December 2004
SHARING THE FAITH
NEWS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION & TITHING
From the Directors’ Desk
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I pray that the school year has begun well for all of you. Are you seeing, in each of your students, the image of God? Each person is made in His image, so the opportuntity is always there. Let us seek, and find, what is godly in each child we teach. One of the saints used to greet each of those who called on him with the phrase, “My joy . . .”
The past few months have been exceptionally busy with the formal launching of the teacher certification training, “Educating Ourselves and Our Children in Godliness.” I had the pleasure of visiting many, many fine parishes and meeting scores of dedicated teachers. I typically forget to take photos, however, and apologize that the only two I can share are from St. Matthew’s Parish in Torrance, California, where Fr. Simeon Corona is pastor.
The Department has launched a new website, so please check it out, and a new program, “To Tithe is To Love,” to teach this venerable tradition to our children. I explain the program more on the following pages. Finally, my regional coordinators and myself sent out 250 red folders for every parish priest and church school director, to acquaint all with our resources, services, and events. I managed to create a handy one-page reference sheet, which I have included as the last page of this newsletter.
Finally, in our next newsletter, in the February issue of The Word, you will see photos and find remarks of participants of the 2004 Orthodox Institute with Keynote Speakers, His Grace, Bishop BASIL, and Sr. Magdalen of England.
May God be with you,
Carole A. Buleza
Department of Christian Education
Regional Coordinators
Please contact the Regional Representatives for updates on trainings and other events in your region
Eastern: V. Rev. George Alberts (724)684-5472
Midwest: R.obert Snyder (330)493-4029
Western: Joseph Tershay (831)335-8350
Can-Am: Jacquelyn Fadel (716)282-8243
Southwest: Vasiliki (Billie) Oldziey (512)459-6264
New England: Anna Timko-Hughes (978)686-3274
Southeast: Betty Randolph (864)639-2204
The Department of Christian Education newsletter is published in the months of September, December, February, and April.
The office is staffed from 9:00-3:00 Monday through Wednesday. Phone (717) 747-5221.
FAX (717) 747-5832. E-mail: AODCE@AOL.com
Web page: www.antiochian.org/christianeducation
Introduction of “To Tithe is To Love”
The program to teach the children to tithe, “To Tithe is To Love,” will begin this year and run during four Sundays of the Nativity Fast. In preparation, tithing was the topic of the Department’s workshop at each Parish Life Conference this year. In cooperation with Ron Nicola, Chair of the Stewardship Department, the Parish Council Symposium participants benefitted from that same workshop as well as teachers and church school directors, at the 2004 Orthodox Institute in early November.
Program Implementation. The Church School Director will receive a kit for the program in November. The teachers will receive lesson plans for 10 minute add-on lessons to those they have already prepared. This year, the aspects of tithing that will be taught are those found in stewardship: the giving of time, talent, and treasure (tithe).
In addition, I have determined that the spiritual qualities we need to build in our students in order to make tithing a lifelong habit are: trust, stewardship, obedience, and giving oneself to God. I have identified a saint for each of these qualities, so that a saint will be highlighted along with each lesson plan. A set of visual aids, or small posters, with these saints will be available. Each week, the children will be provided with a doorknob hanger highlighting one of the saints, to remind them to bring in their offering each Sunday. Parishes that have children’s offering envelopes can simply have the children place their offerings in the box.
The children will bring in their tithe each week, and place it in a collection box with a cover of the “logo” for this year’s program. The classes will bring their boxes to the ushers, or to the priest, each week. This will continue throughout the year. Please contact the Department if you have any questions or need further materials. May God bless us in this new program!
AODCE Services and Resources
Church School Directors can request “Basic Church School Director” training which comes with a valuable manual. In addition, many valuable resources are found on our website,
www.antiochian.org/christianeducation
• “Sharing the Faith,” our Departmental newsletter, also found in The Word magazines for the months of September, December, February and April;
• Creative Festival Lesson Plans, four levels of lesson plans designed to assist teachers as they introduce the year’s theme to their students;
• A Listing of Our Curriculum, published by the Orthodox Christian Education Commission (O.C.E.C.);
• “One Month At A Time,” a page written by an experienced Director who shares what she is planning and doing each month;
• “Resources and Ideas for Small Church Schools,” a paper listing and explaining valuable websites and material resources with ideas for implementing grade-spanning lessons.
Parents can look to the website for resources as they strive to raise their children Orthodox. The Department offers a 2-hour workshop, “Raising Children Orthodox.” The website section for parents has two pages at this point, but will receive others during the year. The pages are:
• “Antiochian Gospel Program”: features five levels of pages to introduce the Gospel of each Sunday, with discussion questions and illustrations. The Gospel is paraphrased for the younger children. Parents can print out the pages to read to, or with, their children on Saturday evening in anticipation of the Gospel, or on Sundays to reinforce the message. The program is also a resource for small church schools.
• Children’s Book Reviews: Orthodox publishers are now offering beautiful full-color books for children, which will be presented and reviewed on this page.
“Seekers” will have a page on the website with two sections:
• Book Reviews: Orthodox publications will be reviewed
• Inspiration: Passages from classic Orthodox writers will be highlighted.
Teachers can benefit greatly from the training, “Educating Ourselves and Our Children in Godliness,” which is given through the Orthodox Christian Education Commission. The training is comprised of two hours in each of the following courses: Introduction to Teaching, Overview of Orthodoxy, and Orientation to Curriculum. Effective teaching techniques are modeled during the presentations, and notebooks are distributed so that participants can easily implement what they have learned. More information (as well as participants’ comments) on the training can be found on our webs
The website is also a place to find many teaching aids. The following pages comprise the Teacher Section:
• “Celebrate the Feasts:” A listing of the major feasts of the Church, with lesson resource material for five levels of students;
• “Out of the Box”: Ideas submitted by teachers and the Departmental Staff;
• Middle School: A listing of the “interim curriculum” units that are available;
• High School: A description of the new text, The Way, The Truth, and The Life; a listing of the “interim curriculum” units that are available, and the “Cross and Quill” archives indexed by topic, so that a single article can be printed.