Middle School |
Columbine United Church is “Where Faith and Life Meet”, and our Middle School Sunday morning program meets this age where they are with a unique blend of power tools, crafts, and Bible Study.
The program meets during the school year (September through May). (During the summer the youth take a break and provide leadership for the summer children’s program.) Most Sunday the youth meet in the Youth Room, but on the last Sunday of the month they meet in the Fireside Chapel for music videos.
Because we have crafts and paint and tools, the youth should dress in clothes that go with paint and tools. Leave the Sunday Best for another setting. Jeans and reasonably modest top are good. Closed toe shoes are recommended; it hurts when you drop a hammer on bare toes.
Crafts and Construction in the Youth Room
We understand youth this age are not going to sit still and listen to the teacher drone on, and we don’t expect that. The first half-hour of our class is spent in hands-on crafts. Usually we have available both a traditional art-type craft, and a construction craft with electrical parts or power tools. The youth are instructed in safety, and in the proper way to use the tools, and are given as much guidance as they wish in how to build the craft. Youth who wish to do their own projects are given freedom to do so, within reasonable limits. Most projects take several weeks to build.
Bible Study in the Youth Room
We have targeted our Bible Study towards 6th and 7th graders and their need to question EVERYTHING they’ve ever been told (although we never check IDs and youth a little younger or a little older may well fit in). We know the youth heard the sacred stories when they were kids, but now they don’t just accept, they question, and they’re ready to hear the stories again from a more mature point of view. No relevant question or objection is out of bounds, but we will often ask the youth to try to explain why they think the way they do. The Bible Study discussions mix readings from Scripture with discussion of
- What does this mean to me?
- Do I think it happened exactly this way? What might really have happened?
- How were the people in this story like me or my family?
- How did the people in this story feel, and how would I have felt if I were there?
During this time we provide snacks like cinnamon rolls and flavored water because these are middle school youth who have not have been fed for 30 or 40 minutes and will be getting peckish.
Music Video Days
On the last Sunday of the month, instead of doing crafts and Bible Study, we go to the Chapel and turn on the computer and TV. We let the youth take turns downloading and playing the music videos that they find interesting and relevant, and then we ask those irritating “WHY” questions. We ask the youth how the video makes them feel, and why, and if that’s what they want. When something difficult or even inappropriate comes up in a video, we don’t lecture, we point it out and question it. The youth have fun choosing the videos, and showing each other what interests them, and sometimes they stop and think.
Lesson Topics for 2009-10 School Year
| Sept 6 | Sin, Original Sin, and Evil |
| Sept 13 | Promises |
| Sept 20 | Dreams |
| Sept 27 | Me and the Media |
| Oct 4 | Persistence |
| Oct 11 | Nation Building |
| Oct 18 | Courage, Power, and Abuse |
| Oct 25 | Me and the Media |
| Nov 1 | How to Lose It All |
| Nov 8 | God Fixes Things His Way |
| Nov 15 | Job: So You Think You Have Problems? |
| Nov 22 | Jonah: What’s in the Whale for Me? |
| Nov 29 | Me and the Media |
| Dec 6 | The World in 4 BCE |
| Dec 13 | The Luke Christmas Story |
| Dec 20 | Christmas Carols |
| Dec 27 | Me and the Media |
| Jan 3 | John the Baptist |
| Jan 10 | Jesus in the Desert |
| Jan 17 | The Lord’s Prayer |
| Jan 24 | Jesus and the Five Thousand |
| Jan 31 | Me and the Media |
| Feb 7 | Jesus on Hypocrites |
| Feb 14 | Jesus Identified as the Messiah |
| Feb 21 | Jesus and the Rich Young Man |
| Feb 28 | Me and the Media |
| Mar 7 | Who Was King Herod |
| Mar 14 | Did Jesus Die for Our Sins? |
| Mar 21 | Me and the Media |
| Mar 28 Palm Sun | Pilate: Hero or Slimeball? |
| Apr 4 Easter | Jesus on Earth after the Resurrection |
| Apr 11 | The Stoning of Stephen |
| Apr 18 | The Saul and Paul Story |
| Apr 25 | Me and the Media |
| May 2 | Paul and the Church in Corinth |
| May 9 | The Church in the First Millennium |
| May 16 | Martin Luther |
| May 23 | Me and the Media |
Craft Projects for the 2009-10 School Year
We sort of make it up as we go along, depending on where the youth seem to be. We will start in September with a LED candle project. Pictures will be furnished when someone finishes one. It will have a wooden tower about five inches high with strings of colored LED lights down the sides. Advanced electrical students will be given an opportunity to build a flasher module.
As the year goes on, we will get to art-crafts project like candle-making and candy-making. We will likely have several power tool crafts out at once, as some youth get them done faster than others.
Volunteer Opportunities
Parents are always welcome in our classroom. If you have a craft skill you can teach, or a project you can present, or you can help supervise the power tools, please let us know. If you would like to help present the Bible Study, we welcome that also; just be prepared for what the youth might say.
For More Information, please contact
Rev. Laurene Lafontaine, laurene@columbinechurch.org, youth minister
Dwight Rudolph, dwight@columbinechurch.org, power tools leader
Diane Hicks, dperrigo@cs.com, art crafts leader
