Faith at Home for Children

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Shine at Home

A new, simple option for families to do at home if congregations are not resuming regular Sunday school this fall. Shine at Home includes weekly mini-sessions, complete with a prayer practice, ideas for sharing the Bible story, questions and conversation prompts, media suggestions, and four activities that help kids and families explore the Bible story. Use with Shine’s storytelling, music, and student resources for a fun learning experience at home.
Shine at Home is now available for preorder and will be released August 1 as a downloadable PDF to email to all the families in the purchasing congregation. The retail price is $20.99 USD. Sample and preorder here.

God’s Story, God’s Song

Daniel and Talashia Keim Yoder of College Mennonite Church (CMC) in Goshen, Indiana, have been partnering with Jonathan Reuel to create an all-age, year-long, home-based, flexible faith formation resource for their congregation. To make it accessible to people outside of CMC, Addie Leaman created GodsStoryGodsSong.com to house the project. It can be a congregation’s primary source of faith formation for all ages for the coming year, as it offers more flexibility than a traditional curriculum when moving between virtual and in-person gatherings. There’s a modest subscription fee for people outside of CMC.

Shine On

Shine On is a Bible story book that accompanied the previous version of Shine Sunday School curriculum for children AND is featured in God’s Story, God’s Song (above). All the Bible stories covered in Sunday School, plus a few more, are included. Each one has questions to ponder with your child to make the Bible story relevant to your child. The story Bible and the questions accompanying each story provide a wonderful tool to talk with your child about God. Remember to pray together after each story! T ambién disponible en español, titulado “Resplandece.”

Vibrant Faith at Home

From 2012 and 2015, a team of writers produced hundreds of activities for families with children, families with adolescents, young adults, adults and couples, and activities just for kids. They are now making all of these activities available in downloadable PDFs. The activities are short, usually 5-10 minutes. Leaders are encouraged to share these in creative ways. You have permission to use these activities in print or digital formats. Check out this gold mine of faith at home activities.

Weekly household devotions

Find weekly household devotions that follow the Revised Common Lectionary at faithformationjourneys.org. They’re organized in weekly units that can also be done daily.

Bible memory verses

Here are the Bible memory verses from the Shine curriculum for Early Childhood through Junior Youth.

Music

Music has the power to shape the listener. Play music in the background as children play, to encourage quiet time, to entertain in the car and to sing together. Check out Bryan Moyer Suderman’s SmallTall Music CDs.

Bible reading charts

My Bible Reading Chart. Designed for early readers, this free download lists 100 favorite Bible verses selected for young children. Fun tips and challenges get kids excited about Bible reading, and a chart provides an easy way to track their Bible reading progress. Purchase one per child ages 6-9.
Dig into the Bible: A Reading Chart. Fun facts and tips guide reading and motivate older kids to learn even more about the Bible while they chart their progress on an easy-to-follow grid. Includes a list of suggested Bible memory passages. Ages 10-13.

“Four Keys” to nurturing faith at home

What works the best to instill faith in your children? These four things: Family worship, caring conversations, family service and rituals & traditions. Learn more.

Let the Children Come to Me

Explore together with your children the stories and practices that will form you as Jesus’ disciples in the Anabaptist tradition. This winsome 60-page book is structured around 12 Anabaptist faith practices: Scripture reading, prayer, community, bearing witness, service to one another, worship, nonviolence, steadfast faith, the centrality of Christ, communion, believers baptism, and stewardship.
Each faith practice is developed as a short unit (the equivalent of two page-spreads) and explored through stories from Anabaptist-Mennonite history—one from the sixteenth century and one contemporary, global story. These stories are accompanied by scripture passages, conversation-starters, prayers, and multiple options for family activities. $18.95 paperback.

Devotionals for all ages

Take our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book for Ordinary Time

A four-week cycle of morning and evening prayer services prepared for the period in the church year between Pentecost and Advent. The services focus on the teaching and ministry of Jesus: The Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus’ parables, and Jesus’ miracles. 384 pages. $24.99 hardcover or $10.49 for Kindle. Also available as a free app.

Take our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book for Advent through Pentecost

This second volume includes prayers for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost. Like first volume, the words of the prayers are mostly taken from scripture, and each service includes a Psalm, a Gospel text, another scripture text and a song from scripture. 928 pages. $34.99 hardcover or $12.49 for Kindle. Also available as a free app.

Rejoice! Daily Devotional Readings

Each day’s entry includes a scripture reading, a short inspirational message, and a prayer of response. An additional prayer guide with requests representing Mennonite mission workers, schools and church agencies is included in the back. Published quarterly. $7.75 for a booklet and $5.50 for download. Annual individual subscription $30.55; bulk subscription $22.45.

Now it Springs Up: Spiritual Insights for Every Day

A daily guide for reflection and prayer by Carol Duerksen, Michelle Hershberger and Laurie Oswald Robinson.
Each entry includes an invitation to prayer and to action; each week features two entries designated for families and children. In these pages are confession and repentance, wonder and awe, honest doubts and perplexing questions, and delightful flashes of humor. 460 pages.$17.95 at Amazon.com

Missio Dei Breviary by Missio Dei, Minneapolis, Minn.
A four-week cycle of morning and evening prayers. Scripture texts focus on the Sermon on the Mount, Luke’s parables, Jesus’ words in John, and Mark’s passion account. The reflections demonstrate a missional commitment to place and a focused commitment to social justice within an Anabaptist theological perspective. Used by the Missio Dei community to shape the rhythms of their shared life. 159 pages.$14.50 at Amazon.com or $3.99 on Kindle.