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News archive
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| Gather ’Round offers summer supplement for youth and junior high |
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NEWTON, Kan. In response to requests by congregations, the Gather ’Round Sunday school curriculum is offering a new Youth/Junior Youth Summer Supplement this year. The supplement accompanies either the Summer 2008 Connect guide for parents and caregivers of children or the teacher’s guide for multiage groups.
“Teachers really wanted materials for teens, and we’re glad we were able to provide them in time for use this summer,” said Eleanor Snyder, director of Mennonite Publishing Network’s congregational division.
Gather ’Round Christian education materials are published by Mennonite Publishing Network and Brethren Press for Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Church Canada and the Church of the Brethren. They are also used by congregations in at least half a dozen other denominations.
“The Things that Make for Peace” is the Summer 2008 Gather ’Round theme. The summer curriculum runs June 1 through Aug. 24.
“Peace is fundamental to our understanding of the biblical message,” said Gather ’Round director and editor Anna Speicher. “Often we think of peace as a particularly New Testament theme, but this summer we will explore perspectives on peace and peacemaking from the Old as well as the New Testament. Children and adults alike will enjoy the creative ways our writers present both familiar and unfamiliar stories.”
Congregations that purchase the summer Connect or the summer Multiage teacher’s guide may purchase the Youth/Junior Youth Summer Supplement either as a download or on a CD. The supplement includes suggestions for reading and presenting Bible stories, “Connect to the Story” activities, “Responding” options and a reproducible page for each session. Purchase of the supplement includes the right to make copies of the “okay to photocopy” pages for each youth in a class. For opening and closing activities and reflecting questions, teachers are to use the suggestions in one of the books the supplement accompanies.
Other summer resources offered by Gather ’Round include:
- The preschool curriculum for ages three and four, with tips for twos, includes the My Bible Storybook student book.
- The multiage curriculum for grades K-6 includes the Together student book, a teacher’s guide, and a classroom pack.
- The parent/caregiver curriculum for adults, group or individual use, includes the Connect book and a classroom pack.
- The quarterly Talkabout is a take-home aid for families to talk about faith using weekly Bible themes from Sunday school. This summer’s Talkabout will be printed on multi-colored origami paper with instructions for folding peace cranes or peace doves.
Coordinating worship resources are included in the summer issue of Leader magazine, used by Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA.
“I encourage congregations to use the resources in Leader and have everyone bring their peace cranes to church week by week through the summer,” said Snyder. “Display them in the sanctuary or fellowship room, and have a special closing worship at the end of the quarter on the theme of peace. Summer is the perfect time for an integrated, intergenerational approach to worship and education, and these materials provide an excellent way to help make that happen.” Images available.
For more information contact Anna Speicher, 800-323-8039, ext. 209; aspeicher_gb@brethren.org
www.gatherround.org
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| Commentary: A vision of faith and unity for the church’s future |
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Mennonite Church USA is founded on a God-inspired vision. Our vision guides, transforms and enables the church to fulfill the mission God has entrusted to us.
We are a new church that claims a 500-year history. This paradox of combining the new with the old is key to fulfilling the potential of God’s call to us now.
Our foundations run deep, back to the Swiss and Dutch reformers of the church in the 16th century. Today these foundations are buttressed by an influx of Racial/Ethnic people who want to both enrich and build on the vision and calling of Mennonite Church USA. Our younger generation yearns for new expressions of faith and witness.
Healing and hope is our vision. Establishing communities of faith, hope and love are fruits of the Spirit that our neighbors expect to experience in their relationships with us.
God nourishes our church, Mennonite Church USA, for the sake of the world. God is busy working in the world as well as in our church. The world awaits our engagement with God’s activity in the world through our relationships across the street and on the other side of the globe. We joyfully follow Jesus into the world, where Jesus has already gone.
Such a vision has guided and inspired Mennonite Church USA congregations, conferences, agencies and schools since our birth as a new church in 2001. The church which is an organism, a body of believers that is entrusted with the mission of being God’s transforming plan for the salvation of the world is much more than a human organization with a good purpose.
The Mennonite Church USA Executive Board, building on this vision, has started a process of proposed change to enhance the church’s vision of healing and hope. The board’s dream is to draw all members and congregations of Mennonite Church USA closer together, and to propel us forward around our vision.
Look around you. The world needs Mennonite Church USA now more than ever. We are hopeful that our vision of healing and hope, following Jesus and joining God’s work in the world will do more than unify us and simplify our structures.
It’s exciting to consider the church’s future. The board aims to release the church’s hidden potential to enable all parts to act with courage, strengthened by a vision of community and a growing unity of purpose and witness.
Amidst the reports that we read in the news about our Executive Board’s efforts to bring improvement in our relationships, behaviors and organization in Mennonite Church USA, keep in mind the aim is to strengthen our vision, to reach new people and to enhance our witness for the sake of the world.
Pray that God will be at the center of our efforts toward growth and faithfulness.
This testimony comes from Mennonite Church USA moderator Sharon Waltner, moderator-elect Ed Diller, executive director Jim Schrag and associate executive director Ron Byler. Additional commentaries from Mennonite Church USA are planned to be released on a regular basis as the Executive Board continues moving toward its vision.
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