Articles and Resources Contributed by CENetwork Members
Thank you to members and friends for contributing these articles and ideas!
Sometimes the best resources are colleagues! Do you have something you'd like to share? A Christmas program you wrote? A VBS plan? A Safe Haven policy? To submit one to be considered for the website, click on the button below!
Event Summaries
- Great Connections were made in Cumberland!
- The Lifelong Learning Event by Cindy Wiste
- Becoming a Welcoming Congregation for All with Special Needs by Karen Kaufman
- Rethinking Faith Formation by Diane Shallue
General Christian Education
- Age-Appropriate Bible Recommendations from our friends at the Book of Faith
- Christian Education Resources in Spanish
- An Effective Model by Debbie Streicher, written for the Lifelong Faith Journal
- Empower and Equip by Debbie Streicher, written for the Lifelong Faith Journal
- Faith Formation in a Missional Age: Part 1 by Terri Elton
- Faith Formation in a Missional Age: Part 2 by Diane Shallue
- A Framework for Faith Formation in the ELCA
- Focus on Adults by Debbie Streicher, written for the Lifelong Faith Journal
- The Children’s Bulletin – Which One is Right for Your Church? by Building Faith
- Guide for Selecting Adult Leaders by Catherine Anderson, Northeastern MN Synod-ELCA and Linda Staats
- Lesson Plan Outline by Diane Shallue
- Lifelong Faith Faith Formation Network Resources by Deborah Poole, AiM
- Renaming and Reclaiming a Faith Practice by Debbie Streicher, written for the Lifelong Faith Journal
- Children's Messages and Sermons... a blog article by Linda Staats
Devotions
- The ELEA (Evangelical Lutheran Education Association) has a lovely devotional written for teachers and learning centers. "On the Road" - 2023-2024 Devotional Guide
- ELCA Lectionary Year B: 2023/2024
Year B focuses on the Gospel of Mark with more selections from the Gospel of John than any other year. The semi-continuous readings from the Old Testament focus on the covenant of David and Wisdom literature. The second, New Testament, readings are from 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, James and Hebrews. - Boundless Resource Devotions
Sunday School
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Intergenerational Sunday School by Building Faith
Milestones and Special Events
- Linda Staats compiled a list of Blessings of the Backpacks (or the School kids carrying them!)...click here!
- Stephanie created a Prayer card for families.
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Janet Renick shares: "As a part of our Milestone Ministry, our church quilting group creates "Prayer Pillows" to be given to children 2-5 years old. The pillows are huggable size & a little bigger than a license plate, with a pocket sewn into the middle of the pillows made with child-friendly fabric. Parents are thrilled with this "hands on" helping tool to teach their children how to pray." Here is a link to sets of a variety of children's prayers that you can use for this project. (The cards are a little bigger than an index card)
Advent
- Advent Family Devotionals (Year C)
- Advent Faily Devotional (Year B) by Ariel Williams
- Advent Calendar
- Advent Stars
Lent
- Stephanie and Carole put together Exploring Our Baptism Promises for Lent 2015
- Lenten Devotional from Luther Seminary: Jesus is a Rock in a Weary Land
- "Growing a Rule of Life" Devotions from by SSJE (Society of St. John the Evangelist)
Vacation Bible School and Summer Ideas
- My favorite Vacation Bible School that we did was a three-day, field trip based VBS we called Excellent Adventures! We used the theme hymn "This is My Father's World". We loaded schools buses and went to a cave, a state park and a zoo. We added activities such as making ice cream, butter, and a scrapbook/journal. We had a blast learning about the world around us as well as making use of local or semi-local resources! - Stephanie Pasch
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Many of you have probably been to a Lutheran camp. Perhaps you went for a retreat, or you were there dropping your child off for a week of summer camp. Or maybe you even went as a camper yourself or served as a camp counselor for a summer. Even if you have been to camp, what you might not know is that many of our Lutheran camps use a similar theme each summer. So a child who goes to camp on the west coast can experience the same Bible study theme as their cousin or friend in the Mid West or on the East Coast. Each year, Lutheran Outdoor Ministries, (LOM) produces a curriculum to be used not only by Lutheran camps, but also by camps that are affiliated with other denominations, other ministry organizations, and congregations. To read more about VBS from Lutheran Outdoor Mnistries, please go to www.lomnetwork.org.
Safe Haven Policies
- Safe Haven: A Step by Step Guide for Ministries ELCA Congregations, Schools and Learning Centers Pages 1-7 and Pages 8-20
- Mount Olive in Rochester, Minnesota revised their Safe Haven Policy in May, 2013. It can be found here.
- Deleware Maryland Synod Model Child Protection Policy can be found here.
- Trinity Lutheran in Hayfield, Minnesota shared their Safety Policy with us. Of particular note: check out the Code Blue and bullying policies, they are great! To find it, click here.
- St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Charleston, SC has shared their Child Protection Policy. It can be found here. Cindy Greenwood also recommends the organization Darkness to Light and their resources. Check it out here!.