Family Communion Class
This fall our church held the first (annual, I hope!) Family Communion Class. Families were invited to participate in this together (no dropping of the kids and going out for dinner yourself!) and it was great!!

Week 1: God’s Love Frees – The Passover Story

• Table Talk Question @ Dinner: Describe your favorite family celebration. Does it involve a special meal?
• Name tags and coloring pages table: http://www.chabad.org/media/pdf/42/kUgi423322.pdf (Passover coloring book)
• Storyteller Station: Tells story of Moses & Passover, including symbolism of mezuzah
• Creation Station: Make Mezuzahs (http://www.chadiscrafts.com/fun/claymezuzah.html)
• Active Station: Passover Games (Lesson idea from older lesson no longer found on this site)

Week 2: God’s Love Remembered – Last Supper

• Table Talk Question @ Dinner: What’s your favorite thing about going to church? And/or What’s a meal that your whole family can prepare together?
• Name tags and coloring pages table: https://calvarycurriculum.com/registration/ (Note: membership required) (Name tag link removed - no longer works)
• Storyteller Station: Tells story of Last Supper
• Creation Station: Make personal chalices and a family bread cloth
• Active Station: Crushing grapes and making grape juice(https://www.rotation.org/topic/...8#295011598215956498)

Week 3: God’s Love Today – Communion at Our Church

• Table Talk Question @ Dinner: Describe the first time you took communion. Is there one feeling or one moment during that experience that stands out for you?
• Name tags and coloring pages table:
• Storyteller Station: A Deacon tells how Communion is prepared and served at our church
• Creation Station: Illustrate bulletin covers for World Communion Sunday
• Active Station: Bake bread and use Communion cup filler to fill some cups
  Another resource: The Free Internet Bread Recipe Archive- http://www.reciperascal.com/pennsylvania-altar-bread/

Schedule:

5:30-6:00 p.m. Dinner
6:00-6:25 Station 1
6:30-6:55 Station 2
7:00-7:25 Station 3
7:30 p.m. Go home

Resources:

Get Ready, Get Set, Worship! by Jean Floyd Love (et al) Geneva Press.
Communion A-Z: Feasting At God's Table by Phyllis Wezeman (et al) Active Learning Associates
Touch the Water, Taste the Bread: Exploring the Sacraments with Children
Side by Side: Families Learning and Living the Faith Together
A Special Meal with Friends by Susan Isbell (sadly, no longer in print)
God, Kids & Us by Janet Marshall Eibner & Susan Graham Walker (has a wonderful story of family holiday meals at the beginning of the chapter on children and worship – a great parable with parallels that can be draw to the idea of children and communion.)
Come Unto Me: Rethinking the Sacraments for Children by Elizabeth Caldwell, Published by Round Table Resources (CT Conference, United Church of Christ, 125 Sherman Street, Hartford CT 06105 860-233-5564):
For families and church schools: Do This To Remember Me! A book for families on the Sacrament of Holy Communion by Rosemary Turner
For children and parents: Communion With Your Child by Bette Anne Crowell
For Pastors and Christian Educators: Jesus Loves Me: The Young Child and Communion by Donna Papenhausen