Hope Journey Explore

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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 27th 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.
The Cross as a symbol of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ

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.

The Bible is Christians’ Holy Book

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

ICHTHUS – The greek letters mean Jesus Christ Gods’ Son Saviour

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.

The dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and of peace

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

The Triquetra symbolises the Trinity – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit

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

Sue Elliott

Hope Journey co-ordinator

Hope Journey Cross Factor with Brookdale Primary School

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Hope Journey Cross Factor with Brookdale Primary School

It was a joy to be able to share another Cross Factor with 29 Year 5 children and 2 staff at Brookdale Primary School on Wednesday 14th April (via Google Meet).

The morning included

  • the Easter Story using a jig saw puzzle, which puts Jesus at the heart of the cross.  We discussed the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, The garden of Gethsemane, how Jesus was arrested and taken to the high priests house, before being taken to Pilate who ‘washed his hands of the affair’, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, following which the children designed a storyboard about what we were really celebrating at Easter
  • A look at some crosses from around the world (Roman, Crucifix, Palm, Celtic, Salvadorian) and why we share Palm crosses on Palm Sunday.  The children designed their own cross depicting scenes of the Easter story
  • a Roman Soldier telling us his experience of being in Jerusalem during Holy Week and how he felt when being told to go and arrest Jesus – whom he believed to be a good man who had performed miracles and healed people.  He was saddened when they crucified Jesus and shocked and delighted to meet an angel at the tomb who said Jesus was alive.  The children imagined being that Centurion and wrote a letter to a friend Maximus to tell him what had happened
  • We thought about how some things can look dead – but are brought back to life – like a bulb before it grows into a beautiful flower and a chrysalis before it becomes a pretty butterfly.  Christians believe that Jesus rose again and is alive and with us today and every day.  We discussed what we may like to change in our own lives, in our community and in the world and the children wrote their thoughts on leaves which were glued onto a tree, demonstrating renewal of life

The children received 3 gifts from Greasby Methodist Church

Resurrection Rhyme (Bible Society)
  1. The Journey through Holy Week as a take home leaflet t(see above) so that the children could colour the images whilst they shared the story with families
  2. All about Easter – a Resurrection Rhyme, published by the Bible Society this year.
  3. A Palm Cross – with an explanation of the significance of these crosses for Christians
Significance of the Palm Cross

We are very blessed that our virtual Hope Journeys have taken place this year but looking forward to when we can welcome the children and staff back into church again

 Sue Elliott

Hope Journey co-ordinator

Annual Report April 2020-March 2021

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Please find attached a copy of the Annual Report for April 2020 – March 2021 as promisedhttps://greasbymethodistchurch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Annual-Report-2020-21-Final-10.pdf

Please do take time to read the report and praise God for the many blessings we have received throughout what has been a challenging year and pray for wisdom and guidance as we develop our Mission Plan for Greasby Methodist Church 2021-23

Sue Elliott

Hope Journey Cross Factor with Greasby Junior School

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Hope Journey Cross Factor with Greasby Junior School

What a joy to be able to share Cross Factor with 64 Year 5 children and 4 staff at Greasby Junior School on Monday 22nd March via Google Meet

Cross Factor aimed to complement the Ecumenical Assemblies Team videoed assembly entitled ‘Easter in a Nutshell’, which highlighted the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We looked at the Easter Story using a jig saw puzzle, which puts Jesus at the heart of the cross.  We discussed the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, The garden of Gethsemane, how Jesus was arrested and taken to the high priests house, before being taken to Pilate who washed his hands of the affair, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, following which children designed a storyboard about what we are really celebrating at Easter.  This work is currently displayed in the foyer at church

We also looked at some crosses from around the world (Roman, Crucifix, Palm, Celtic, Salvadorian) and why we share Palm crosses on Palm Sunday.  Some children designed their own cross depicting scenes of the resurrection of Christ.  This wonderful work is also on display at church.

Significance of the Palm Cross

We were able to share 3 gifts from Greasby Methodist Church

  1. The Journey through Holy Week as a take home leaflet so that the children could colour the images whilst they shared the story with families
  2. All about Easter – a Resurrection Rhyme, published by the Bible Society this month.  This included a special Easter blessing from us all at Greasby Methodist Church
  3. A Palm Cross – with an explanation of the significance of these crosses for Christians
Resurrection Rhyme (Bible Society)

The next Cross Factor for Year 5 children at Brookdale Primary will take place on Wednesday 14th April. 

Whilst we remain grateful for the technology which has facilitated our Hope Journeys this year, we do look forward to when we are able to welcome the children into our church again for more interactive learning sessions.

 Sue Elliott

Hope Journey co-ordinator