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These notes are from a presentation by His Grace Bishop THOMAS at Orthodox Institute 2009, Antiochian Village Heritage and Learning Center, Bolivar, Pa., November 5-8, 2009. Download a printer-friendly version.

Parents, take the initiative to find out what your children are learning in Church School.  Build upon the weekly lessons at home with supplemental teaching. 

Orthodox Institute 2009 will be held November 5-8, 2009, at Antiochian Village, Ligonier, Pa. This year’s theme is Beyond the Classroom. We are pleased to present two keynote speakers: His Grace, Bishop THOMAS, Diocese of Charleston, Oakland and the Mid-Atlantic, and Paul Finley, Executive Director of Antiochian Village.

There are 80 cards, 8 1/2" x 11" in size. Each card features a full-color photograph on the front. The text and suggested activities printed on the reverse sides of the cards provide simple explanations of each picture and are meant as guidelines to encourage further study. The cards break up into four clearly defined sets: Sacraments, Feast Days & Services, Great Lent & Pascha, and Divine Liturgy. Packaged in its own colorful storage box, the Teaching Pictures will be useful for all grades of the curriculum. Order from the Antiochian Bookstore or the Orthodox Christian Education Commission.

At their Orthodox Kids Corner website, Potamitis Publishing offers hundreds of free coloring pages (including icons), dot-to-dots, mazes, puzzles, and other activities, available for free download for personal and Sunday Church School use. You can also send e-cards.

For our second annual Saints Festival at my church, I used as the theme “Fishers of Men.”  The children dressed in costumes as a saint or biblical figure. We then had a costume parade into the hall where they stood on stage in front of their parents and other parishioners. The children were asked to share at least one fact about their saint or biblical figure.

My Prayer Journal from International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is a good start to helping our children learn about what the IOCC is doing, both in our country and abroad. It helps the children learn about other places, recognize the needs there, and formulate prayers to ask God to meet those needs.

The Department of Christian Education coordinates the Art, Poetry, Creative Writing and Photography festivals.

My son Timothy, you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived.