Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

On September 9th, Sunday School for children through 6th grade resumes at 9:00 a.m.  These reflections are from our Interim Pastor for Children and Youth and Families, the Rev. Tammy Martens.

A Wonderful Discovery: The Way of the Child

“In helping the child’s religious life, far from imposing something that is foreign to him, we are responding to the child’s silent request: ‘Help me to come closer to God by myself.’”
–Sofia Cavelletti, The Religious Potential of the Child

“It always amazes me to think that even the tiniest acorn holds everything in it needed to develop into the grandest oak tree. However, the acorn will never become all that it was created to become if it lands on some cold, concrete sidewalk where it is crushed under someone’s boot. It must be planted in the kind of soil which will provide the nutrients to its becoming.”
–Killian Noe, Finding Our Way Home

One of the biggest blessings of my summer was to discover a new curriculum entitled The Way of the Child by Wynn McGregor. I stumbled upon it as I was looking through a curriculum and publications magazine. I thought the description of it was very intriguing so I ordered it. After receiving it in the mail, I started to read it and I could not put the book down. My journey of discovery would not stop here, however. As it turns out, my good friend, Deborah, who is a pastor in Greensboro, North Carolina, is also friends with the author Wynn McGregor. I was invited to come to her church and meet the author and be trained in The Way of the Child. I’m still unwrapping the gift of being in Greensboro and learning about this new curriculum.

In a nutshell, The Way of the Child provides good soil, nutrients, paths, and experiences for a child to grow spiritually. It is a formational based approach: nurturing the relationship children already have with God so they can more easily take in information about God from the Bible and church traditions. One of the intentions of this resource is that children will learn and be able to practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer, scripture reading, and silence.

We will be offering The Way of the Child for two age groups this fall. First through 3rd graders will meet in Room 11 and 4th through 6th graders will meet in Room 18 at the 9:00 a.m.

Three through 5 year olds will meet in Room 15 using a similar curriculum entitled Godly Play. This uses the same principles and is a wonderful, inviting curriculum for our young children. I have visited Plymouth Congregational Church that offers this to their preschoolers and they love it and have been using this for 14 years!

Rooms 11, 15, and 18 will be transformed into settings that are inviting and nurture the spiritual lives of our young people.
I pray that these resources The Way of the Child and Godly Play will help children and adults slow down and take time to listen to their heart yearnings and to God. “In our fast-paced society, many adults find it difficult to engage in regular spiritual disciplines. May this resource be one step toward bringing up a generation who engage in spiritual practices as naturally as they eat and sleep.” (Wynn McGregor)

Crossing the Threshold
A threshold is very important. It divides, but it also invites one to come through. At one time Jesus called himself a door, the way into a deeper reality. I invite you to think of our Sunday School classroom doorways as thresholds. As children pass through the doorway, we seek to nurture their spiritual lives and provide a loving and caring atmosphere where our children can encounter the mystery of God’s presence. In the classrooms we participate with children in the journey of seeking the larger reality of God’s kingdom. What happens within this classroom is sacred and will help children to grow in their relationship with God and with one another.

The growth of the community of children is guided and sustained best by having two teachers in each room. I am currently still looking for a couple more teachers for these classrooms. I am convinced that teachers’ lives will be changed and renewed as they journey together with the children. Please contact Tammy if you are interested (tmartens@orucc.org).

Youth Sunday School (7th-12 grade)
Sunday School for will be offered for youth during the worship hour. We are currently organizing this fall’s program. We invite youth to participate in worship for the full hour on Sunday, September 9 and 16. On Sunday, September 23 TRU Function will be playing in worship so the youth will stay in worship that Sunday as well. On Sunday, September 30 TRU Function has been invited to play at Lake Edge United Church of Christ. We invite all youth (7th 12th grade) who are not in TRU Function to come as well and worship at 11:00 a.m. at Lake Edge.

On Sunday, October 7 we hope to start a series entitled “Vocation Stories.” We will invite adults of the Orchard Ridge community to come and share their vocation journey with the youth. We hope that the adults will be able to share not only what they do in their vocation but even more importantly what were the things that shaped that decision and how does their faith inform their daily work. We will meet downstairs in the youth room.

The Practice of Worship: Program for 3rd-6th Graders
“Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return.”
–Thomas R. Kelly, A Testament of Devotion

We invite 3rd through 6th graders to join Tammy during the Worship Hour in Room 12 to learn more about worship, what we do in worship and why we do it. It is my hope that through our journey together, children will identify for themselves what helps them to worship and connect with God. We will spend time learning about our spiritual journeys and then begin putting together our own worship service or components of a worship service to share periodically in the 10:00 worship hour. We will start this Sunday, September 9.

Children’s Time: 4 year olds through 1st grade
“If you help students (of all ages) create positive experiences from an environment rich with the love of God and a good, strong value system, you will have established a blessed foundation for life experiences that follow.
–Barbara Bruce, Our Spiritual Brain

We hope to provide time for play, craft and snack for children 4 years old through 1st grade during the worship hours. If you are interesting in volunteering, please let Tammy know.

New Nursery Care Provider
We have hired Rebekah Gordon as our new nursery care provider. Rebekah is a UW senior majoring in special education. She is student teaching this fall at Tokei Middle School. Rebekah started this past Sunday and will be providing care from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. each Sunday morning. It is our hope to hire one to two more persons for our nursery.