Theo the WORM in Sunday School!

Theo, is short for Theophilus.  He’s our new mascot for Sunday School and named after the person the person or an honorary title to whom the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles is addressed (Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1). Experts say my name means “Friend of God” or “beloved by God”.  So-oo, I’m here to share with our Sunday School children, who are all friends of God and Jesus, our exciting new Sunday School coming this fall! It’s called the Workshop Rotational Model or WORM for short (now you know why they selected me to be the mascot!).

 What is it?
 
The Workshop Rotational Model (WORM) is a model where the same bible story is taught in multiple ways over the course of 3 to 4 weeks. A teacher makes a commitment to lead a workshop that shares the lesson in  fun interesting ways. The teacher plans one set of activities and then repeats them with different ages of children each week. In a given month, 3 or 4 different workshops will be presented with the different age levels rotating through them each Sunday. Some of the possible workshop themes are Storytelling, Arts & Crafts, Videos, Puppetry, Food, Games, Science Lab, Nature & Gardening. It's similar to what is done during VBS but think of taking one VBS night and spreading it over a whole month!

Why change?

* Many of our children are unable to come every Sunday.
The WORM model will allow all children to hear a story at least  once and for those who do attend every Sunday they will have totally different   activities each week that will help them understand the stories even better.
* Finding teachers who can commit to 40 Sundays a year of lesson prep and teaching is more and more difficult and not everyone has the skill to teach in the traditional style.
By varying the types of workshops presented each month, all members of our congregation will have the opportunity to lead a workshop in an area  that matches a passion they may have. Individuals may find they enjoy it and volunteer multiple times throughout the year. Our dedicated volunteers who have been teaching Sunday school in the traditional setting and have only been able to attend a worship service during the summer and a handful of special Sundays will be able to feed their souls and attend worship more often.
* The traditional method of reading through a story, having discussion and sometimes a craft to emphasize the lesson is not  the best way for many children to learn.
 One of our most popular days in Sunday School is Pretzel Sunday. Kids beg to skip opening day of sporting events, make sure their friends  calendars are clear so they can come too, and start asking right after Christmas what day is Pretzel Day. We want that excitement for all of our lessons! Making a photo album of Jesus' relatives that are read each Advent, making a weaving with symbols for each of those ancestors, dressing up and being part of the story, grafting a new tree or planting cuttings are all examples of workshops to teach the lesson of Jesus'   ancestry back to Jesse.

What is Needed?
 
As always, prayer

And...
 
* Workshop Leaders
For those with a passion or skill to teach a particular type of workshop, we hope that you will make the two to three week commitment to lead at least one workshop each school year. These workshops come with a pre-planned lesson plan with all activity steps provided as well as suggestions for supplies and ways to lead the workshop.
* Class Shepherds
For more complex workshops we will need shepherds to provide the workshop leader with helping hands and to make sure each class gets to the correct workshop for that week. Shepherds will not be planning workshops, but will make a longer term commitment to be with the particular age-level class - either a quarter or semester.
* Supplies Coordinator
The workshops will be using a variety of supplies and it will be important that our Sunday school cupboards stay stocked with what is needed.
* Workshop Designers and Builders

We want to transform some of our spaces with a bit of paint, fabric and other finishes to emphasize what type of workshops take place in that    location. (Examples storytelling area with biblical backdrops and props, a puppet theater, a stage for presenting dramas). We have the  basics for many of these on our church property already. (Trustees, don't worry, we'll make sure to present our plans before opening any buckets of paint or getting out our hammers and screwdrivers).