schedule of online gatherings, including this week's "Wednesday School," click here.