Our church year is full and rich with many celebrations, commemorations, saints days, and special remembrances. As a way of lifting up some of these days, we offer special Lesson Plans throughout the year.
Civil Discourse Curriculum
We invite you to use the following five-week Civil Discourse Curriculum to better understand and practice civil discourse particularly as it relates to politics, policy, and legislation. This resource will also help folks understand why civil discourse so important to living out our Gospel call and solving the problems facing our communities, country and the world.
The curriculum was written by members of the Presiding Bishop’s staff from the Office of Government Relations and the Formation Department, and is designed for church groups, adult forums, campus ministries and youth groups (not recommended for younger than 14 years old). You may also consider using the curriculum for personal reflection, with family, or in small groups in your neighborhood or community.
Saints
The saints are “the lights of the world in every generation,” people whose lives and deeds have shone brightly and helped others more closely follow God. There are saints who lived long ago and there are saints living and working in the world today, saints who are known by the church and saints who are known only to God. We say that the church—we—are part of the Communion of Saints, the company of all faithful people, connected through our baptism to those Christians who have died, those who are alive now, and those who haven’t yet been born. The word “saint” means holy.
In the Episcopal Church we have a Calendar of Saints, holy men and women we remember in prayer and with readings from the Bible on their feast day.
Discover the Lesson Plans we have for Saints.
United Thank Offering Lessons
We have two lessons that highlight the work of the United Thank Offering and invite children and families to be thankful each day.
The first is a UTO Godly Play Story.
The second is a UTO Thanksgiving Lesson Plan. Many families have the tradition that when they gather for their Thanksgiving meal, each person says something they are thankful for from the past year. Since the United Thank Offering asks people to do this every day and at all times, this is a great opportunity to have the Blue Box available for thank offerings. We wanted to offer a craft for Sunday School/Faith Formation that would make the Blue Box into a turkey and give teachers, parents and students a way to talk about gratitude, giving and UTO.
If you have questions about UTO or would like more information, please contact Heather Melton at hmelton@episcopalchurch.org.