Education

Thanks to Becky Fisher for conceiving the idea of using Harry Potter with VBS , for the extensive amount of work in gathering materials and other tasks to make it work at St. Peter’s. Of course, she was the lead teacher also! Thanks to Catherine for handling the music, borrowing the labyrinth and other details and to all the helpers for lunch and other needs.

And most of all for the Class of 2017 – the largest number of children served (17) in several years over a longer period of time. The full story is here.

Vacation Bible School is the consummate summer event for kids. The expressions in this picture speak volumes about these children and their personalities. It was great getting “our gang” together on a relaxing, summer day. It’s a wonderful time for them to have fun with each other.|Day 1 was about “God is Love”. It was taught in what they colored, what they sang and ultimately about an outreach project they did. Catherine and Becky are our teachers with the assistance of Judy and Tucker. In most of what they did they learned to work together, an invaluable lesson. There was plenty of time for just fun and games.

It was water day on the last day of Vacation Bible School! The day began in the church, where the children learned today’s Bible verse, which was “You are the light of the world.” They got to touch a light ball, and we learned a new song, “This little light of mine.” Everyone went outside and gathered something from nature to use in making sunprints. We put the leaves and other treasures on the paper and laid the paper in the sun. Almost immediately, lovely patterns appeared on the paper as the sun did its work.

Today’s verse was “Be kind to one another.” We talked about how Jesus came to teach us how to be kind to one another. We read “The Surprise”, a Frog and Toad story about raking leaves. We played a game called Pass the parcel while we were still in the church. Everyone has learned to sing God is so Good and This is the Day that the Lord has Made. Everyone got their hands blessed so that we can go out and use our hands to be kind. We made hands during craft time which will be labels for the soup jars to be used for the Village Harvest distribution next week. Navy beans were added to the soup

We welcomed two new children to the group today, Mia and Brock.Everyone heard the story from I Samuel about Nabal, Abigail and David. Nabal and Abigail were rich, and David cared for their sheep. When David went to ask Nabal for some food to share with the other shepherds who worked for him, Nabal said no. David was so angry that he wanted to fight. Abigail decided to seek a different way, and so she prepared a meal and took it to David and the other shepherds, with apologies for Nabals behavior. David forgave Nabal and was grateful to Abigail for finding a different way for the two men to resolve their differences.|We heard the story, talked about how we gather around Gods table and as we share the bread, we become friends with one another.|Games included some review games for the week, and for snacks, we made and baked pretzels and had brownies

We continued with our theme this year of Welcome! Give and Receive Gods Great Love.|Zacchaeus climbed a tree to be above the crowds to see Jesus. Jesus stopped under the tree and called Zacchaeus by name, and then invited himself to Zacchaeus house for supper. Zacchaeus is forever changed.|We heard the story, got to act it out (Tucker was the tree), then took turns climbing a tree and sharing friendship bubbles. For craft time, we made a tree, the leaves were our handprints.|We returned to the parachute game from Monday since it was popular.

Our theme this year is Welcome! Give and Receive Gods Great Love.Today we heard the story about Abraham and Sarah welcoming three strangers and offering them hospitality. Abraham offered the strangers a place to rest, some water, some food, and he offered to wash their feet. Sarah and Abraham fixed the three visitors a delicious meal. And then the strangers had a surprise for them! They told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a baby, although she was far too old. And so Sarah laughed and said Is anything too wonderful for God!

Today we heard the parable Jesus told about the Good Samaritan. In response to a question from a man who wondered who his neighbor was, Jesus told a story.|We entered into the parable by hearing it and then acting it out, several times. Everyone got a chance to be different characters in the story, and the children were very creative as they acted out this drama.|We shared a snack, made beautiful goblets to share with one another and found a secret message (just as the parables have secret messages for us all) by painting, and our game today was a form of tag. The person who got tagged got bandaged, and then the bandaged person tagged someone else and bandaged that person. This game helps us to remember to be good neighbors and to care for those among us who need our help.

Godly Play teaches children the art of using Christian language – parable, sacred story, silence and liturgical action – helping them become more fully aware of the mystery of Gods presence in their lives. When Christian language is learned by the Godly Play approach, it is learned as a means to know God and to make meaning of our lives. This approach is quite different from the traditional model in which the teacher tells the children what they need to know. Godly Play is not about things that are that simple

We had several surprises from on the third night of Vacation Bible School. A new family, friends of the Wisdoms, came – they had a 5 year old child. The Rev. Amy P. Turner came along with Catherine from Fredericksburg to meet the children. She will be the children’s coordinator using the Godly Play curriculum in September. We also had some of the Long family to show up. A big surprise was the low humidity and plentiful sun in the middle of August! Wow! The younger children learned about friendship through friends that helped Paul (Aninias at Paul’s conversion, escape through a basket in Damascus) and then attached their names on a purple roller to a Biblical saying. They indicated how they sacrificed for their siblings. The older children continued with the travels of Paul. The adults completed their study of Galatians in chapter five. The younger children then had a crafts activity making colorful firecrackers

Vacation Bible school continued in night #2 . The organization under Becky is superb. Elizabeth provided the meal – two varieties of macaroni, “aggressive”oatmeal cookies plus barbecue, slaw and pototo salad from night #1. It was amazing to see the Apostle Paul taught on three levels. Barbara led the younger children talking about Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus , Becky the older children (Paul’s travels) and Catherine the adults (chapters 2-5 of Galatians, Paul’s justification by faith). While the children provide the spirit for the evening, the adults should be saluted for making it all happen. In addition, we have received a letter from Michael thanking St. Peter’s for funds donated to his school for the playground fund.

Vacation Bible School got off to a good start with 10 children and several adult leaders. Thanks to Elizabeth, Cookie, Eunice, Marion, Barbara, Kelly, Catherine and Becky for their help to make it a success. Becky was the grand coordinator. While the evening was hot no one seemed to mind. While the children gobbled down sandwiches, the adults had barbecue, slaw, potato salad and a wonderful lemon dessert Cookie made. Children were divided into two classes – one around play and games and the other around Paul. The Adults began their own study of Paul’s letter to the Galatians.