A recent, widely shared tweet says, “Honestly, I hadn’t planned on giving up quite this much for Lent.”
The Evolution of Our Family’s Ash Wednesday Observance
My very first Ash Wednesday as a baptized member of the Episcopal Church was February 13, 2013. My husband was at home that evening with our infant son, John Paul, and I was at church alone. I
Breaking Down Barriers at Church
Families can participate in the life of the church through different, and sometimes unexpected, ways.
It’s not just another thing to do
A few weeks ago, I sat in a parent-teacher conference with my fifth grader.
A Joyful Noise?
The banging of little metal cars against each other with the sounds of crashes made by young mouths. The shuffle of paper and the clack, clack, clack of a pile of markers being dumped out. An angry squeal by a younger sibling to ‘give it back!’
Belonging
To want to belong is innate. For young children, it’s felt through attention and affection.
Benchmarks for Christians
From time to time the Forma Facebook Group has a post from someone (clergy, youth minister, Christian educator) who is asking if anyone has a “rubric” for what children should learn in each year of “Sunday School” (or whatever you call it).
Our Easter Best
Welp, I turned into a priest-mom-Easter-morning-psycho.I mean, Christ is Risen, right? Might as well go crazy on your family.
Preparing Children for the Passion
It can be difficult for our children to the stories of Holy Week. Here are some tips for preparing children for the Passion.
Changing the Subject: Parenting on Ash Wednesday
Every year my sermon for Ash Wednesday comes down to one thing: this business of smearing ashes on our faces? It’s for us, not for God.