Especially for Directors

The Department of Christian Education has published resources for the 2017 Creative Festivals. Creative Festival categories include Art, Creative Writing, Poetry, Photography and Media.

Several items are available for download to assist you as you introduce the theme, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." (Mark 11:17)

Lesson Plans: The plans are designed for one (or two) 40-minute classes, and written at four levels: Preschool and Kindergarten, Grades 1-3, 4-6, Middle School and High School. More than enough material is offered, choose what will work for your class.

by Phyllis Meshel Onest, M.Div.

Who is teaching is of greater importance than what is being taught.

The late spring and summer months are the time to find and prepare teachers for the upcoming school year. We are looking for a particular type of person. Someone who participates in the liturgical life of the church on a regular basis, who interacts well with the youth, who is willing to learn more about the Orthodox faith and teaching, who may be a professional teacher.

Our Church Schools need teachers who are sensitive to both the meaning of the Orthodox faith and the message as expressed in their lives. They want to share the faith and in a way that their students can best learn.

by Elissa Bjeletich

Lately, I have been fascinated by the idea of Family Retreats, of events that feed the parents as much as they feed the children. Orthodoxy is a way of life, and you can teach facts and ideas in a weekly class, but to truly follow Christ we must be living as His body. Sunday School teachers can plant seeds and inspire thoughts, even inspire faith and prayer — but parents have the power to do so much more. By establishing an Orthodox home with a pattern of prayer and fasting, parents can help their children develop a healthy spiritual rhythm that they’ll carry throughout their lives.

Teach the children in your Sunday Church School this important Lenten prayer using this meditation tool (PDF). Print one for each of your students to help them understand the meaning behind each line of this prayer. Talk about the services when we pray this prayer, and about praying it at home each day during Great Lent.

Christmas gifts for children and adults alike are available at discounted prices from the Archdiocese's Publications Center and Bookstore at Antiochian Village.

A few of the unique and spiritually nourishing gift items are:

• A CD of the Choir of St. Romanos from Beirut in concert at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Brooklyn, singing a variety of hymns of the Church in Arabic
• The Bible for Today’s Family - New Testament, written in clear, easily grasped English that a child can understand—yet appreciated by parents, teens, and grandparents, too
• The children's book, Pictures of God, which brings God and His saints vividly into children's lives through icons. The colorful pages are perfect for little hands in church, for explaining the world of icons in the first years of Sunday school, and for read-aloud time with little ones at home

Major credit cards are accepted at the online store, so place your order today!

Visit The Nativity of our Lord page at the Antiochian Village Bookstore and Giftshop

Dear Directors and Teachers,

Greetings and blessings as you begin the 2015 Church School year!

We have a few new resources for you. As you can see above, if you are thinking of using the GOA texts as well as those of the OCEC, there is a document that compares text by text. Don't press print before reading it as it is 23 pages. In years past, we have had the request for the 100 educational standards from the 8th grade text, The Way, The Truth, and The Life; these questions and answers have been prepared according to the order in which they appear in the text. In addition, we have prepared flashcards of these same questions. These can be used with high school classes for brief reviews of the material. They can be used in a jeopardy-style game, or as simple flash-cards. Another new item is found under Resources, the listing, "Online Resources for Parents and Teachers" compiled by Kristina Wenger who does the AODCE Social Networking Ministry. All of our social network ministry sites are listed in the Convention Report, see below.

Khouria Gigi Shadid, wife of Fr. James Shadid of St. George Orthodox Church in Houston, TX, is a mother of three, a school teacher, and former youth director. Her passion is teaching with music, and she has produced five educational music CDs to date. Several years ago, she developed the Matthew 25 HUGS program, or Hands Used for God's Service, in cooperation with the Archdiocese's Department of Christian Education. The goal of the program is to nurture generous spirits in the children of our church schools, with targeted activities and lessons at every grade level until children graduate from high school. Antiochian.org asked her to explain further.

Where did the idea for the HUGS program come from, and what do you hope to accomplish with it?

My cousin, Georgina, is known for giving great hugs. One day, we were talking and she began telling me about how much she wishes she could go to the NICU at a hospital and just hug on the little babies there. I told her that her loving hugs are one of the gifts that God has given her and that she should share those hugs with as many people as she can. As we talked, Georgina expressed a desire to do more with that gift... but what?

Saint Raphael left a legacy of 30 churches to the Antiochian Archdiocese. These beautiful small posters have been prepared so our children may learn about Saint Raphael. The posters show the parishes, and with vintage photos offer some clues as to how Bishop Raphael made his way around in the early 20th century. Some photographs of his parish visits still exist and were also included.

The posters are free—online only at www.antiochian.org/festivals/cf/posters-2015. Download the files (file name in quotes) onto a USB drive and take them to Staples or Office Max. (Some print centers will download from a website.) Each poster is available in two sizes, 8.5 x 14 (legal size) and 11 x 17 (ledger size). There are also posters with the troparion and logo.

If you find yourself new to the task of setting up a church school, read the first few pages from our Church School Director manual. Each diocese has a Christian Education Coordinator to assist you and your teachers. Their contact information is below. If you wish, you may also contact the Department at aodce@aol.com, or (717)747-5221.

Curriculum. Please consult the Curriculum page for information on the texts and resources we use. (If you are a mission parish, you might consider using the "Let Us Attend" Gospel program which has helped many new parishes. The Sunday Gospel is presented with discussion questions at five levels of comprehension. See the "button" on the right side of the Christian Education home page.)

by Catherine Sullivan, Departmental Associate

A few days before the special convention in Chicago to nominate three candidates for the position of Metropolitan, the staff of the Department of Christian Education met with Director Mrs. Carole Buleza in the same venue. Fortunately, most of the Department coming from British Columbia to the north, and South Carolina to the south, was able to attend in order to work together on recommendations for educational materials and programs for middle and high school students.