Suggestions & questions about the Christian Education section of the Web site should be directed to Cindy Bolton at boltonc@macucc.org

As summer approaches Christian education programs might consider continuing throughout the year by broadly grading which will account for the needs of the teaching staff to have a break and parishioner’s vacation schedules, travel, summer homes, etc. Summer Sundays could be used as a special time to study different materials i.e. biblical parables, mission work, justice and peace or perhaps important people in the Bible. Summer Sundays provide members of the church who are not available during the regular Sunday school year, the opportunity to nurture and love the children of the congregation. As board and committee work diminishes during the slower summer season, the church asks less of its members so that a different pool of adults are available to give the children spiritual tools and share their many and varied gifts.

This summer to help parents offer activities that families can do together, create “take home” Scripture packets following the summer Sunday lectionary. They can be used while on vacation, away or just during the week to help answer the proverbial, “I am bored”. Have Children’s Bibles available for families to borrow. Place in cloth satchels or brown paper luncheon bags photocopies of the Lectionary Scriptures for the coming Sunday. Include an opening prayer and then some questions that the family can discuss regarding the Scripture. Design and construct activities that support the Scripture varying the activity/activities using the multiple intelligences so that everyone is easily included. Place these in available and visible spaces in the church so that they are easily assessable. Make sure you put information about them in your weekly bulletin.

Provide families with information about camping opportunities for their children. Although the MACUCC does not offer our own “camper’s program “all the surrounding United Church of Conferences have camping programs. Connecticut offers camping at Silver Lake, New Hampshire has camping at Horton Center and Geneva Point, Maine at Pilgrim Lodge, Rhode Island at the Irons Homestead, and Vermont in joint ministry with the Methodists at Covenant Hills Christian Camp. Star Island and Christian Youth Conference at Oceanwood also offer summer camping. Camp generally provides children and youth an opportunity to live in a covenantal community in dorm-style spaces/rooms. Campers share meals in a dining hall, have many different activities offered to them like swimming, hiking, playing games, enjoying craft projects, and enhances learning about God's creation and how God wants us to live together. Camp can provide opportunities that will inspire youth and children as individuals to find an intimate connection to the Divine while developing a closer relationship with Jesus Christ.

The United Church of Christ will have great new identity resources available this summer. These resources are targeted at children and families who seek a deeper understanding of the "What Matters" materials produced by the Congregational Vitality Initiative. “The Faith Formation Writers’ Workshop which was held at the UCC Church House in February, rested on Paulo Freire’s educational framework of a liberative education, according to Lutie Lee, Minister for Children and Families.” Paulo Freire’s educational ideas planted the seed of Liberation Theology in Latin America, and inspired the development of liberation theologies in cultures throughout the world. His book, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972), contrasted the concept of a “banking” model of education with models of liberative or transformative education. A common pedagogical practice shaped according to Freireian philosophy is dialogical learning. “The dialogical approach to learning abandons the lecture format and the ‘banking’ approach to education in favor of dialogue and open communication among students and teachers. In this method, all teach and learn… [It] contrasts with the anti-dialogical method, which positions the teacher as the transmitter of knowledge, a hierarchical framework that leads to domination and oppression through the silencing of students’ knowledge and experience.” (“Key Terms and Concepts Related to Critical Pedagogy and Educational Theory and Practice,” http://mingo.info-science.uiowa.edu/~stevens/critped/terms.htm,3/27/2008.)- quoted from AUCE Spring Newsletter

Come Ye Faithful to the newly established Christian Education and/ or Youth Ministry Communities of Practice!  There have been two facilitator trainings and groups in each association are now being formed.  Christian Education and /or Youth Ministry Communities of Practice are intended to support educators and youth workers serving in the MACUCC Conference providing them with networking, increased awareness of UCC resources, as well as effective and best practices of Christian education and youth ministry found throughout our local churches.   If you would like to participate and have not received an invitation from a Community of Practice facilitator, please contact Cindy Bolton at boltonc@macucc.org  or Elsa Marshall at elsa.marshall@gmail.com.