Here's How it Works
The 3s and 4s begin the hour in worship and are dismissed to their
classes following
The Time with the Younger Church
-
The Storyteller leads the children in preparation for worship.
-
One story is told for four week using wooden figures and a scripted
story.
-
The children work with the story and respond to it through art and
other activities.
-
The Storyteller prepares the feast and the children say a prayer of
thanksgiving and enjoy the feast.
-
The story is read from a children’s Bible.
-
A
blessing is given.
The Storyteller changes each month,
but a Shepherd is there throughout the program year to provide
warmth and welcome to the children and help for the storyteller.
 Children
learn at a very young age to worship by experiencing worship. The
flow of the Worship Wonder class is modeled after a worship service
and the tone is set with preparation for worship as the children
enter the room. They are reminded to walk more slowly, talk softly
and sit quietly in this special place. Why do we come to this place?
We come to worship, to hear stories of God and pray.
The
goal is to teach children the art of using religious language as
they experience parable, sacred story, silence and liturgical
action. Through experiential worship, multi-sensory storytelling
methods and “wondering” questions, children learn the language of
worship. It enables them to bring their lived experiences into
dialogue with God through the biblical stories. They become more
fully aware of the mystery of God’s presence in their lives.
This
program was originally created in
the Montessori tradition.
The repetition of the story for four weeks enables the children to
really learn it and respond to it in different ways.
The
wooden story figures were primarily made by members of our
congregation. The stories used are from Jerome Berryman and Sonya
Stewart’s books
Young Children in Worship, Following Jesus
and other resources.
Click here to
view our Worship Wonder brochure.
|
