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Evensong April 29Ministry Minute - 9/26/2010 & 7/17/2010 - Betsy Yamron
Good Morning, my name is Betsy Yamron. We are relatively new to Trinity, but in a very short time, this Church has come to mean so much to me. While are not “newcomers” to the area, we started living in Concord 3 years ago. My husband, Dan, grew up here, and we have family near by. (As an aside, growing up his family went to ‘Holy Family’ and I’m a lifelong Espiscopalian, so you can see who has the pull in this marriage…..)Tony, Nick, Anne and the Newcomer Committee welcomed us and were present immediately for a series of crises: Dan was in Emerson Hospital with a bad problem, my Mother’s dying & death, and the overall adjustment, with 2 teenage girls, to this new Community. The Church’s involvement made things go a lot smoother.
Two years ago I told Janice that I would like to help with Church School. I had taught Sunday school when my own kids were younger and was intrigued by this “Godly Play” curriculum. Our kids are older now; David is 20, Molly is 19 and our “baby” Rachel is at CCHS. You may have seen here around with the Youth Group; she was just confirmed!
But back to Church School and my question, “What is “Godly Play”?? As I worked with the PreK & K group, I understood that this is a wonderful way to explain the Bible Stories and the wonder of Jesus. Based on the Montessori method, weekly lesson plans are based on Bible stories and outlined with a basic script and have simple props. Going to the Godly Play training (paid for by this Church) really helped me. For example, I learned NOT to have eye contact with the kids (which is my natural way), but instead to draw them in to the story with my soothing, monotone words & movements.
The most AMAZING thing is that these 4 & 5 & 6 year olds have given me so much! They know how treacherous the desert can be, and have empathy for the Jews wandering. They understand how Mary & Joseph could have gotten angry with Jesus for going back to the Temple without telling them, and how amazing it was that Jesus was talking with the adult Priests & Rabbis. They realized how incredible it was for Jesus to ask John to baptize him, when Jesus was the son of God and John a mere human.
Best of all, these wonderful kids have applied this empathy to other situations, like making Christmas cards for the Prisoners or Valentine’s for Shut-ins. Being a Church School Teacher has helped ME to feel a part of the Trinity family, and to deepen my own relationship with God. I love welcoming these kids in to my Classroom and watching them develop, especially the new families who have come to Trinity for the first time
Trinity’s financial support of the Church School is critical to the continued growth of this Church. It is our responsibility to teach these young children Christian values and our “Godly Play” curriculum is aptly suited to do that. It was a sad loss when we had to cut our Church School Director, Janice Yancy, from the budget last year. She was an inspirational leader for all the Church School teachers. I truly hope that the Operating Budget for this coming year will be again able to accommodate a Church School Director.
Thank you.