Faith at home

Choosing a children's Bible

2007-07-08T15:43:00.000-05:00

There are many pitfalls and troubles in the world of Bibles for children. The very best guide is Gretchen Wolff Pritchard, author of Offering the Gospel to Children and The Sunday Paper. I recently came across an article she wrote on this very topic, full of specific recommendations.Choosing a Children's Bible, on GW Pritchard's blog Light and Peace.

Lent 2007

2007-03-04T08:15:00.000-06:00

I don't feel quite ready for this Lent! My life feels cluttered, in activities as well as surroundings. I found a Lenten discipline that fits very well, though: simplify. I am tackling the household clutter this Lent with an aim of simplicity. As I clear off and put away the excess around my home, I choose to leave tabletops clear. To have a simple catchall basket on the bare entry table under a

Look ahead to All Saints Day

2006-10-14T17:19:00.000-05:00

Now is the time to pick up a couple of wonderful books about saints to add to your basket of children's books for All Saints Day. Maybe something about Saint Francis, or Saint Catherine of Siena, or Martin Luther, or a beloved relative like one of yours who has died?If Halloween has a place in your family life, then while you're making or buying costumes and candy, think of adding a related book

A Continual Feast: A cookbook to celebrate...

2006-04-05T13:47:00.001-05:00

I love this cookbook! A wonderful compilation of food and home traditions that connect us to the church year, with lots of hard-to-find recipes. The book itself is hard to find in bookstores, but Amazon has it, and it's 35 percent off list price right now. I heartily recommend A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith Throughout the Christian Year!

Hot cross buns and pretzels

2006-04-05T13:25:00.000-05:00

Interested in making a special food for Lent or Holy Week, maybe with your kids? Hot cross buns are a Good Friday tradition in England, and they're pretty easy for a yeast-raised bun. Or, maybe easy pretzels pique your interest; their Lenten connection is an old one.We have recipes! Hot cross buns recipe and pretzel recipe at Faith at Home. Print, prep, get baking, and enjoy.

Faith at Home newsletter

2005-12-12T22:52:00.000-06:00

A day or so ago I sent out a new issue of my very occasional Faith at Home email newsletter. Here it is, for your enjoyment.__.+._______________________________Faith at Home NewsIssue #12: Advent & ChristmasAn occasional publication of Faith at Home< www.faith-at-home.com >Explore and enjoy your faith with your kids!To subscribe, email faith-at-home-subscribe@topica.com__.+._____________________

Advent blessings!

2005-12-05T22:42:00.000-06:00

I finally caught up with the liturgical year and moved on from All Saints to Advent at Faith at Home. Ooops! Perhaps I'm not the only one a little reluctant to dip my toe in the swiftly moving waters of Christmastime all around us in order to wade out to the solid rock of Advent in its midst.Join me. Join the millions around the world who wade in and scramble up onto the steady rock of the

Hurricane Katrina - what to do?

2005-09-01T09:30:00.000-05:00

If you're in a parish or other situation where this would be helpful, you're very welcome to view and print the "Facing Our Fears" parish flyer, a one-page parish flyer from Faith at Home. This free issue of our flyer was developed after Sept. 11, 2001, to be helpful with a faith-based perspective for parents and others who spend time with children. You may freely distribute printed copies of the

Keep watch, dear Lord

2005-09-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.From the night service of Compline, The Book of Common Prayer 1979 (ECUSA)

Holy Week & Easter supplies

2005-03-01T10:39:00.000-06:00

We decorated votive candles last Wednesday evening at my parish to take home for a prayer corner or sacred bit of space. As my sons painted their candles and pressed gold wax strips into patterns, I realized...It's time to buy Holy Week or Easter things!(I don't mean the Easter candy, though we definitely celebrate with candy in my household.)If you're thinking of using a devotional booklet for

Ash Wednesday - gone are the alleluias

2005-02-09T14:17:00.000-06:00

One of my sons made an Alleluia banner -- a strip of paper with alleluias written all over it and decorated -- for us to hide last night. It's a concrete way to remember that Lent is different (tying in to the fact that we won't hear any alleluias in our church until the Easter vigil). We talked about the changes we're going to make for Lent to help us prepare for Holy Week and Easter, and that

Palm crosses become ashes

2005-02-09T08:31:00.000-06:00

The ashes that become crosses on the foreheads of those who attend Ash Wednesday services were the palm fronds of last year's Palm Sunday. It turns out to be good timing, in a way, that this week I did some research and found a few new palm weaving resources for the Palm Sunday/Holy Week page. Basketmakers has a great index to resources on palm braiding or weaving. This week I looked through one

Godly Play Adaptation

2004-09-11T22:01:00.000-05:00

Ever thought of how to adapt Godly Play, do just part of it, simplify it, maybe even substitute coloring pages for the open art response? I highly recommend you read and think your way through this extremely interesting article on the UK Godly Play Web site. Godly Play: Cultural Adaptation Lessons Learnt So Far

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord...

2004-08-31T22:08:00.000-05:00

Our bedtime routine as I tuck each of my sons into bed a few minutes apart is to sing some songs of their choice from our current bedtime repertoire. Songs that are prayers, parts of our church service music, or easy hymn refrains. I introduced this a few years ago when the older son began resisting bedtime prayers. Over the last month or so our younger son, age 4 1/2, has been asking lots of

Some favorite resources

2004-08-16T10:06:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the church's program year, it's time to look for new resources. One of my favorites for a very inexpensive variety of items related to the church year is Creative Communications for the Parish. For Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and Godly Play, the miniature chalice and paten offered by Our Father's House, or the full mini mass kit, or even the mini altar linens, might be of

Godly Play in all-ages Bible study

2004-08-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

On a whim, I googled "Godly Play blog" and immediately discovered some great stuff that describes Godly Play way beyond the Sunday morning class for kids approach. First, a blog entry by Australian blogger Darren Rowse about his experiment with Godly Play in an all-ages Bible study. The blog entry is the author's reflections on the experience. It's great! Godly Play - The Aftermath Second, New

The Feast of the Transfiguration

2004-08-06T23:35:00.000-05:00

My parish sponsored a quiet evening tonight, Transfiguration Meditations. I volunteered to provide related activities appropriate for kids and, as I put it, antsy adults! The Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ is told in Luke 9, verses 28-36. ...as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white.... a voice came out of the cloud, saying,

It's a blog / it's a Web site

2004-07-30T10:36:00.000-05:00

I'm struggling to figure out how to show the latest post in this blog on my Faith at Home Web site. Then I want to blog mini-reviews of books, and other FaH-related things. But this is frustrating! I'm starting to worry that I'll need to teach myself XML and Javascript to make it happen. That wasn't in my plans, but I REALLY want to make this work. Sigh. I recommend Faith at Home the Web site,

Godly Play in Spain

2004-07-25T21:25:00.000-05:00

David Pritchard is active with Godly Play in Spain, and his blog is very interesting. Great photos in it, too. I don't read Spanish, but if I read it sort of sideways as though it's French, I can figure out some of it. Godly Play Spain

Shield the Joyous

2004-07-19T17:44:00.000-05:00

Wow. Just... wow. Katie Sherrod's Blog: Shield the Joyous

It's Sunday morning...

2004-07-18T11:07:00.000-05:00

...and I ought to read my own stuff. About the importance of Sundays, and I don't just mean the full-color Sunday comics and the kids tickling Daddy awake. Here we are, at home, fooling around, rather than on our way home from a summer Sunday service at St. John's. This summer the kids have been GREAT in the services, which -- after the last year of struggle in services with Son #1 -- has been a

Godly Play teacher accreditation

2004-07-17T15:03:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking that a natural next step for me is becoming accredited as a Godly Play teacher. A few days ago I was browsing at the official Godly Play Web site, trying to find their suddenly disappeared discussion boards. No luck with that, but I discovered that there is a GP teacher accreditation course coming up in a few weeks within a couple hours' drive from me. Arrgh -- I can't get it

Testing 1 2 3

2004-07-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

All's well that posts well? blessings, Barbara