Teaching Children: Candles lighting and three "S" Words

Amy Whipple begins the lesson with our youngest Sunday School students about using candles in worship. 

     Every week in worship there is time during the first hymn of the service for people in the congregation to come forward and light a candle. Votive candles are placed around the Christ candle and people are invited to come light and candle and say a special prayer. This is a wonderful tradition and the children of the church particularly love participating.  

Recently, we decided we needed to do some teaching and gentle reminding with the children about what makes this part of worship special and how they should conduct themselves while lighting the candles.  Our friend and Sunday School teacher/office administrator extraordinaire Amy Whipple spent some time with the youngest Sunday school classes this week teaching and led the Time for Children during worship. 

Amy taught us about the three "S" words for this special time during the service. 

1. Special: Lighting a candle during this time is very special. We are lighting a candle as a prayer to God. We should come forward and be respectful of others because this is a special time for them, too.  We encourage the children to come forward with a parent or special adult. 

2. Settled: As we come forward, we need to settle our bodies and minds. We need to be calm and focus on God, our prayers, and remember  the flames are dangerous and we can hurt ourselves and others when we play or misuse the candles. We should ask for help from parents or a grown up nearby if we are having trouble lighting our candle. 

3. Share: We are sharing this experience with others. Others are coming forward to light a candle and say a special prayer, too. We want to take our time, wait in line, and safely pass the candle on to the next person. Also, we never play with the candles or blow them out - the candles are other's special prayers.

We will continue reinforcing these words and teaching the children about worship and welcome them to participate. We promise as a congregation when a child is baptized to do our part in teaching and loving each child. Please help us!  If you see a child that needs help or a calming hand during worship- please don't be afraid to be a friend. Our children learn from us. They watch us and do what we do. We can all play a part in creating a wonderful time for all of us to worship together.