Generations In Faith Together

Art Attack Time Favorites

Thought I’d share a few responses to a “touch-base” email sent to congregations using Bible Song over the past few years. Art Attack time is Small Group time and many have been developing some very creative things to do during this time. It’s a time of sharing with one another about the theme Scripture for the day and choosing ways to interpret a retelling of the story thorough the arts.

Here are a few examples of those who completed the following sentence:                            During Small Group/Art Attack time, one of the favorite things to do is…

-       make posters on 4foot butcher/ colored paper. All of the parents and kids have to work together and they LOVE showing their creation during show and tell, and then seeing the banners hung in the church!

-       create a quilt of the Dr. He Qi art.

-       Use Model Magic to create artwork that represents the story.

-       copy the black-line master of the He Qi artwork for the day onto watercolor paper and let the kids water color their picture.

-       making murals as a group. We usually assign each table group to one part of the mural, then they come together to put it all together. The one of David & Goliath was amazing!

-       A fun project we just did was re-building Solomon’s temple using index cards. Each table group had a large stack of blank index cards they could fold in ½ and stack on top of one another to build a temple. They also had to work silently, but also had to work as a group. It was great! And they were amazing.

-       to act out the reader’s theaters in pictures then create a slide show to share with the congregation during worship.

If you have ideas and would like to share with others, I’d be happy to send them out to our Bible Song churches.

Please send your words to complete the sentence: During Small Group/Art Attack time, one of the favorite things to do is… to dstreicher@faithnk.com . Thanks!

 

The FAITH5™ Check-In

It has become crystal clear over the past 16 years that the core of all Faith Inkubators resources is the FAITH5™. It’s the developing and fine tuning of this faith practice during small group time over the years that has changed the way we do ministry. The FAITH5™ is not just done once a week anymore. It’s once a week with your friends and family in a small group setting and then everyday at home with your family.

Over the past few years we have begun to help churches find ways to set expectations for practicing the FAITH5 during small group time. And we have added an emphasis on taking it home. As a result, we have been receiving story after story about the impact it has had on the lives of families. The feedback we receive confirms a growing awareness on the part of the congregation that faith formation doesn’t just happen once a week. It happens at home too!

Parents are beginning to understand what Martin Luther tried to do years ago by placing the Small Catechism in their hands.                                                                                           They are taking on an active role as faith guides for their children.

Another truth is becoming clear the more I hear feedback and begin asking churches what’s working and what’s not. The church is challenged when it comes to holding families accountable and having some type of system in place for feedback and for a “check-in” time. It’s one thing to set expectations for small group time where you can do the planning, but how can you hold parents accountable?

Here are a few answers I received recently from congregations when I asked what steps they were taking to help parents be accountable for practicing the FAITH5™ in their homes:

1.    1. We have a six session parenting course that runs about one every 5 weeks. During small group parenting discussions we always ask, “How does the Faith5 accomplish what you want for your family?”

2.    During Lent we did the Faith5 challenge. Each family got a calendar, and was challenged to do the Faith5 at least 5 out of 7 nights. If they did so, then they cut that week’s calendar off the bottom of the sheet, and brought it back signed for a prize! We did small bags of cookies and cheap Oriental Trading cross pins, “We Love Jesus” footballs, etc. Every week I reminded the families that if they had not turned in their calendar, all they had to do was start that night and they would get all the previous week’s prizes next week. That way no one lost!

3. Each week during small group we use the phrase “bring it on home” to remind them that they should!

4. We model it in the sessions and encourage it at home and talk about successes. It’s hard to get families to grasp this point!Good question! I am not sure we hold them accountable exactly. We encourage it in a variety of ways, but we aren’t doing anything to track who is actually doing it at home. The church did a “Five for 40” push during Lent this year. “Faith5™ for 40 days.” It was great to do this as a church-wide event and families signed up saying they would make the commitment. We encourage it each Sunday morning by giving the kids a take home sheet: on one side it shows the handout of the day’s He Qi artwork along with the scripture verse. On the back is an outline of the Faith5™ with a few extra tips on doing it at home. We also just finished recording a DVD that shows different families talking about it and doing the Faith5™ at home.

5. We hold families accountable to practicing the FAITH5 by asking the children to bring their journals every week so we can share the week's highs and lows. 

 

Hope you are able to gain insights and gather a few ideas from those seeing the fruits of placing an emphasis on the FAITH5™ .

Have a story? We’d love to share it!

Send it to me at dstreicher@faithink.com . Thanks.