Issue: April, 1999
Copyright: © 1999 Debbie Lou Ludolph. We invite people to use any or all of the material in this document to best advantage in the local community. Sister congregations and communities are welcome to cut, paste, clone and copy, with acknowledgment and mention of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site [http://www.worship.ca/] as the source. Additional copies of God's Children: Teaching Liturgy to Children may be downloaded from the Web [http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids2.html].
Related Material:
- Lift Up Your Hearts: God's Children
- God's Children: Welcoming Children to Worship
- God's Children: Teaching Liturgy to Children
- God's Children: Teaching the Lord's Prayer - A Dance Anthem
- Chalking the Door
God's Children:
Teaching Liturgy to Children
Introduction
God's Children: Teaching Liturgy to Children is the result of several requests for a copy of a workshop I did at River of Life, an ELCIC [http://www.elcic.ca/] national worship conference [http://www.worship.ca/sec3.html#nwc], held in Vancouver, BC, in August, 1998. Encouraged to make my ideas available to a larger audience, I have done so in collaboration with André Lavergne who has published God's Children: Welcoming Children to Worship [http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids1.html] which addresses the place and ministry of children in the worshipping community.
Many of my thoughts reflect my experiences at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Kitchener, Ontario. At St. Mark's I work with children during a 10 minute session at the opening of Sunday School, making connections between worship and learning. It is this community, together with my own children, which has inspired me to keep creating opportunities for children to experience themselves as full members of the Body of Christ and full partners in our worship.
The resources we use at St. Mark's include the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) and With One Voice (WOV) published by Augsburg Fortress (1978, 1995). All of the examples in this essay come from these worship books. The teaching suggestions I have made are geared to children between the ages of two and twelve, sometimes catering to the younger and sometimes to the older. This is the age range with which I work at St. Mark's.
When writing God's Children: Teaching Liturgy to Children I assumed that readers would seriously address four other aspects of the question of children and worship which are not discussed in this essay:
- that children will be in worship on a regular basis--the best teaching medium is that of
worship itself; the best tool is for children to be in church! Therefore congregations will
want to ensure that worship and Sunday School are not in competition with one another. Each
should be scheduled at its own time. Children--and teachers!--need to have the opportunity to
worship with the rest of the community;
- that communities will give attention to the question of hospitality that is offered to
children in worship and examine how child-friendly their worship is;
- that parents and care-givers of children will be given the support they need to cope with
children in church, to talk about the sacraments and worship at home with their children, and to
do activities at home that support the faiths of their children;
- that worship planners will think seriously about the gifts of children in their planning, and will nurture those gifts. It is well that children be encouraged to see their gifts as ways to "tell the story" and to express their faith. Who are the dancers, the painters, the poets, the instrumentalists among your children? Let them be given opportunities to use their gifts!
André Lavergne's God's Children: Welcoming Children to Worship [http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids1.html] touches on a number of these issues.
God's Children: Teaching Liturgy to Children is designed to stir your imagination. It is full of ideas about how to give children opportunities to embrace fully the worship life of our congregations. It is my hope that you will use this essay as a resource to be adapted in ways which honour your unique partnership with God and God's people in your community!
--Debbie Lou Ludolph
Contents
1 ~ What to Teach: Planning
At St. Mark's, the 10 minute opening of Sunday School has provided many opportunities:
- to teach children the music and responses of the liturgy;
- to teach them about the symbols and appointments -- communion vessels, vesture, etc. -- we use in worship;
- to cue children on what to look for in worship -- how the space has changed, what theme will be heard in the readings and hymns;
- to teach children new hymns as they are introduced in worship;
- to teach children about the shape of worship -- the ordo;
- to help children absorb the rhythm of the Church Year;
- and to prepare children for ways to contribute during worship.
Teaching the liturgy of Holy Communion and teaching about the sacraments is the focus of this essay. See sections 4 and 5, below. While teaching this material you will also be able to include information about the Lessons for the Day, the Church Year and the ordo of Christian worship. Be sure to consult the ELCIC's Worship Planning Calendar [http://www.worship.ca/sec3.html#calendar] or Lectionary Citations and Hymn Suggestions [http://www.worship.ca/sec3.html#lectio] to orient yourself to options and possibilities. One of the best resources for seasonal, lectionary and music ideas is Sundays and Seasons, an annual worship planning guide published by Augsburg Fortress. Reading through the introductory materials to the Seasons and the specific material for each Day will provide information and spark ideas. Basic information about the ordo -- the shape of our rite -- can be found in the helpful introductory pages of With One Voice. The recently published Gathered and Sent: An Introduction to Worship (available in leader's and participant's editions; see Resources, below) offers an excellent overview of the shape of the liturgy for adults.
It would be hard to make the connections between the Sunday School learning time and what is happening in worship without working together with those who are planning worship in your congregation. Ideally, before each Season, worship planners/leaders and educators will have a chance to plan together. In a smaller congregation, that might mean an informal conversation with the pastor and the Sunday School superintendent about ideas. In a larger church, such as St. Mark's, there will be Learning and Worship Committee members, a director of music, pastors and worship planning teams to be consulted. Meet together to plan around the lessons, the church calendar and your own church and Sunday School special events.
At St. Mark's, I like to plan in five blocks:
- September through Christ the King;
- Advent through Epiphany;
- Lent though Holy Week, the Triduum and Easter Sunday;
- Easter through Pentecost;
- Summer.
I like to consult with:
- the pastor re special events in the worship life: baptisms, confirmations, new members, catechumenal events, Global Hunger days, etc.;
- the worship committee re Sundays the children might be involved in the liturgy;
- the Sunday School superintendent re special events in the Sunday School schedule and how they will affect the singing time;
- the music director and worship planners re new hymns or rites that will be introduced.
With information about the worship schedule, the lessons and the Seasons, I then plan when I
will teach what parts of the liturgy. Within a year it is possible to teach all the parts of the
liturgy as well as teach the children seasonal songs and prepare them for participation in
worship. I have a long range plan -- covering about a year -- and short range plans -- covering a
Season, or series of Sundays. Within each 10 minute session I balance familiar music with new
music. I try to make sure that the musical goals are realistic. A typical morning would include
three or four songs. We do not always sing liturgical music. We also sing songs from Vacation
Bible School and Sunday School material, hymns old and new, songs from youth events and
camp. This essay, however, focuses on the music and responses in the liturgy and that is, in fact,
the first priority for my teaching time at St. Mark's. A year-long planning outline and samples of
detailed lesson plans are provided in section 10, below.
2 ~ How to Teach: Preparation
I believe that preparation is the key to the success of your time with the children. Here are some ideas for your preparation time:
- Learn the music thoroughly. Read the text, understand it. Know the tune without requiring
help from an instrument. If possible, memorize the music. It is important to have eye contact
with the children--it is hard to do that when looking at the music. It is important for the children
to hear the spirit of the music--it is hard to communicate that if you are still learning notes and
words.
- Think creatively about how you will teach the music -- your very last resort is to open the
hymn book and sing! Here are some thoughts to consider:
- Children will learn the music more easily if they have rhythmic helps or actions.
- When children are learning new music it is necessary that they hear the melodic line, either sung or played clearly.
- Variety will help children to stay interested and to want to participate.
- Consider, in advance, what might be the hardest part of the song and contemplate ways to make it easy.
- Consider whether your group can manage all of a given piece at once, or whether time should be devoted to a single part of it. It is never important to me that we learn the whole song at one time; rather that we learn it well and that children will remember the portion we learned that day.
- Consider singing a capella sometimes. Children's voices are wonderful without accompaniment.
- Consider what instruments might be appropriate: maracas, claves or bongos for rhythmic energy; guitar for rhythmic energy with harmony; piano or keyboard for a clear melodic line with accompaniment; melodic instruments like flute or clarinet to add an obligato line or to reinforce the melody. Search out the musicians in your congregation--many young people take instrumental music at School but are never asked to play at church or in the liturgy.
- Prepare what you will say throughout the 10 minutes. Think about what you want to teach
about the liturgy and the Season, about God and God's people, through the songs you have
chosen.
- The first few words that you use in your instruction time can provide context and foster understanding for the environment -- colours, symbols, appointments -- that the children will see in the liturgy that day.
- Consider beginning each session with the greeting "The Lord be with you." and with the children's response, "And also with you."
- Try something like "Today is the very first Sunday in our Church Year. In church, this morning, you will notice that the color has changed! The paraments -- the cloth pieces that hang from the pulpit, the lectern and the altar -- have changed. Can you guess what colour they will be? Blue! That's right! Look for other things that have changed when you go in, because it's Advent. In Advent we're counting the Sundays until when? Christmas! Christmas, when we celebrate Jesus' birth. Advent is a time of waiting, of hope, leading up to Christmas."
- Your words can also speak to the shape of worship and to where the item of liturgy you will teach fits into the service: "Today you will notice a new piece of music in the Gathering part of the service, the beginning part of the service. We will sing it every Sunday in Advent. It is a sung prayer called the Kyrie and it's sung right after the pastor greets us."
- Think creatively about the space where you teach. The space you use during your teaching
time needs to help you do your job. We do our opening in our parish hall. We decided to have
the children face away from the door so they weren't constantly distracted by late-comers. We
arrange the chairs in semi-circular rows and occasionally remove them or re-orient them to suit
our purposes. We had to ask the coffee and juice servers to wait until our session was done
before offering the drinks as it was a major distraction. I encourage you to think about any
possible distractions and to come up with creative solutions. Two minutes of ten is too much
time to use on solving problems that could be solved ahead of time!
- Consider any visual aids that will help the children to learn. I use a large bulletin
board which changes with the Seasons of the Church Year and has room for words of songs but
also other helps -- primarily helps that point to the Church Year and to the ordo.
One visual aid that is helpful is a poster or pie-shaped diagram that shows the Sundays in the Church Year by Season, marking festival days and showing the proper colour for the Day. You can purchase one or have a Sunday School class learn about the Church Year and make one! In addition, within a Season you can count the Sundays. For example, in Advent make the bulletin board blue and put paper candles up to count the Sundays.
One idea --that I've not yet had the nerve to adopt!-- is to paint the parish hall with a broad time- line running all the way around the room -- a wide stripe which changes colour with the Season and the Day. Within that band of colour we could draw/place pictures or put up photographs or write names of newly baptized members or prayer concerns -- the possiblities are endless! The room by the end of the year would reflect the life and pilgrimage of the community in that year. The whole congregation would be surrounded with a visual reminder of their life and ministry and the kids would have a great time painting and participating!
To suggest a particular Season, a symbol can be added or the space rearranged. For example, during Lent, add a cross to your space. On Palm Sunday, consider doing a promo for Holy Week and the Great Three Days. Establish symbols around the parish hall for each of the services and then gather the children around each station: Palm Sunday: palms; Maundy Thursday: bread and wine, basin and towel; Good Friday: cross that will be carried; Easter Vigil: paschal candle. At each station talk about what happened to Jesus and what will happen in each service. The preparation for the week will help the children to enter into worship and may also spark interest.
A visual aid that will help the children understand the rhythm of the service is a poster or wheel that indicates the shape of the service -- the ordo. With One Voice outlines the shape in the introductory pages. You might begin with a wheel that has four parts: Gathering - Word - Meal - Sending. As you do different parts of the liturgy you can refer to where they fit into the service. If you decide to concentrate on one part of the service, break down that section with a visual aid as well. Have a Sunday School class make these visual helps as they learn the material.
- Contact anyone else -- musicians, artists, helpers -- that you will be working with to rehearse or to prepare. Some people can "wing it." Most of us, however, do a better job if we have time to prepare.
3 ~ A Teacher's Checklist
- Be certain that your music is prepared and your voice is ready for singing. Do what you
need to do to be warmed up vocally: you are leading the way and want to call out the best in the
children.
- Check that resources are ready: instruments, art supplies, words written out, songbooks, and
the like.
- Check that your space is set up in a way that encourages participation and avoids
distractions.
- Make certain that your planning is complete and your lesson plan is in-hand. Know exactly
what you want to do and then be flexible. When dealing with children there are often surprises!
Adjust with grace and always have an extra song up your sleeve!
- Do an attitude check on yourself! Be assertive and clear: the children need clear direction and need to sense that you are in control. Be friendly and hospitable: you want the unspoken message to include "I think kids are wonderful! I like to sing! I believe what I'm singing! I enjoy this community! God loves you and cares for you!"
4 ~ Teaching the Holy Communion
Liturgy is the "work of the people." Our liturgy is our work. We want children to understand that they are welcome as active participants in worship. Teaching parts of the liturgy to the children makes them more able to participate in the service. I don't believe that the liturgy needs to be watered down in order for it to be accessible to children. Rather, let us welcome their participation and give them extra help with the music and words. The ideas below are meant to stir your imagination so that you can adapt them to your own context.
Christian worship in the Lutheran Church -- and in many other denominations! -- is marked by a pattern of gathering, word, meal, and sending. This is the shape of the rite in the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) and With One Voice (WOV). The work in this essay reflects that ecumenical reality. Scripture references are given in order that you might use them to help children understand the origin of the texts.
Greeting (2 Corinthians 13)
The greeting, like the peace, is an exchange between the presiding minister and the congregation. Practice this exchange with the children. Talk about looking at the pastor, speaking with energy--the children can lead the congregation in making a hearty response. Try the exchange with the pastor or let a variety of children play the part of the pastor and have all others respond. The greeting is also an opportunity to talk about the grace of Jesus, the love of God , and the communion of the Holy Spirit; about blessing; and about greeting. This is how we start!
Kyrie (Luke 17)
Many of the songs we sing in our liturgy are sung prayers. The Kyrie is one such sung prayer. Kyrie eleison means "Lord have mercy." Talk about the place of the Kyrie in the Gathering part of the service. I often teach the Kyrie in anticipation of or for Advent or Lent when it appears in the liturgy.
- Learn the congregation's part first. Have an instrument -- flute, clarinet -- play the melody of the assisting minister (A). Have the children sing the responses (C), "Lord have mercy."
- Teach the children the orans -- the prayer posture used often by the pastor and assisting minister in which arms are raised to God.
- Ask the children to watch for all the times the orans is used in the liturgy. Talk about other prayer postures -- bowing, kneeling... A variety of postures is shown in God's Children: Teaching the Lord's Prayer -- A Dance Anthem [http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids3.html].
- Sing the (A) part and have the children do the orans and respond. Then teach the (A) part in English and Greek. Try having different groups do each part with the (A) part doing the orans.
- When the children are confident of the melodies, invite the instrumentalists back to play the obligato part written in WOV. Lead the congregation by doing the (A) part with orans in worship.
WOV, Setting 5 - Kyrie
|
Another Kyrie that children will enjoy is that at WOV 601, a song from Ghana with a strong rhythmic pulse. Use percussion instruments. Consider, too, WOV 602, a Russian Orthodox piece. Teach the melody. In the liturgy have the children do the Kyrie the first time through; the choir do the second time through in 3 parts; the children, choir and congregation do the third time.
Hymn of Praise
-
WOV, Setting 4 - Glory to God (Luke 2)
- Ask the children if they recognize these words from a story. The Glory to God is a hymn of praise to be sung with joy as the angels must have sung the night of Jesus' birth. Teach the refrain to the youngest children; the older children might learn the verses.
- Form a circle. Walk forward to the centre raising hands on "Glory to God in the highest"; go back out on "and peace to God's people on earth," lowering hands to assume a posture of open embrace to express the inclusion of all people.
- Add tambourine on beat 1 of each bar.
- When the children know the refrain, have a cantor sing the verses and the children join in on the refrain. While the cantor sings verse 1, children hold hands high in the orans position; on verse 2, they kneel in prayer; on verse 3, they return to the orans, walking in a circle.
- Begin by clapping the rhythm and having the children clap back. Then use the text as a speech pattern and say it in rhythm "This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia." Do it quietly, loudly, gradually louder, joyfully, etc.
- When the rhythm is established -- be sure to hold the longer notes for their full value! -- then add the melody in 3 pieces: This is the feast (children echo) / of victory for our God / alleluia.
- Have a cantor or parents or older children sing the verses and the children do the refrain. If you do this, you will need also to teach the ending.
- At worship, have the children lead the (A) part and sing "This is the feast" when it returns in the (C) part. The congregation sings the verses between the refrain.
LBW, Setting 2 - This Is the Feast (Revelation 5)
WOV 608 - This Is the Feast
This jazz version is wonderfully festive. Teach the children the refrain and then have a soloist who can "jazz up the verses" do it with them!
Salutation (Luke 1:28)
Begin every session with the children with "The Lord be with you" and have them respond. At various times work on the response. Have the children take turns doing this greeting. During Advent draw attention to the scripture reference--it is that of the angel talking to Mary!
The Readings / Lessons
- There are two songs which can help children to learn the books of the Bible. Many parents
may appreciate the refresher too! By teaching the books of the Old and New Testaments you
can talk about where the First and Second Lessons come from. I have used the songs entitled
Books of the Old Testament and The New Testament from Songs from
Sunday School, in the Good News Explorers curriculum (Augsburg Fortress, 1995).
Once the children have learned the songs, you can play a game wherein the names of individual
books are inscribed on pieces of paper and children are invited to put them in order.
- Learn a song that reflects a direct quotation from one the Lessons and then offer that song
at worship at the time of the reading. The children will learn that liturgical texts and many of
the songs we sing come directly from the Scriptures. Some examples would include:
- WOV 764 - Blest Are They (Matthew 5)
- WOV 664 - A New Commandment (John 13)
- WOV 783 - Seek Ye First (Matthew 6)
- LBW 476 - Have No Fear, Little Flock (Luke 12:32)
- The Taize [http://www.taize.fr] and Iona [http://www.iona.org.uk] communities offer many texts
set simply and directly to music. See also the Scripture in Song books offered by various
publishers.
- Review the dialogue "The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God."
Psalm
- Talk about the Psalms being the songs of the people of Israel and that every Sunday part of
our liturgy includes the singing of a Psalm as a response to the First Lesson. If your
congregation sings the Psalms to a psalm tone, then teach the children how to follow the
pointing. Let the children take turns pointing to the text. To indicate the changing note, make up
and down movements with your hands which they can imitate.
- Learn a setting of a psalm text for an upcoming week and offer it in the service.
- Learn a song and use it as an antiphon or response to an appropriate Psalm. Consider, for
example, WOV 103, Bless the Lord, WOV 772, The Lord is my Song, or LBW
16, I Will Sing the Story of Your Love.
- Make up your own simple melodies to the psalm text for the day.
Verse - Alleluia (John 6:68)
- There are many different "alleluia" songs that the children can learn for this moment -- any
of the ones from the settings in WOV or LBW.
- Learn a new alleluia before Lent and then put it away until Easter.
- Talk about how we stand for the reading of the Gospel and sometimes we even process the
Bible or Lectionary for the reading to take place in the midst of the people.
- Here's a chance to learn about processions: act one out getting children to be torch-bearers
and book-bearer and presiding minister -- all the while, singing your new alleluia!
- Talk about Peter's question, "Lord to whom shall we go?"
- Talk about the Gospels: "They are stories about the life and death and resurrection of Jesus
from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."
- Practice the Gospel cues and responses.
-
WOV 609 - Hallelujah
Our children taught the congregation this Native American song. Children took turns playing the open-fifths on the piano and leading the rhythm (ta titi ta rest) on the drum. Other children slapped the rhythm on their knees. It is wonderful if they gain enough confidence to do this song as a canon.
Another alleluia children will enjoy is at WOV 612, Halle, Halle, Hallelujah, a Carribean melody. Use rhythm instruments. See also WOV 788, Glory to God, an echo song. Sing a capella. Children could lead the congregation.
Verse - Tract: Return to the Lord (Deuteronomy 30; Numbers 14)
-
WOV, Setting 5 or LBW, Setting 2 - Return to the Lord
Ask the children "what God is like." One year I had children volunteer to take home sheets of paper to decorate. The paper had on it an attribute of God's from the song: gracious / merciful / slow to anger / abounding in love. I asked the children whether they could find out what their word or phrase meant and to bring their sheets back for Lent 1. Their pictures formed a colourful montage on the bulletin board. Every Sunday in Lent we reviewed what God is like and sang the Lenten Verse (Tract). Sometimes the children went and got their pictures and held them up when we sang a particular word. We talked about Lent being a time to "return to God."
The Prayers (I Timothy 2)
- WOV 772, 773, 774 and 775 offer several sung prayer refrains. They are easy for children
to learn. Teach one of them to the children and then let the children introduce the refrain to the
congregation. That refrain can be used in worship for the entire Season.
- Talk about the Prayers of the People and teach the children the shape of those prayers--who
we pray for. See Crafting and Praying the
Prayers [http://www.worship.ca/sec3.html#craftpray].
- Older children can learn to assist in writing the Prayers and can offer them in the service.
- Rehearse the spoken prayer refrain that will be offered that day.
- Talk about and try different prayer postures: folding hands, holding hands, standing, sitting, kneeling, orans, etc.
-
WOV 775 - Lord, Listen to Your Children
Praying
- Because of the phrase "Lord, listen to your children praying," WOV 775 is especially poignant when taught to the congregation by the children. The text is repetitive and is therefore easy for the children to learn.
- Reinforce the last line: what are we asking God to send us? Love / Power / Grace.
- This would be an excellent opportunity to model, in Sunday School, the Prayers of the People. Pray for each class; for children who are sick; for their school teachers and soccer coaches. Offer prayers from their world.
Greeting of Peace (Matthew 5; Romans 16)
Practice sharing the peace. What do we do? What do we not do? What are we really saying? Can we move out of our pew? Why do we do this?
Offertory
The offertory is a wonderful teaching moment about the sacrament of Holy Communion. Invite a member of the Altar Guild to come and set up a display of communion-ware and linens and to talk about each item: what it's called; what it's for; how it is cared-for. Talk about the offertory as being a time of bringing our gifts forward.
-
WOV, Setting 5 or LBW, Setting 2 - Let the
Vineyards
- Divide the song into 4 parts and have available pictures and props as follows:
- vineyards (picture) / grapes / wine (bottle) / cup (chalice)
- harvest (picture) / seeds / bread (loaf and wafer) / paten
- hopes / dreams / prayers (3 words on cards)
- table (communion table photograph) / foretaste of the feast (phrase on card)
- Each week, add one part and set out the appropriate pictures and props on a table. By the end of the fourth week Holy Communion is established as embracing all these things!
- Let the children take turns holding up an appropriate prop as it goes with a phrase.
- Children can then sing the offertory at worship and be invited to present the wine and the bread.
- One of the classes might also be invited to bake the bread for the day's celebration.
Another offertory that children enjoy is WOV 705, As the Grains of Wheat.
Offertory Prayer
Consider a Sunday School class memorizing this prayer and then leading the rest of the children in praying it. The other children just do three words on cue: our selves, our time, and our possessions. This could finish out a teaching section on the offertory.
Great Thanksgiving
-
WOV, Setting 4 - Dialogue (Sursum Corda)
- Use this setting to learn the dialogue between the pastor and congregation.
- Use hand gestures:
- The Lord be with you. (extend hands out to people); And also with you. (extend hands forward toward the presiding minister)
- Lift up your hearts. (orans; see illustration above); We lift them to the Lord. (orans)
- Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. (hands continue up) It is right to give our thanks and praise. (hands continue up and shake)
-
WOV, Setting 4 - Holy, holy (Sanctus; Isaiah 6; Matthew
21), and Memorial Acclamations
- Teach these as a unit, since they are tied together musically; and teach the smaller parts first.
- Teach children to listen for the cue phrase "we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."
- Explain, in simple terms, the shape of the Eucharistic Prayer which is punctuated by the sung responses.
- Have some fun with "Christ has died, Christ is risen..." Divide in 3 and have each group stand when they sing their part. Alternatively, call out "past," "present," and "future" and have the children stand and sing on cue.
- The tune will be automatic by the time they've learned these bits so that by the following week you can teach the Sanctus, "Holy, holy."
- The tricky part in the Sanctus lies in the second line, so start with that. Speak the words
- Lord God of power (shoot arm up with fist closed) and might;
- heaven and earth are full of your glory (extended arm leads you to turn around in a circle);
- hosanna in the highest (knees bent, hands on knees and whisper);
- Add "holy, holy" (do wave changing sides on downbeat of each bar);
- Sing 4 phrases. Enough for one Sunday.
- The following week teach three pieces, as follows:
- Blessed, blessed ... Lord (extend hand outward left to right);
- Hosanna (arms reach up either side);
- in the highest (turn around shaking fingers on highest).
- You might consider learning this for Palm Sunday since it connects with the text. The actions are tools to help the children learn. When they do it in worship they might or might not be invited to do the actions.
Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6)
- Learn the Lord's Prayer with gestures as found in God's
Children: Teaching the Lord's Prayer -- A Dance Anthem [http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids3.html].
- Consider teaching the chant version in LBW, Setting 3. Children can learn to chant a piece like this, but the leader must know it well and be able to sing through the lines so the children hear how the music moves.
Lamb of God (John 1)
-
WOV, Setting 5 - Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)
- Use finger cymbals or triangle to play the downbeat.
- Have the children sway to the beat as you sing one phrase at a time and then have them echo. Be sure to hold the last note of each phrase for the full value -- most congregations have trouble here.
- The swaying helps children to feel the music with one beat per measure rather than three.
See Section 5, below, for additional ideas.
Post-Communion Canticle
-
LBW, Setting 2 - Thank the Lord
- Use tambourines and woodblocks or other instruments of praise.
- Talk about this being our response to the meal and our being "sent out." We say thanks joyfully!
- Practice this line for line.
- Learn half of it the first week and learn it well enough to do it heartily and with instruments.
- The following week teach the second half : we go out with God's promises; God is faithful; we go out with joy, Alleluia! We sing in the spirit of "shouts of thanksgiving"!
Other post-communion canticles the children will enjoy include WOV 722 Hallelujah. We Sing Your Praises, a Carribean song, and WOV 754 Let us talents and tongues employ, a Jamaican folk tune. Use rhythm instruments for both. Teach the rhythm of these songs first by clapping it and having the children clap it back. Then say the words to the rhythm. Than add the melody.
Blessing / Benediction (Numbers 6)
We go with God's blessing. The presiding minister says a final blessing, making the sign of the cross. Teach the children to make the sign of the cross in remembrance of their baptism and as a sign of God's blessing.
WOV 721 - Go, My Children, with My Blessing
Children can learn verse 4 of this song as a way to reinforce this blessing. They can learn to sign the words of verse 4. When our children had learned to sign this song, they sang it as a benediction for the congregation. The congregation sang verses 1-3 and then the children sang verse 4 and then signed verse 4 without singing, the flute playing the melody line and the piano the accompaniment.
Dismissal
Practice saying with energy "Thanks be to God!" Divide into 2 parts and practice assuming the
roles of the assisting minister (A) and the congregation.
5 ~ Teaching the Sacraments
Look for every opportunity in the songs that you sing with children to make the connection to their baptism and to their participation in Holy Communion. Below you will find some ideas about music and activities that can help teach the children.
- Decorate a bulletin board with pictures of people at communion, being fed. Put key
phrases on
the board that reflect the variety of gifts that come in communion: forgiveness, joy, growth,
unity, foretaste of the feast to come, God's presence, strengthened to serve, etc. Put the words of
the post-communion canticle on this board.
- Use the words of the Holy Communion liturgy to talk about Communion. One of the books
I find especially helpful is Come for All Is Now Ready (see Resources, below) and you might
use the authors' words, "Holy communion has many meanings. When we eat and drink together
with our family, the church, we share bread and wine and the love of Jesus. It is happy and sad.
It reminds us of the past and future. It keeps us close to God and to each other. It is good food!"
- Invite members of your congregation of different ages to share, for a couple of minutes,
what communion means to them and how communion practice has changed over the years.
- Invite the children who dance, to dance the offertory gifts forward at worship.
- Have children assist in distributing communion at worship.
- Have the children make bread for communion on the anniversary of their baptism and
present it as a gift at communion; or have a class make bread as a gift to their church family.
- In addition to the music of the Communion liturgy, there are also many hymns and songs
that will be sung in church that can teach the children about Holy Communion. Here are some
examples:
LBW 214 - Come, Let Us Eat
- Teach this song as an echo song, alternating between leader and children. Leader does the first line; children, the second line...
- When the children are familiar with the melody, divide the group in two and have the two groups take turns in the leader's role.
- At worship, the children can take the leader's part and the congregation can echo.
WOV 706 - Eat This Bread
- Teach the refrain. Talk about "the goodness of God," "God's presence," "bread of life," "cup of love." This is what Communion is to us. Use guitar and piano with a triangle on each half note. It adds brightness. Have the children take turns playing the triangle(s).
- At worship, this song can be used in place of Psalm 34 with the choir or youth singing the verses and the children singing the refrain.
WOV 709 - Eat This Bread
- Teach the refrain.
- Talk about the invitation to "come" and to trust. God always is saying "come" to us. The meal is that constant reminder of God's unconditional love; it is God coming to us.
- Teach the harmony and appoint a leader for each part.
- Use the flute obligato found in the WOV accompaniment book when the children are sure of their part.
WOV 710 - One Bread, One Body
- This song calls us to be one and celebrates our unity as God's people. Teach the song in a
circle:
- One bread, (right hand is raised);
- one body, (left hand is raised);
- one Lord of all; (both hands are extended higher; look up);
- one cup of blessing (hands are cupped together in front);
- which we bless, (extend cupped hands forward);
- and we, though many throughout the earth, (everyone wanders in all directions);
- we are one body (come back to circle);
- in this one Lord. (join hands in the circle and raise them together).
- On the verses, assign each line to a different child who goes into the centre of the circle to sing that line. It is good to have a guitar and keyboard for this song to keep the rhythmic pulse--of course a full band combo would be even better!
- At worship, this song can be done with the children placed in a semi circle across the front and down the aisles. They do the actions as they have done in Sunday School.
- Post the names of the candidates for Baptism on a bulletin board, so that children can join
their community in looking forward to the celebration. Encourage them to pray for the baptismal
family. On the baptismal day, add a photograph of the newly-baptized to the board. Having a
Polaroid camera on hand can be helpful in this regard.
- Fill a bulletin board with pictures of water images: lakes, rivers, waterfalls; Noah's Ark, the
Parting of the Red Sea; kids in a bath tub, the font, baptisms. Place words around the border:
"God's gift," "forgiveness," "new life," "Holy Spirit," "birth,""sacrament," "Holy Baptism,"
"child of God," "washed clean," "let you light shine," "good works," "glory to God."
- Invite children to bring their baptismal candles on the anniversary of their baptism and to
light them as a regular part of your gathering.
- Remind children, over and over again, that "You are children of God."
- Fill a large bowl with water and have children dip their fingers in and make the sign of the
cross. Talk about the font in the church. Talk about baptisms and how we gather around the
font, the water.
- Learn together the baptismal verses "Let your light so shine" and "We welcome you into
the Lord's family."
- Draw attention to the occurrence of a baptism at worship and sing a song that makes that
connection for the children.
-
Talk about baptism being a gift. Daniel Erlander's book Let the Children Come: A Baptism
Manual for Parents and Sponsors (see Resources, below) gives helpful explanations of baptism.
- Invite children to gather at the font for the sacrament of Holy Baptism.
- Have the children make the baptismal candles that are given to the newly-baptized. A child
might be invited to present the candle which she or he has fashioned. Children can be invited to
say together the verse they learned "Let your light so shine before others..."
- Pastors: sprinkle the children -- and the congregation! -- with water as a reminder of their
baptism. Teach them about what is going on.
-
Teach the children songs that reinforce the truth that they are children of God. Here are some
examples:
WOV 683 - Loving Spirit
- Teach verse one to the children. Draw attention to the last line "you have set your sign on me."
- Talk about the pastor making the sign of the cross on them when they were baptized. Remind them of the words "you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever."
- Have them make the sign of the cross on the person next to them as a reminder of their baptism.
- At worship, have children sing verse 1. The congregation sings the rest. Alternatively, have older children sing verses 2- 4 while younger children sing verses 1 and 5. This song can be beautifully interpreted by a dancer.
WOV 694 - You Have Put on Christ
- Keep this song moving. If it goes too slowly, it is hard to sing.
- Use finger cymbals on the beat.
- Sing in 3 parts.
- At worship, sing this song as a 3 part round immediately following baptism.
WOV 764 - Blest Are They
- Teach the refrain.
- Rejoice and be glad! (hands reach up);
- Blessed are you, holy are you. (point to someone on each "you");
- Yours is the kingdom of God! (hand extends out and moves to right across your body).
- When the children know the refrain have a soloist sing the verses and put it together.
- At worship, teach the congregation the actions. Do the song with a soloist on the verses and children leading the congregation on the refrain.