| Year Levels Focus: | The Church is a believing community that witnesses to Jesus’ life by welcoming, caring, serving and celebrating. (TCREK011) |
| Aims: |
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| Content Statement: |
Students will focus upon the Church as the community of God’s people. They will be supported to recognise Baptism as a celebration of welcome into this community of people who believe in Jesus. They will explore how those who believe in Jesus are helped by his Spirit to live in his way and spread his word by welcoming, celebrating, caring and serving. |
The Church is the “Body of Christ”, the “Temple of the Holy Spirit”, the “Bride of Christ”, the “People of God”, the “Sacrament of Christ”, the “Community of Faith”, the “Communion of Saints”, a “Priestly People”, etc. These are not sociological, political, psychological, philosophical, historical or “scientific” descriptors. They are theological images and metaphors whose meaning is discovered in love—not in our love, but in God’s love, which is revealed in Jesus.
The Church does not exist for itself. It is, by definition, called and sent—down into the depths of the Mystery that loves us, and out on mission to the margins of our world. Mission is not just something the Church does, then. Mission is what she is sent to be and do, because that is what Christ does and is: “good news to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind, a time of the Lord’s favour”.
The Church’s identity is God’s gift to us in Christ because we are first and foremost God’s gift to Christ: “They were yours; you gave them to me” (John 17:6). And through us, as Christ’s Body, unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity continue to be God’s gift to the world: “so that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23). Our unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity is, then, the heart of our mission and thus of our identity: at once a call to be (one with God in Christ) and a sending out of ourselves into the whole world to live (in faith, with hope, and, above all, as love).
This call and this sending are the same act in Christ: we are called and sent through him, with him, and in him, united by his Spirit. Apart from a constant focus on Christ, being one, holy, catholic and apostolic would lose its vital meaning. Therefore, in Christ, as his Body, we profess that the Church is “one, holy, catholic and apostolic”.
In GNFL this understanding of the Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic is developed with these theological emphases:
- It is Christ who is one: completely and authentically himself, “fully integrated”, single-minded, wholehearted, and utterly alive. And as such, he is the unifying power of God at work in us through our sharing in his Spirit as his Body.
- It is Christ who is holy: divine, other, transcendent, marginal, and liminal (these are all part of the meaning of the word “holy” in Scripture). And as such, he is the sanctifying power who gives us his Holy Spirit, the only real source and meaning of the Church’s holiness.
- It is Christ who is catholic: one-with-God and one-with-us, whole-and-inclusive, open to all, and made up of all-into-one. And as such, he is the all-embracing opening up of the Triune God drawing us into the divine communion of love.
- It is Christ who is apostolic: coming from God, sent by God, and forever moving ahead of us leading us into God; and as such, the simultaneous act of grounding us in a living tradition and sending us out into the whole world to live and proclaim the Gospel.
- Being one, holy, catholic and apostolic is the Church’s “radical tradition”.
- As we are called to integrity (“one”), wholeness (“holy”), and communion (“catholic”), so have we been sent in living continuity (“apostolic”) with all those who have gone before us (“tradition”), beginning with Christ himself (which is why this tradition is “radical”, from the Latin radix meaning “root”).
URL link to Theological Conversation chapter (PDF).
The Church is a community of people who:
- Believe in Jesus and listen and respond to his Good News.
- Through Baptism, we are one with Jesus and come together as God’s people.
- Are empowered by the Holy Spirit to welcome, celebrate, share, and serve.
The Church is a believing community that witnesses to Jesus’ life by welcoming, caring, serving and celebrating. (TCREK011)
Students will focus upon the Church as the community of God’s people. They will be supported to recognise Baptism as a celebration of welcome into this community of people who believe in Jesus. They will explore how those who believe in Jesus are helped by his Spirit to live in his way and spread his word by welcoming, celebrating, caring and serving.
TCREI004
Responding to questions about religious ideas, events or rituals and recording our thoughts and feelings (TCREI004)
- developing questions about the Mass, its meaning, structure and symbols
- at a class/parish Mass making a photo story of the parts of the Mass using information and communications technology (ICT), and sharing this with parishioners at a morning tea
- brainstorming questions about how to pray, and inviting people from the parish to tell us how they pray
- remembering that whenever we pray, Jesus is praying within us through his Holy Spirit uniting us with God the Father in love
- researching the story of our parish church: using a photo time line, make a noticeboard display for the front office to tell the story of our parish
- using the “Explain Everything” app or equivalent to devise a question for God and give an answer in images and text drawing on Scripture or church teaching
TCREI005
Listening to and viewing stories from the Scriptures, and discussing characters (TCREI005)
- gathering Scripture quotations around a series of themes and making a class mural, story maps or a class big book
- using glossaries to learn the meaning of religious and theological terms
- choosing verses from the Psalms that inspire thanksgiving prayers
- exploring the first creation story (Genesis 1) as though it were a ritual (which it was!) and bringing out the symbolism in the numbers 3, 6 and 7 (first 3 days mirrored in the second 3 days; 6 days of creation; the 7th day, the Sabbath, as containing all time—past, present and future)
TCREI006
Expressing personal responses and ideas in various ways (TCREI006)
- creating Godly play dolls
- sharing Godly play with other classes
- creating artworks that reflect spiritual ideas or religious questions
- ritualising biblical stories and noting how they are full of symbolism
TCRED004
Cultivating a spirit of reflective silence and stillness, and naming important ideas or questions (TCRED004)
- using an icon or cross, inviting written prayers for the world on sticky labels and placing them under the cross or icon (to include in class prayer)
- asking hard questions and posting them on a “Mood Wall” in the classroom
- writing reflective responses to lines of Scripture (e.g., “be still and know that I am God”, “Speak Lord, I am listening”, “Come, follow me”, “ ‘I have called you by your name, you are mine’, says the Lord”)
- using Christian meditation to practise openness to God’s love
- expressing gratitude following meditation, e.g., by singing songs of thanks and praise
- learning to listen in silence and stillness to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, minds and bodies, leading us to discover God’s loving purpose for us
TCRED005
Listening to and responding to others’ ideas and thoughts, and wondering and asking questions about ourselves and how we are connected to God and our world (TCRED005)
- examining individually and in small groups questions and thoughts about God
- being open to the Holy Spirit by listening to each other share ideas, thoughts and feelings in circle time
- singing songs that give thanks to God and acknowledging the connectedness of all things in his Holy Spirit
- resting in silence, pondering how God loves us and wants us to know him embraced by his Holy Spirit
TCRED006
Sharing some ideas and helping design plans of action that might lead to making loving choices towards improving specific situations at school or beyond (TCRED006)
- sharing and discussing how classroom rules and attitudes encourage, protect and guide everyone for the good of all
- constructing posters and signs to build a culture of gratitude in the classroom
- pondering how to be more loving, generous, forgiving, joyful, patient by relaxing into the loving embrace of the Holy Spirit
- creating affirmation paper bags / envelopes to affirm when others have made loving choices towards us as their response to God’s love for them
- exploring ways that the mystery of God’s love, the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit, is revealed through the community of faith in the Church (e.g., by exploring, using the web, Pope Francis’ humility and kindness)
- creating a blessings meter or a gratitude box in the classroom to encourage kindness, positive attitudes and gratefulness
By the end of Year 2, students can identify God’s Holy Spirit as giver and sustainer of all life and recognise that his love for us is revealed in the Person of Jesus, the centre of faith for Christians. They can acknowledge that we experience God’s loving presence in prayer, in Scripture, in themselves and other people and in the world around us. They are aware that we are invited to grow in relationship with God and to care for ourselves, others and all of life. They can identify the Gospels as the Good News about Jesus, telling us about Jesus’ life and the people who believed in him. They can reflect on Jesus’ example in making loving choices that show care and respect for all life. They can describe the Church as a believing community that celebrates Jesus’ presence in the sacraments and witnesses to him by sharing his love. They can recognise the Sacrament of Baptism and identify its symbolic elements as the basis for the Christian life and as an invitation to live in friendship with Jesus.
Students can reflect on and respond to experiences of prayer, engagement with sacred texts and stories, their own experiences, people and the world around them and record observations, thoughts, feelings and ideas. In diverse ways they can express their emerging understanding of and engagement with religious events and rituals. They can practise stillness, reflect on their connection with God and their world and develop a response to apply at the personal level, within and beyond the school setting.
Pre-unit assessment
(a) Understanding of community: List words connected with living in a community.
(b) Early Church: Identify the time of the early Church, brainstorm “people in the early Church”. List ideas about what they did.
Learning Hook
(a) Picture storybook, Good People Everywhere, by Lynea Gillen.
(b) Classroom Baptism display: photos and symbols to share.
Surface
(Giving language, facts, and basic concepts structure to lead into deeper learning)
Key Vocabulary: community, God’s people, believe, church, parish church, the Church, altar, ambo, altar, sanctuary, Christian, early Christians, early Church
What makes people a real community? What is the “glue” of a real community?
- Brainstorm about the variety of people in a community, the many things they do. Extend ideas through, for example, Gillen’s Good People Everywhere.
- Consider the reasons why people gather and work together in communities. What brings them together? What holds them together?
- Discuss projects undertaken by the local community or a group in the school. Perhaps arrange a visit from people involved to share thoughts about ups and downs and what keeps them going.
- List the things that have held them together. Identify values and beliefs as the “glue”.
- Play a game such as 'Two Truths and a Lie' to open up the concept of believing.
- Proceed to consider believing in people.
1.Who do you believe in?
2.Who believes in you?
3.What helps us believe in people?
4.How do we show we believe in them? - List the kinds of things we do together in our families to express and celebrate that we belong together and believe in each other (cf. Understanding Faith [UF], Unit 12, Part 1, p. 3).
- Discuss belonging to our own birth family and to God’s family (cf. UF, Unit 12, Part 1, p. 10, interactive task, “The Family of God”).
- Share a picture storybook, for example, You Belong Here, by M.H. Clark or A family is like a cake by Shona Innes.
- Talk about new people becoming part of families (birth, adoption, stepfamily relations etc.) Consider experiences with joining groups, some of the processes (initiation), outcomes and feelings involved.
- Consider entry to school: steps involved, preparations, first-day experiences. Read picture storybook First Day Jitters, by Julie Dannenberg (YouTube) or First Day by Andrew Daddo.
- List practices that schools/classes use to help people feel welcome.
- List the many different groups to which students belong, including the community of people who believe in Jesus.
Present the sacrament of Baptism as initiation for the people who believe in Jesus, a doorway into the People of God.
- Listen to songs by John Burland, One Family, and Andrew Chinn, People of God.
- Recognise the central sign/symbol of water, but recall also the gathered group, the godparents, the shared profession of faith, the Our Father: all signs/symbols of being God’s people.
(The ritual actions, signs/symbols are a focus in the Years 1–2 Sacraments unit. Either choose to extend current unit and include these here, or introduce/present briefly here and do full focus separately.)
What kind of community is the Church?
Differentiating between church and Church
- A church / the church / your local church: a building. View images of church buildings. Visit the parish church (with the parish priest, if possible); view furnishings: altar, ambo, altar, sanctuary etc. (p. 8, interactive task) Use “Build a Church” printable in UF, Unit 12, Part 4. Recognise that “a church” refers to a church building.
- Church / the Church: the community of God’s people. Talk about the people, gathering times, things we do as Church with others and for others. Drawing on current knowledge and experiences, invite students to develop and illustrate a list of these actions (cf. UF, Unit 12, Part 1, p. 10; “People Are the Church”, interactive task, in Unit 12, Part 3, p. 4; Part 4, p. 3). Invite students to create a “Church people” collage.
Deep
(Learning experiences that lead on from beginning experiences to questioning more deeply and exploring ideas in different ways to lead to making connections between faith and life)
Church: people who believe in Jesus: What did/do Jesus and his friends do together?
(See pre-assessment above re early Church: cf. (a) Jesus’ disciples, (b) early Church, (c) now.)
- (a) Invite students in groups to explore different Gospel stories; share discoveries about how Jesus’ friends spent time with him, shared his life, learned to live as he showed and taught them (UF, Unit 19, Part 3, pp. 2–6 offer some simple text). Develop a list of reasons why these people believed in Jesus (consider, e.g., Jesus’ qualities). Begin to chart as shown in Assessment Tasks.
- (b) Engage students in simple research about Jesus’ followers in the early Church (cf. UF, Unit 12, Part 2, pp. 3, 7, 8).
Discover key activities shared by the early Christians.
- View on YouTube: Play on God’s Team, by Kidspring Children’s Ministry. Ask students to record what early Christians did together.
- (c) Invite a school community member or parishioner to speak about the ways in which s/he is part of Church, actions taken and why.
- Build a chart that captures the information and/or students’ discoveries about the different people whose stories are told or studied (see Assessment Task page for possible example).
How do we become part of this community now, and what do we do together?
- Present “community-linked symbols” of Baptism (water), but also: people gathered, godparents, name, promises, shared profession of faith. Discuss what they tell us about becoming part of the People of God who celebrate together.
- View YouTube clip, What Is the Church? An Explanation for Children, by PursueGOD. Draw out and record: they did … that we do ...
- Explore what we do and how we celebrate together as a church community (UF, Stage 1, Part 4, p. 5, “We Gather Together to Celebrate”, could be useful).
Consider the celebrations of the sacraments (cf. UF, Unit 12, Part 4, p. 5, “Celebrating the Sacraments”).
- List the celebration occasions that students have met/meet across the church year. Recall church seasons and major feasts and some of the related signs of celebration. Recognise the connection of each of these with the life of Jesus. Lead students to establish that we continue to worship and to celebrate him and his Good News.
Focus on how we celebrate Jesus’ life, death and resurrection through prayer and worship as a community (liturgy); how we listen to his Word; how we live with him and follow his way.
- Summarise the things done together by people who believe in Jesus.
- In a style similar to that followed with the Early Christians list, compile a list of what we do. Compare and contrast the lists.
- Revisit illustrated lists (from “Surface”, above) and discuss growth in knowledge/awareness.
Transfer
(Learning experiences that help students engage with deeper understandings that can be applied in their own lives)
Being Church: How does the Holy Spirit help me to be “Church in action”? (cf. UF, Unit 12, Part 3, p. 5, interactive task, “Being the Church”)
- Reflect on and collate ideas about how the disciples, members of the early Church, and members of the Church today acted/act as followers of Jesus. Consider the Holy Spirit’s movement in this.
- Use the song by John Burland, Spirit Be With Us, as a support for quiet prayer about living like Jesus.
- Reflect on ways of drawing closer to Jesus (cf. UF, Unit 12, Part 3, p. 5, slideshow, “How Do We Become Closer to Jesus?”).
- Consider how the Holy Spirit empowers us to act as Church. Invite students to provide examples of acting as Church and of not acting as Church.
- Response activity following YouTube clip, What Is the Church?: UF, Unit 12, Part 1 p. 3: Printable to support understanding.
- Discern: What do I see and hear when people in our local parish community act as Church? What do others experience and feel when people act as Church with them or for them?
- Discern: What do I see, hear and feel when I act as Church? What do other people see, hear and feel when I act as Church?
- Take the video words, “Plug In, Charge Up, Live Out, Pass On”, discern their meaning and share ideas to develop a personal response for each as an indication of how to live out “being Church”.
- Listen to John Burland’s song, Walk in Jesus’ Way.
Resources
“Being the Church”. Interactive Task. In Understanding Faith. Unit 12, Part 3, p. 5. Online Subscription.
“Build a Church”. Printable. In Understanding Faith. Unit 12, Part 4. Online Subscription.
Burland, John. Move! Pray! Celebrate!
Burland, John. One Family. YouTube.
Burland, John. Spirit Be With Us. YouTube.
Burland, John. Walk in Jesus’ Way. YouTube.
“Celebrating the Sacraments”. In Understanding Faith. Unit 12, Part 4, p. 5. Online Subscription.
Chinn, Andrew. People of God.
Clark, M.H. You Belong Here.
Clark, M.H. You Belong Here. YouTube.
Daddo, Andrew. First Day.
Dannenberg, Julie. First Day Jitters.
Dannenberg, Julie. First Day Jitters. YouTube.
“The Family of God”. Interactive Task. In Understanding Faith. Unit 12, Part 1, p. 10. Online Subscription.
Gillen, Lynea. Good People Everywhere.
Gillen, Lynea. Good People Everywhere. YouTube.
“How Do We Become Closer to Jesus?”. Slideshow. In Understanding Faith. Unit 12, Part 3, p. 5. Online Subscription.
Innes, Shona. Family is like a cake.
Kidspring Children’s Ministry. Play on God’s Team. YouTube.
“People Are the Church”. Interactive Task. In Understanding Faith. Unit 12, Part 3, p. 4; Part 4, p. 3. Online Subscription.
PursueGOD. What Is the Church? An Explanation for Children. YouTube.
Understanding Faith. Unit 12, Part 1, pp. 3, 10; Part 2, pp. 3, 7, 8; Part 4, p. 1.—for definitions of key vocabulary. Online Subscription.
Understanding Faith. Unit 19, Part 3, pp. 2–6. Online Subscription.
“We Gather Together to Celebrate”. In Understanding Faith. Stage 1, Part 4, p. 5. Online Subscription.
Years 1–2 Sacraments Unit (GNFL).
* Unless otherwise noted, items listed under “Resources” are books.