September 10
Beloved families of Good Shepherd,
Peace be with you! This past Sunday our children’s chapel leaders gathered together for a fall training to learn more about children’s ways of being with God and God’s ways of being with children. Our Godly Play Consultant, the Rev. Cynthia Insko, shared “The Spirituality of the Child” Godly Play story with our chapel teams. This story says that children come into the world already in close relationship with God. Adults can support a child’s relationship with God by giving them the religious language to help make meaning of their experiences of God and to talk about the ultimate questions of life, such as “who am I?”, “why am I here?”, “what happens after I die?“, and what is God like?”.
The stories of our faith enable children to engage these big questions of life. Godly Play founder, the Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman, says that these stories give children “the religious language to name, value, and express their ultimate concerns so they can cope with them now and prepare for a more healthy and creative life later.” (Godly Play 1995).
In this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus shares the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Jesus describes a tenacious shepherd who will leave the ninety-nine sheep and go after his one lost sheep until he finds it.
The Godly Play story “The Parable of the Good Shepherd” is a core parable for children that incorporates Jesus’ Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7). This lesson introduces the Good Shepherd as the primary image of Jesus for children. The Good Shepherd knows each one of the sheep by name and they follow him. He shows them the way to the “good grass” and “the cool, clear, still water”. He guides them through “the places of danger”. The Good Shepherd will even leave the ninety-nine sheep to find the one lost sheep. When he finds the lost sheep, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoices, and celebrates with his friends! This story helps children know that the Good Shepherd is always with them and loves them unconditionally. Through this core parable, children fall in love with Jesus the Good Shepherd. This loving and trusting relationship with Jesus enables children to make meaning of their ultimate concerns and grow into spiritually healthy adults.
We hope your children will join us for children’s chapel! Here is our children’s chapel content for this month:
September 14: “Music Sunday” with Mr. Justin Felix and Ms. Lily Pearson
September 21: “The Ark and the Temple” Blue group (2nd-4th grade)
“The Story of Moses” Green (preschool) and Red groups (K-1st)
September 28: Play Response Day with stories from September 21
Also, we have some fun events lined up for our children and families this fall!
Please join us for our annual “Family Fun Day” at Evan’s Orchard, September 21, 3-5 pm. Good Shepherd has reserved a party tent for our families. Go HERE to register your family.
Lastly, we hope you will mark your calendars for our Trunk or Treat event with Good Shepherd Day School on Thursday, October 30, 5:30-6:30 pm. Wear your costumes and come join us! Candy and small trinket donations are appreciated—just drop off your donations to the friendly monsters at church and school!
We hope to see you this Sunday!
Many Blessings,
Patty