14 March 2012

an addition to the library

I've never gotten around to writing about our "library" (which is a mere book basket). But this weekend it had a new acquisition... from the Free (second-hand) Books table at my residential weekend training course!

It's a small, colorful book called Share this feast: reflecting on Holy Communion. It's less than 50 pages long, and perfect for dipping into.

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The book was published by the Methodist Church, but emphasizes the shared ground between all the Churches that celebrate Holy Communion. It's suitable for a wide age-range, and is an excellent jumping off point for anyone to meditate upon Communion (The meaning of Communion for you will build up in layers over the course of your life as a disciple, p. 3) or to encourage discussion.

The themes of the openings include "pour out your Spirit", "the sacrament of care", and "confession" as well as more obvious ones like "do this in remembrance of me" and "a foretaste of the heavenly banquet". Each theme is dealt with in a single opening. All openings include colorful art or photographs and brief captions (song lyrics, Bible verses, or prayers) as well as 2-3 paragraphs of text.

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I'll admit, the children almost never look at the books in the book basket. But each time we've have an all-age event in the classroom, there's been at least one adult who just wanted to read quietly during their Response Time. 

Do you have books in your classroom?

1 comment:

  1. I love that quote about the meaning of communion building up over time. I've thought that many times, it its part of the reason I am so happy that children participate fully in communion at our Church.
    We do have books in our atria - always religious and compatible with the content of the particular atrium, and kept in a basket! I sometimes rotate them in and out seasonally. We have lots of children who read them, and we sometimes have to direct children back towards materials and away from books!!
    If you have books that would be especially helpful for something you are doing in class, you might try taking them out the basket and standing them up on a shelf or the floor to catch the children's eye.

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