Opening
Part of Love Connects Us, Grades 4-5
Activity time: 10 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Chalice, candle, and matches or LED/battery-operated candle
- Newsprint, markers, and tape
- Handout 1, Covenant Key Words
Preparation for Activity
- Set up chalice.
- Write the words of James Vila Blake's covenant on newsprint, and post:
Love is the spirit of this church,
and service its law.
This is our great covenant:
To dwell together in peace,
To seek the truth in love,
And to help one another. - James Vila Blake
Description of Activity
Invite a participant to light the chalice. Lead the group to read aloud the Blake covenant. Say something like:
Our wall hanging is very full of our hearts, and buckets, and the other ornaments we have created as we talked about phrases in the Blake covenant. Let's take some time to remember our responses.
Invite participants to share verbally some of the comments written on the heart, chalice, and bucket ornaments attached to the Rainbow Wall Hanging. Have them contribute "popcorn" style, speaking up as they feel comfortable, or ask volunteers to take turns reading aloud some of the comments they see posted. Do not put any child on the spot to read aloud.
After everyone who wants to has shared a comment from the wall hanging, gather around the chalice and extinguish it together.
Including All Participants
Some participants may struggle with reading or be unable, from a distance, to read the written comments. Tell the group ahead of time that the group will talk about comments posted on the wall hanging and suggest children take a few minutes to look over the words on the wall hanging or try to remember something they contributed in a past session.