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HOPE JOURNEY EPIPHANY – JOURNEY WITH THE KINGS

 

Hope Journey Epiphany – Journey with the Kings

What a joy to be able to share Epiphany – Journey with the Kings with over 90 Year 1 children from Greasby Infant School (morning) and Brookdale Primary School (afternoon) on Thursday 13^th January

This year we were able to follow the usual programme.  Following our welcome and introduction

• The children completed a Journey to School map, drawing all the things they had noticed as they walked to church.  This created the context of journeying
• We introduced our three ‘very special friends’ who had travelled a long, long way to share their story and we watched the puppet sketch of the three magi retelling their experiences of travelling and meeting the baby Jesus
• We talked about the significance of gold, frankincense and myrrh as gifts for a future King
• and about gifts which would be suitable to give to a baby and what we can give Jesus as our gift (being kind, looking after each other eg helping someone who falls over, sharing toys and sweets, even helping parents by keeping our bedroom tidy!)
• We sang Our God is a Great Big God – with gusto!
• The children then completed three workshop activities which included writing or drawing our gift(s) to Jesus on a star which was glued onto their journey map; playing the ‘Build a Magi’ game (bit like a beetle drive) whilst enjoying refreshments and a ‘Three Kings’ craft activity
• During the plenary we talked about how the magi changed their direction, before we committed ourselves to being the kind of people God wants us to be. 

We gave the children gifts too – an Epiphany Prayer card to share with the family at home, an invite to our church activities, the child friendly Say One for Me card, a Meet The Cast (Lifewords) story book which tells the Christmas story and a bag of Haribo Starmix, to remind us of the star the wise men followed to find Jesus and the gifts they took as we share our sweets with each other

We are now looking forward to our next Hope Journey – Cross Factor (Easter story) which will take place on Thursday 31^st March, for Year 5 children from Greasby Junior School and Brookdale Primary School.

Sue Elliott

Hope Journey co-ordinator

HOPE JOURNEY MEET THE CHARACTERS

 

We were delighted to welcome 92 Year 2 children to Meet The Characters on Thursday 9^th December, including both Greasby Infant School (morning session) and Brookdale Primary School (afternoon session)

Following our welcome and introduction, we shared the Christmas story, highlighting that we are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at Christmas

The children went to meet each of the characters in the story including

• The Angel Gabriel – God’s messenger to fulfil God’s plan.  The appearance and message ‘Do not be afraid….’ to Mary and then Joseph, also the shepherds and Magi. 

• Mary’s experience – from the message from the Angel Gabriel, the census, travelling to Bethlehem, arriving at the Inn where there was no space, the arrival of Jesus and the amazing visitors – the shepherds and three Magi – who recognised Jesus as the King of Kings
• The shepherd(s) – who were chosen to be the first to hear about the birth and hurried down to Bethlehem to see him

• The Magi – bringing their gifts and travelling back a different way to avoid Herod and why
• The Innkeeper and his donkey – who explained his job as an innkeeper, why Bethlehem was so busy due to the census, the arrival of Mary and Joseph followed by the birth of a baby.  The children engaged enthusiastically in waking the donkey up so that the donkey could tell them his story, carrying Mary to Bethlehem and all the commotion in the stable!

At the end of each workshop, the children asked lots of interesting questions including whether Mary and Joseph ever got married and asking the Angel Gabriel if s/he could fly!

The children also enjoyed a break for refreshments during which they created Fridge magnet(s) of the nativity scene

During the plenary the children shared who their favourite character was and why, before singing ‘Happy Birthday to Jesus’ and receiving a gift bag with take home gifts including the Passport/colouring sheet to explain to families the characters they had met; a candle prayer to share with the family on Christmas Day; an invite to our Christmas services; a Meet The Cast (Lifewords) story book which retells the Christmas story and a Gold biscuit representing gold, frankincense and myrrh which the wise men brought to Jesus.

Now we are looking forward to welcoming 93+ Year 1 children to our next Hope Journey is Epiphany –Journey with the Kings, which will take place on Thursday 13^th January

Sue Elliott

Hope Journey co-ordinator

HOPE JOURNEY CRE-8

We had a wonderful day on Thursday 7^th October when we were able to welcome 61 children from Greasby Junior School and 28 children from Brookdale Primary School back into church for their annual Hope Journey event.  

Cre-8 is written for Year 4 children and we were able to share stories from the Bible and explore Images of God.  The children enjoyed workshops exploring

• Jesus calms the storm through Music (including the preparation and use of musical instruments to retell the story)
• The Parable of the Good Samaritan through Poetry.  Children wrote a reflection based on the word ‘Neighbour’.
• The Parable of the Sower through Drama to retell the story through actions and mine.
• The Parable of the Wise and Foolish builders through Dance
• The Feeding of the 5000 (thinking about something to share with others whilst enjoying refreshments)
• We shared Images of God workshop and the children drew what God is like on jigsaw pieces.  A copy of the jigsaw is displayed in the atrium for your interest. 

Children also received a take home leaflet to share the stories with families at home and a memory verse The wise man built his house upon a rock (Matthew chapter 7 v24-27), which happened to be attached to a Rocky Bar!

We look forward to welcoming Year 6 to Hope Journey Remembering on Thursday 11^th November

Sue Elliott

Hope Journey co-ordinator

HOPE JOURNEY SHARING PARABLES

was a joy to visit Greasby Infant School on Thursday 1^st July to deliver Sharing Parables to 60 children and 5 staff from F2.  This was our first visit into schools this year and we were very blessed with dry weather as we held the event in the outdoor play space.  

Following the welcome and introduction

1. We read the story of The Lost Son from the bible. A parable is a story Jesus told to explain his teaching to us. We talked about feelings – how the various characters felt at different times in the story and why their emotions changed.  Very  importantly we looked at how we can all make wrong choices but God always forgives us if we are truly sorry for what we have done and aim to put it right.  The children made paper plate faces – a smiling face on one side and a sad face on the other – and used the paper plate faces to retell the story to us

2. The puppets shared a modern day version of the story.  A boy wanted to go to a disco but dad had said no.  However he sneaked out and went off with his friends and had a great time.  However he woke his dad up when he got home so his dad found out what he had done.  However dad did forgive him because he loved him so much.  Just as our Father God loves us and will forgive us too.  The children made peg puppets to take home to use to retell the story to their families

3. We presented a monologue, from dad’s point of view, again exploring how sad he was when the son asked for his inheritance and left home seeking a better life.  But how he rejoiced when the son returned home.  Sometimes we can wander away from God, but He is always ready to welcome us back too.  The children then made scoobies with different shaped beads

Square = someone we rely on, and who supports us

Round = somebody it is good to be around (friend, teacher, family member)

Heart = somebody who takes care of us

Star = a superstar in our life

We all enjoyed learning about how God loves us, takes care of us and we can trust Him to be our superstar and very special friend forever.

We are looking forward to welcoming all the children and staff into church again for another exciting programme of Hope Journey events next year

Sue Elliott

Hope Journey co-ordinator

Hope Journey Explore

This week we shared Hope Journey Explore via Microsoft Teams with 61 children at Greasby Junior School and 28 children at Brookdale Primary School on Thursday 27^th May.  I am grateful to the Circuit Team for their knowledge and support

Following my welcome and introduction, we shared four workshops

1. Explore – using images and starting with our own church, we looked at various artifacts and furniture usually found in churches and identified what each was and what we use them for.  This included the Bible, pulpit, lectern, baptismal font/baptistry, communion table, hymn book, organ/keyboard etc.  This facilitated explanations about denominations, the history of the bible, baptism and celebration of communion.  We then looked at the development of the church and, despite some differences, we all come from one root.

2. Holy Books – which focussed on the Bible – structure, Old Testament, New Testament, gospels/epistles, various versions etc and compared the Bible with the Qur’an and Torah.  The children asked the most amazing questions eg how old the bible is? When and how did different versions develop?  Did they use a quill to write it?  How has the same version carried on?  They also asked How did Jesus knew he was going to be killed?  We then explained the Trinity.

3. Signs and symbols – after a fun quiz looking at company logos, we examined the meaning behind various signs and symbols.  In particular we talked about the Cross, ICHTHUS, the dove, a crown of thorns and a triquetra.  We compared the Cross to the Star of David (Judaism) and the Crescent Moon (Islam) before asking the children to design a symbol shield for themselves

4. Prayer – We asked Why pray? Who do we pray to? Where can you pray? What do you pray about?  We watched a video of several children answering those questions.  We explained ACTS, the Lords Prayer and introduced a holding cross, before listening to Sir Cliff Richard singing the Millennial Prayer – The Lords prayer.  We concluded prayer is taking with God, and we can pray to God at any time, in any place. Children were encouraged to write their own prayers using TSP – Thank you, Sorry and Please if they find it helpful.

We have displayed some of the children’s work for your enjoyment and hope you will come along to admire their work during the half term break

Thank you to Brookdale and Greasby Junior School for joining us at Hope Journey again

Sue Elliott

Hope Journey co-ordinator