Boundless Forgiveness Resources | Christian Education Network of the ELCA

Link to Inviting Children to Remember and Celebrate Christ: A Devotional for Palm Sunday by Brandon Helder at buildfaith.org provides simple liturgical elements for children to experience Palm Sunday.

We All Need Forgiveness by Mercer Mayer is a board book for young children to teach them about the concept of forgiveness. Available at Christianbook.com and Amazon.

Link to Seven Last Words: An Immersive and Interactive Experience for Children and Youth by Patrick Kangrga at buildfaith.org describes an experiential activity with stations for the seven last words. Each participant is led through the stations wearing headphones and guided by a recorded meditation which includes scripture passages, instructions for interacting with items found at the stations, and questions for further reflection.

Link to Breaking the Chains: A Confirmation Lesson on Forgiveness by Keith Anderson at buildfaith.org begins with a video by Nadia Bolz-Weber and includes literally breaking chain links!

Link to Practicing Forgiveness is an intergenerational 90-minute session from Vibrant Faith, which can be adapted to be shorter or longer as needed.

Link to A Lutheran Welcome to Forgiveness by Pastor Daniel Erlander is a small booklet to help visitors and lifelong Lutherans alike learn more about forgiveness. Comes in packets of 10.

Link to Making Sense of the Cross Part 1 with Rev. Dr. David Lose, ELCA pastor and former president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary, can be found at ChurchNext. The three-part video series can be taken as an individual or as a group and looks at the topics of forgiveness and atonement. What does the cross mean for you and me? For a small fee, ChurchNext provides downloadable Mp3s of each lecture plus Discussion Questions and a one-page synopsis of the course called The Takeaway.

Link to Grace Comes First featuring James Alison, a Catholic priest and theologian, is a 5-minute video from The Work of the People discussing the concept of forgiveness coming first. An interesting way to start a group discussion on the topic. A subscription is needed to access all the website’s films but it can be cancelled or changed anytime.

Forgiveness: A Lenten Study by Marjorie Thompson, Presbyterian pastor and author of the best-selling book Soul Feast, takes a close look at our understanding of forgiveness in this short study. A study guide is also included at the back of the book that is appropriate for either individual reflection or group discussion.