Opening Check-Ins
We support each other no matter what. Invite everyone to share something that made them happy and/or something that made them sad this past week. We are here to support each other in prayer and presence.Centering in Silence and Song
If you have a household altar, I recommend using it. If not, a sense of ritual and sacred time can be initiated by lighting a candle and ringing a bell (three times is usually a good way to help everyone settle into silence). Share a few minutes of silence together. You may sound the bell again when silence is over. Children often enjoy the responsibility of these tasks (and should be supervised and assisted as appropriate).Prayer of Jesus
If you have a particular version of the prayer that you use, you are encouraged to use it.This is the "children's translation" that I wrote and use with my students:
God all around us with many sacred names
We roll up our sleeves to create a beautiful world with you
Please care for us and our needs and forgive us when we don’t do our best
Please help us to be forgiving of others, too.
Help us to be good, loving, and safe so we can help create a loving and safe world for everyone.
Amen.
Sacred Story
Background:
This Sunday past Sunday was the beginning of Sukkot, a festival that Jewish people celebrate every year. It lasts for one week.Sometimes we call the festival the “Festival of Tabernacles” or the “Festival of Booths,” because people set up a booth for the week. During the week, people will eat outside in their booth instead of inside, like we normally do.
Why do you think people might live outside? Are there stories in the Bible in which people don’t have homes?
Sukkot helps Jewish people and all of us remember the time that the Hebrews wandered in the desert after Moses helped the people escape from enslavement in Egypt. The Jewish people are said to have lived in the desert for 40 years! That’s a long time!
Sukkot is also a harvest festival. Who knows what that is?
At this time of year, it would have traditionally been the last big harvest before winter, when it would be hard to grow food for a long time. So people would have a great big feast to celebrate. So it is a happy holiday, because we are celebrating what we have.
One of the things that people did during Sukkot was gather the “four species.” We’ll learn a little bit about that. They would also read from the book of Ecclesiastes, which is one of the shortest books in the Bible. We’ll talk about that today, too.
Craft: Make a Booth!
Bible Story:
Read together about Sukkot from "High Holidays and More"Read together “A Time for Everything” in Growing in God's Love (p. 160-161).
Read together "The Best Sukkot Pumpkin Ever" by Laya Steinberg
Conversation:
Read together "God is a Secret" in Images of God for Young Children (p. 20-21)Closing Prayer
Pray together the prayer on p. 22 of "First Prayers"Curriculum texts used:
- Images of God for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval
- First Prayers by Caroline Jayne Church
- Growing In God's Love: A Story Bible by Elizabeth F. Caldwell and Carol A. Wehrheim
Special Texts used:
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