Okay, I know what you are probably thinking… Vacation Bible School is done for this year. It will not happen again until next summer. And right now I am busy with getting Sunday School started. I do not have time to plan next year’s VBS now!

I agree. It is too early to plan for next year’s VBS. But now, when the Vacation Bible School experience is still in your mind, is a great time to reflect on how VBS went this year. If you haven’t already, take some time to evaluate the VBS program at your church. You might want to gather a few people who were involved with this year’s VBS and have a brainstorming session. (I recommend an informal gathering rather than a formal meeting…perhaps at a coffee house.)

After Tim’s email on Monday about parenting talk points on scripture, we received a request to use the information in a church newsletter. The reader is also planning to hand the article out on the day that the church presents Bibles to third graders. Both of these are excellent ideas, and it started me thinking about ways that other information from Different Voice might be used.

A few weeks ago I told you about a first-ever community potluck idea that would be taking place in my town. We called it All Ames Eats Together, with the idea being that we wanted to have lots of people come together on one day to share a meal, donate a bit of money, and talk about food issues in our county.

SoulCollage is a unique process that involves creating cards filled with rich and personal imagery which reveal aspects of the self. Creating the cards is a lot of fun! You browse through magazines and catalogs to find images that strike you, cut them out, and paste them on small matte boards in a collage-like way. Each 5x8 card is visual representation of a completion of the sentence, "I am one who...". The process can be therapeutic, inspirational, or useful in clarifying values, and the cards become a lasting personal reminder of a deep truth, insight, or commitment. 

A SoulCollage workshop is best led by a trained facilitator, though anyone who has read the SoulCollage book will understand the process well enough to lead a workshop. While the process is very individual, it's also something that is enjoyed much more when done within the context of community.

It's no secret that times are tough in many communities across our nation. Charitable organizations, homeless and battered women's shelters, and churches are experiencing high demand for their services. Your congregation can have a huge impact on an organization--and learn a lot in the process about how our everyday skills can have a possitive effect on others--by planning an A.H.A. (All Hands Activated) Month.

Start by choosing an organization to assist. The ideal organization would be one that has a small staff but which offers many services, such as a shelter. Set up a meeting with the staff to talk about what their needs are, especially anything that never seems to get done. Get as long a list together as possible, with details about such things as specific hours or days the work needs to be done, supplies available, and specific skill requirements. Find out if they would like to have congregation members contact a specific person or phone number. 

Increasingly in many congregations, visitors do not attend a worship service, instead taking part only in Christian education classes or other mid-week groups. If your congregation is only collecting the names and addresses of those in worship, you may be missing an opportunity to provide great hospitality to those who take part only in other activities.

Provide your teachers with a simple contact card that they can give to and ask visitors to fill out. If your budget will allow it, also have teachers give small folders or envelopes available to give guests with such items as a church brochure, a business card, a Christian education guide, a notice about the church's child and youth protection policy, a guide to your church library, a map of the room locations, a magnet, an imprinted pen, and so on. I also recommend putting together a list of recommended reading and websites so that individuals who are new to progressive theology can begin to explore this topic on their own if it interests them.

Children know about friendships. And they know that friends don’t always get along. So they will definitely be able to identify with the main characters in the book, When Pigasso met Mootisse by Nina Laden.

When you are a child, starting a new school year is an important event. It takes preparation – getting school supplies and sometimes new clothes. It invokes anticipation and sometimes trepidation – Who will my teacher be? Will I be in the same class as my friends? And as a child advances to a new grade, it is a visible recognition that he or she is growing up. Even as an adult, I find that there is something special about the start of the school year.

Going to school is the “work” that children do. It occupies a large amount of their time. Learning is their job. As the beginning of the new school year approaches, churches have an opportunity to affirm the work of our children and to encourage them to share God’s love as they learn about God’s world. One way to do this is to have a Blessing of the Backpacks the Sunday before school starts. This is also a good time to affirm the work of those adults involved in education – teachers, parents, cafeteria workers, custodians, school secretaries, etc.

“God, we ask that you be with each person in this class during the upcoming week.” The children jump up and immediately begin high-fiving one another while saying each person’s name. Each child shares a high-five with every other child in the class before sitting down again. When the last child sits down, the entire class shouts, “Amen.”

Has the teacher lost control of this class? No, the children have just prayed for one another.

Over the last few months, I’ve been keeping you posted on the Books for Books project undertaken by my covenant group. (If you’re new to The Daily Voice, the first and second articles are archived on the Different Voice blog.) In summary, a literacy report stating that in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio of age-appropriate books per child is 1:300 caught the attention of our group. We dreamt up “Books for Books”. We had a used book sale and raised money to purchase new books for every child at a local elementary school.