Ordination
ORDINATION
Objectives:
- Children should be able to say “ordain” or “ordination” and know its meaning.
- Children should be able to identify deacons, priests, and bishops and their roles.
- Children should recognize the liturgical colors for each season.
Possible lesson plan:
- Open with prayer.
- Ask the children how someone becomes a priest or a bishop? Teach them the words “ordain” and “ordination”.
- Talk about a priest: He is God’s helper in taking care of us. What are some things he does? Let the children try to think of things: baptizes babies, marries people, serves the Divine Liturgy and gives communion, confesses us, prays for us, etc. What does a priest wear? His special clothes are called vestments. Who is our priest?
- Talk about a deacon: He is a priest’s helper. He helps in the Divine Liturgy and helps the priest by visiting the sick, praying for people, etc. Do we have a deacon?
- Talk about a bishop: When Jesus went to heaven, He left His disciples to care for the Church. They were the first bishops. The bishop is the leader of the Church. He carries a staff like a shepherd and leads his people.
- Talk about the liturgical colors. God has made the world with many beautiful colors. What colors are in a rainbow? The church uses different colors in the vestments the priest wears and in the covers of the tables and stands. We see gold in the fall, red during Christmas, Purple during Lent, White for Pascha, Green for Pentecost and the summer, and blue for any feast of the Theotokos. Make the Liturgical Colors Fruit Salad with:
- Red – cherries or strawberries
- Blue – blueberries
- Purple – purple grapes
- Green – Green apples, sliced
- White – Mini-marshmallows
- Gold – bananas
- There follow 3 ideas for priest/bishop crafts: a bishop’s mitre (hat), a paper doll priest, and seasonal priests to color with the liturgical colors. Make a class mural with the seasonal priests glued to a large rainbow. Do one or all!
Paper dolls not your thing? Mostly boys in the class? Make a set of frames for icons for your classroom in the 6 liturgical colors. The base is made with two sticks lined up parallel and a layer of sticks perpendicular to these forming a flat, square base. Then glue sticks across the corners of the base, then parallel to each side of the base, then corners, etc., each row a bit outside the previous for 3-4 rows, making an octagonal frame. Paint with acrylic paint, adding later a coat of Mod Podge or clear spray to finish the project when the paint is dry.
- Close with prayer – pray especially for our priest and bishop.
