Seasonal Worship Ideas
Rally Day 2008
Where two or three are gathered ... Matthew 18:20
Christian education is at the very heart of the church. In the educational process the Spirit of God encounters people of all ages so that they are nurtured in faith, grow in knowledge and experience, and are inspired and empowered to live as discoples of Jesus Christ. This call to discipleship compels us to share our faith and serve others in the home, the community, and in God’s world.
This is a rally day plan for kicking off your Sunday School year. It is designed to be an intergenerational event for Sunday School, leading into a worship service where the teachers and leaders for the year are commissioned. The ideas are gleaned from the ELCA website Daily Discipleship under Christian Education programs.
As families enter the fellowship hall, tables are set up around the room so that each Sunday School class has a table. Teachers are invited to host their table, decorate it, display the curriculum they will be using, and greet families as they arrive and visit around the tables. Teachers should be asked to be prepared to host these tables ahead of time. It would be a wonderful idea if they sent invitations to each family encouraging them to attend.
10-Minute Opening
Families are encouraged to participate in the Community Quilt activity that is set up in the center of the room to one side of the fellowship hall. It is an opportunity for families to celebrate their identity and sense of belonging to God’s family, your congregation or church family and their own families as they make quilt squares for a community quilt.
Supplies Needed:
- Copy of the center square design
- Copies of heart designs
- Copy of Expressions of Faith designs
- White paper
- Tape
- Markers or crayons
This paper quilt could be done on a paper banner, a bulletin board, or if you get industrious, a cloth quilt could be done. One person will facilitate arranging and hanging the pieces as they are completed. Lay out the center square and Expressions of Faith on the quilt. These could be laminated to make them last longer.
The leader of the activity introduces it as an opportunity to celebrate three things at the same time: God’s family, your congregation or local church family, and individual families.
The center square is the symbol for God’s family, with Christ or the Cross as our center. Display the expressions of faith squares to characterize the activities of your local church family or congregation. The heart designs are designed to celebrate the individual families that live and grow within it. All three designs will be included in a large community quilt that will be displayed in worship today and in the church all year long.
Invite each family or individual to choose a heart design to represent the configuration of their immediate family. Encourage family members to choose one piece of the heart to color and identify as their own. Place the family name on the square to celebrate an individual family’s identity within the larger congregation.
As they finish the quilt design, invite families to come to the semicircle drama area as they finish the quilt and join in singing.
Begin the together time with a reading of Matthew 18:20 and Ephesians 4:14-16 from The Message:
When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there. Matthew 18:20
No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love - like Christ in everything.
We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love. Ephesians 4:14-16
Have a reading of the skit "It’s Not a Game - It’s a Gift", where some amazingly unique aspects of a faith community are discovered. You will need to recruit five people to read and act. It can be rehearsed or done impromptu.
It’s Not a Game - It’s a Gift!
Setting the Stage:
Consider the personalities and whimsical wisdom of the age-old movie, Little Rascals, as you find children, youth and adults to portray the characters in this skit. The “Lil’ Buddies from the Back Pew” will set the stage for your entire event as they play a game of “Hide-n-Seek” and discover some of the amazingly unique aspects of a faith community. Beside costumes, the only props you will need are a kazoo and an American flag.
Cast:
- The Little Buddies from the Back Pew
- Ritchie (Focused on Gloria, the object of his affection)
- Gloria (A precocious and provocative little girl, with attitude)
- Buddy (Looks up to TJ)
- TJ (The leader of the Back Pew Buddies)
- Jeepers (A mama’s boy)
** Encourage your actors to gather clothing and accessories that will enhance the personalities of the characters they will portray.**
Script: Download the Printable PDF File
During the worship following this Rally Day program, use the community quilt in the children’s time and encourage children who didn’t come to the program to do a heart to be included in the quilt. Have a Commissioning of Teachers and Leaders following the children’s time while the children are still in the front so that they can participate. A copy of this commissioning is included in this design.
Nurturing Faith In Community
By Christ’s own example and command, our journey of Christian discipleship is not a solitary one. Instead it is lived out in relationship with others. Faith is nurtured through varied experiences within the faith community and beyond and discipleship is a continuous lifelong process affecting every aspect of a believer’s life.
By the waters of baptism we are united as the family of God and launched on a lifelong odyssey to discover and nurture what God’s grace has already accomplished within us. God’s infinite love has blessed and sustained us through the gift of “one another.”
As a communion of Christ’s body we have the joy and responsibility to nurture one another in a deep and abiding faith, formed within us as our actions and attitudes are patterned after the master teacher, Jesus Christ. Our call to discipleship is not a private one. Instead, it is a living and dynamic response to God’s ultimate yearning for community, the Incarnation!
Commitment & Affirmation of Educational Leaders
