“Behold! I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43

I have a fig tree in my front yard, and for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been watching the bare branches, checking every day for the first signs of life. This morning when I left my house, still nothing. But this evening as I trudged home from work, I glanced over to see each spindly finger tipped with green. As I felt my breath rise in my chest, something broke within me, a river coursing through parched paths singing, “What fresh glory! What deep, holy wonder!”

This miracle got me thinking about new life and how we come to perceive it in the world. By the time the daffodils poke their heads above the soil and the buds form on the trees, it’s obvious. Spring has arrived (at least seasonally, if not officially on the calendar). But what about the months and weeks and even days before, when the bulbs are sending down the roots and unfurling from their casings? The plants are growing, preparing, and even changing on a cellular level, but most of us can’t tell the difference. There is life coursing through those xylem and phloem, but when I look out my window I can’t see it.

As the prophet Isaiah speaks to the people of God in exile – a people who have been watching and waiting and wondering  “how long, O Lord?” – he speaks of God’s love, protection, and care. And in the midst of the promises he proposes this question: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”  I suspect the answer to that question was “no” or at least “not yet.” If they could see this new thing, they wouldn’t need a prophet to point the way. But God is faithful in this way too, with poets and prophets, preachers and teachers, babies and blossoms ready to help us look beyond the barren framework of this life and into something more, just beyond our ability to see it.

I’m also aware that I’m musing on new life as my grandmother nears death. She’s always been someone with an artist’s vision, able to see beauty and potential, holy happenings in the most unlikely places. For most of her 97 years she’s been a paragon of prayer, speaking in words only she and God could understand. But now her language is only breath. Soon, that too will end. I wonder what is becoming inside of her? What new life is pulsing within her spiritual veins? Will her last breath here herald a budding in her eternal home? We can’t see it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening – and what a river she will be! Her prayer and praise rarely ceased in this life, and it will flow without bounds in the next, where she knows fully and is fully known. What we see as an end may in fact be a bursting through, a springing forth, into God’s glory.

So, as those left to peer through the mirror dimly, may our hearts always be full of awe and wonder. Let us approach the world with an attitude of curiosity and a deep sense of hope. Because God is always doing a new thing.
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Update: My grandmother died on the very day I wrote this piece, perhaps even the very minute the fig tree budded. May heaven be filled with her song, and the earth with her sweet fruit.

I was hosting a webinar recently and mentioned a Holy Week Fair we offered for our children and families last year. Our church traditionally hosts the Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday, and I wanted to offer a little more faith formation around it.
​This fair is best for kids 3- 12 years old. It's written with multiple stations that are best set up in different rooms, but can be adapted for a single space or even outdoors. It really depends on your space. Be creative!
All page numbers refer to Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible  
Click Here for a PDF of the Directions.

Pre-Event, Opening Set Up
In largest room, gym, fellowship hall, etc.

• I recommend you set up a few crafts that kids/families can do as they arrive. There are a myriad of pre-packaged crafts you can purchase from retailers.  You can also construct your own that tend to be better quality and less money.
  • Craft bags – always helpful to have something to carry your other crafts in. You can buy bags with Easter coloring pages printed on them, or you can offer various stickers and markers for decoration
  • Holy Week Passport – Here’s a free passport from Build Faith. You can put a stamp or sticker in each one as kids travel through the fair, or you can save it for the actual event/services at your church - https://buildfaith.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Holy-Week-Passport-Generic.pdf
• Game – Palm Branch Pick Up
  • Construction Paper with Palm printed on one side and numbers on the other. Or just Green paper with numbers 1-10 on one side.
  • Scatter Palms in the game area, number side down.
  • Divide kids into 2 teams and give each kid a number.
  • Call out a number and they have 5 second to gather as many squares as they can. Then they add up the numbers, and the team with the highest number wins and has to call out a reason to praise Jesus.
• We divided kids into smaller groups for 7-12 to travel through stations. It helped to have multiple crafts and games in the main room for those who were waiting or finished.

 
First Station - Palm Sunday Obstacle Course
this works best in a hallway leading to a room or gathering area at the end
Set up

• Hobby horse
• Rubber discs about one hop apart going down the hallways
• Green streamers taped at various angles to create a “laser maze” in the hallway like this
• Plastic eggs, rice, and tape in gathering area/room at the end

 Obstacle Course

• Read P. 270 “Jesus Visits Jerusalem” (based on Luke 19:29-40). Stop at “they expected great things from this teacher from Galilee.”
• Explain the obstacle course and send kids down one at a time
  • First, get the “Donkey” (hobby horse) (you may choose to hold the donkey and not straddle or “ride” it)
  • Then ride it, stepping only on the “cloaks” (rubber discs, carpet squares, tape marks, etc) put on the floor.
  • Dodge the Palm Fronds maze.
  • You may decide to have them come back or stop at the end.
  • Once all the kids have completed the obstacle course, read the rest of the story on P. 270, beginning with “some teachers of the law (called the Pharisees) were in the crowd.

• Make an egg shaker because “Even the Stones will Shout”
  • Fill a plastic Easter egg with dried rice or beans. 
  • Tape it closed.
  • Read the final line on p. 271 again, and have all kids shout and shake their eggs “I tell you the truth, if they were silent and did not sing praises, the very stone on the earth beneath us would shout out!”

  
Second Station - Maundy Thursday
could be kitchen or classroom near the palm Sunday obstacle course hallway
Set -up

• Grape Juice
• Hawaiian rolls, or bread
• Cups, plates
• Soap, paper towels

 Snack Time

• You may start out by reading selections from p. 272 “A Passover Meal” or tell the story in your own words.
• First – Everyone Washes hands – Remember that Jesus washed his disciples feet and said, “whoever would be first among you must be the servant of all.” (If there is not a sink in the room, you can use hand sanitizer or wipes)
• Ask a child to say a prayer to bless the meal – “Jesus started by blessing the food, can one of you offer a blessing for our snack?”
• Read from p. 326 “seeing Jesus” from “I want you to remember four things:
  • The first
  • The second
  • The third
  • The fourth
  • Use the “see” activity to create a circle of love.

 
Third Station – Gethsemane and Good Friday
Classroom, garden, tent, sanctuary
Set up

• Places for the children to sit and hear a story, carpet, carpet squares, chairs, blanket, etc.

 Garden of Gethsemane

• Have children get comfy, sit, lie down, be ready for a story.
• Talk about Jesus going to the Garden of Gethsemane to Pray with his friends.
• Then, hard things started to happen. (you can tell in your own words, using this outline, or you can use p. 274 starting at the end of the second paragraph “The temple guards grabbed Jesus and arrested him”)
• Jesus was arrested.
• He was taken to court and tried, first before Pilate like a judge, and then before the people, like a jury. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, he was found guilty and sentence to death.

 Good Friday

• Then, the very worst thing happened. The soldiers led Jesus up a hill to a cross. And Jesus died.
• Have another adult turn off the light in the room at this point. If you’re outdoors, you might drape yourself in a black cloth, or hold the cloth over the children to create shade. (this would need four adults and some coordination.)
• His followers were so sad. They couldn’t imagine living without Jesus. They went home to cry.

Fourth Station – Easter
classroom (can be the same classroom as good Friday), tent outside, garden
Set-up

• Video and speakers (optional)
• Resurrections Cross Craft / Sun Catcher

 Easter

• Jesus’ followers were very scared and sad, but we know that’s not the end of the story.
• We showed a video we created of our Church folks telling the Easter Story from Mark. You are welcome to use our video, or create your own.
• OR read P. 276 “Women at the Tomb”
• Resurrection Crosses Craft
  • Have the kids turn something that is about death (the cross) into something beautiful and full of life – stained glass.
  • You can buy kits to make cross sun catchers using paint or stained glass.
  • You can print or draw your own crosses on transparency paper and let kids use permanent markers to fill them in like stained glass.

 
Closing, Egg Hunt

• Gather back in main room. Kids can do other crafts or play the palm game while waiting for all to finish.
• Have the kids help you review the key parts of the story.
• Close with shouts of praise telling the good news OR egg hunt.
• You can say something like,
  • “Jesus’s disciples were really surprised that he was alive. We aren’t surprised because we know the story, but they were so shocked and happy. We search for eggs because it’s a happy surprise to see what’s inside.” OR
  • “we search for eggs because we are always looking for Jesus. He’s not on the cross. He’s alive!” 

If you feel like adapting even more, I patterned this off of an event I did with my amazing colleague Katie Kinnison in Columbus, Ohio. We offered a three hour VBS-style event on Good Friday for kids and families that was a lot of fun.  We called it "Thank God It's Good Friday." It could be great to add more of the stories from Jesus' last week, like the anointing at Bethany (John 12: 1-8), Jesus cursing the fig tree and/or cleansing the temple (Mark 11:12-25).

​

​“Mom! Easter sunrise breakfast!” called my bleary-eyed but excited daughter. Since anticipation is part of the fun, I told her about our new tradition before she went to sleep on Saturday night so she was ready to hold me accountable the next morning. “We’re still doing it, right?”

With two clergy parents serving different churches, Sundays can be a bit hectic for our family. And EASTER Sunday? Well, let’s just say the bunny doesn’t visit our house. He’s too tired.

But I want Easter to be special. I want it to be about more than egg hunts and baskets. I want it to be about more than church. I know that sounds strange, but my kids get a LOT of church – and they love it. We love it. We need it. A Christian community that worships, prays, learns and serves together is vital for faith development.

But we can’t just read the Bible at church. And my kids need to hear me pray not just at the front of the sanctuary, but at the dinner table and the bedside and even (sometimes) early in the morning, wrapped up in blankets in the front yard.  Because the most important faith mentors in the life of a child are not their Sunday School teachers or their youth group leaders or even their pastors. Children learn faith from their families – from their parents and grandparents and all the many beautiful iterations of kinship.
​
Parents, if we want our kids to know God, if we want our kids to love Jesus, if we want our kids to feel the joy of Holy Spirit or learn the holy stories, it’s on us. It’s a big responsibility (even for pastor parents, believe me), and it does require a little thought and effort (even for pastor parents), but it’s not a burden. And it doesn’t have to be hard. God is all around us, and opportunities to weave faith into our daily lives abound.

That’s why I love Traci Smith’s new book, “Faithful Families.” She offers simple, powerful practices for all the ordinary and extraordinary moments of family life. From long car rides, interminable rainy days, and mealtime mania to birthdays, new schools, and even times of tragedy and grief, Smith does most of the thinking and a good bit of the work to provide a ceremony, a prayer, a discussion, or an activity to make it holy. Her work is easy to access and adapt to fit the rhythms of different families. If you spend 5 minutes with this book, you’ll find something that makes you say, “we’ve gotta try that!”

Easter is a busy day for us, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have time for each other. So we gathered the powdered sugar donuts, mixed the chocolate milk, poured the coffee and set out across the front yard to find the perfect spot to watch the sunrise.

“Early in the morning, while it was still dark the women set out for the tomb…” I began the story.

“Just like us! It’s early! It’s dark but it’s getting light…” my 4 year old son interrupted.

Yes, just like us.

Dear Friendly Church,

Many churches struggle to welcome children and their families into worship, but not you! You are flexible and kind when kids get crazy and noisy. You understand the importance of regular worship in the lives and faith of children, and you embrace the gifts they bring to your community. 

But I notice that while you smile and nod from your pew, you keep a wide berth around those lively worshiping kids. If you have a special worship space for families, it’s often full of kids with nary a (non-staff) adult in sight. That’s okay. I’m guessing you aren’t excited about praying with crayons and play dough (although if you are you NEED to check it out because it’s for anyone who wants to try a hands-on worship experience.) Smiling is a great first step! But it’s time for us all to do more.
​
I encourage you do more than watch from a safe distance and try to interact with the kids during worship. I understand why you hesitate. Maybe it’s been a long time since you’ve talked to a five year old and you don’t know what to say. Maybe you have trouble hearing children’s voices or getting down to their level.  Maybe you worry they will be afraid or that they won’t want to talk to you. Or maybe it just never occurred to you to have a conversation with a kid!

Let me assure you now, a child may be nervous or shy – he might hide when you try to say hello, she might giggle and run away when you make eye contact – but they DO want to talk to you! You are interesting and kind. You are fun and engaging. You are wise and thoughtful. You care about children and want to teach them about Christ and worship. You are EXACTLY who kids want to meet when they come to church.

Sure, it’s fun to play with peers – but most kids spend plenty of time with friends of the same age. Yes, it’s important that the children engage with the pastors and children’s ministry folks. But you have the light of Christ in your heart too, and it’s time to let it shine!

We need more adults in the pews with the kids – coloring, singing, praying and listening. This will help the kids engage and learn even more about worship. But you don’t have to change the way you worship to build relationships with kids in your church. When you pass the peace, make sure to talk to at least one child. You might try to join them in for one hymn or for the prayer. Connect with families and kids before or after church. Or one of these ideas for interacting with kids in worship.

Our children need to know your name, and you need to know their names. They need to know what you love, whom you love and how you love – and vice versa! You’ve been worshiping alongside one another and it is fabulous! Now it’s time to worship TOGETHER - to pray with each other, to love another, to build the Body of Christ together.

So start with “Hi! I’m ___________. What’s your name?” And don’t stop. Keep showing interest and watch the relationships grow!

Love, 
A Friend
 
PS  - Try replacing all references to “children,” “kids,” or “families” with VISITORS for encouragement to welcome new folks into your community.

A deafening rumble filled the sanctuary. Bricks cascaded against one another and ricocheted off the walls. Towers smashed to the ground and rose from the rubble as playful fingers reveled in order and chaos. It was marvelous mayhem, but very slowly and very loudly, a glorious dwelling began to emerge.

Our text for worship was the story of Solomon building the temple, so I encouraged the children to work together to build a house for God out of Legos. It was a great idea! Who knew that tiny plastic bricks could be so LOUD?

I raised my voice, my gut twisting as I watched the faces of my congregation. Most strained to hear and stay focused. A few gave up listening to the sermon, but seemed perfectly happy watching the kids build. And of course, some sat arms crossed, eyes rolling, lips pursed, huffing with annoyance at each new crash. (Why is the perfect piece always at the bottom of the bin?)

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. – 1 Corinthians 12: 27

In our small but mighty church, we worship together (even when we don't like it) because we are one body—young and old, silent and speaking, calm and fidgeting. We welcome and engage everyone because we need each other. 

We envision lips singing as only lips can sing while hands lift, grasp, and carry as is their strength. We imagine minds blossoming with wisdom and ears straining for understanding. We see wild, unkempt hair bouncing in the wind of the Spirit and hearts beating in time, pumping the life-blood through this fully engaged body of worship. And it is unspeakably beautiful. And it is terribly hard.

We don’t always enjoy the gifts of other members of the body – especially when they differ so vastly from our own. An ear is not made for dancing, so when she listens to the soft thuds and heavy breathing of a body in motion, she doesn’t grasp its joy. A foot is not designed to see, so he doesn’t recognize the glorious interplay of light and shadow through which he walks. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need each other. It doesn’t mean we aren’t part of the same body. It just means we are different—and that’s okay!

If the whole body were an elder with a penchant for tradition, where would the sense of adventure be? If the whole body were a frazzled family just trying to get it all done, where would the sense of peace and patience reside? If the whole body were a toddler waving his arms in joy one minute and weeping with frustration the other, God save us.

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as GOD chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” (1 Cor 12:18-20) 

We need each other – not just to worship but to survive. As much as we idolize the power of the individual, we build our society with common work and care for one another. A doctor needs a farmer to grow food. A farmer needs a politician to legislate good agricultural policy. A politician needs a teenager to speak truth and make passionate pleas to remember her true calling—to serve the body.

Church is one of the few spaces left where people of all ages and experiences stand side by side, where we speak in unison and sing in harmony, where we unite into one body. If we don’t hear, see, touch, and even smell each other, how can we ever hope to connect and experience each other’s gifts? If we don’t share one sanctuary, how can we be knit together by one Spirit?

I love the song “One” by U2, but when I looked up the lyrics I realized I was blissfully belting out the wrong words for a key phrase. I sang: “We’re one but we’re not the same. We’ve got to carry each other” – like it’s a burden or a charge we must accept. I sang this line as a call to action, which has its place, but that’s not the lyric. One small word makes all the difference: “We’re one but we’re not the same. We get to carry each other.”

It’s not a burden, it’s a gift.
To carry another’s heart and to offer yours in turn is a gift.
To depend on one another is a blessing.
To misunderstand and even grumble, but still love one another is sacred.
To join many members in becoming one body is holy.
We get to carry each other until that day, that glorious day, when we are truly One.

As I offered the charge and benediction to the worshiping body, I held the house the children built for God—a patchwork of color and size, towers and windows, flowers and lions and dinosaurs and people joined into one sacred whole. It didn’t come together silently or easily, but it was beautiful and holy. I looked at faces filling the sanctuary: some radiant, a few disgruntled, all beloved, all connected. Together, we build a dwelling place of the Holy One not out of Legos or cinderblocks, but out of worship and service, out of tears and laughter, out of love for one another and for the world. We are the body of Christ, the church.

Thanks be to God.

This post originally appeared as "One Body" in Fidelia's Sisters, the online magazine of The Young Clergy Women Project.