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#faithathome with ROOTS 10-16 July Compassion

Worship and learning for the whole Church – wherever you are

Resources for families with school-aged children to use at home

Welcome to #faith at home with ROOTS. We're delighted to be part of the Church of England's #faithathome initiative working with Oak National Online Academy.

This week, the theme is Compassion. View the #faithathome video.

In step with the Spirit

Galatians 6.(1-6),7-16

Before you start exploring the theme,
you can find out more about St Paul
through a poster, a short animation
and an article about him.

You can also read about life in Pisidian Antioch, Galatia's leading city

Material for primary-aged children

A prayer and activity to introduce the theme.

Prayer

Send us out, Lord,
to help those who are sad,
sick and lonely.
Help us to share your love
with others in the next few days,
and not to give up doing good.
Amen.

Bearing burdens

How many empty four-pint milk cartons or toilet rolls can you hold without dropping them? In today’s letter from Paul, he talks about helping other people by sharing their burdens.

Paul's world

Download and use the Paul's world sheet to understand the historical context of Paul’s letters.

Talk together to connect faith with everyday life

What kind of reward do you think Paul is talking about?
Do you ever get tired of helping others?
Why should we not give up doing good for other people?

Caring for others

Try to arrange to interview someone whose job is to look after other people, by phone or video, or find a published interview or video clip to look at together.

Medals of appreciation

Reward people who are often overlooked

You will need: medals (template), photocopied onto card, one medal per child, pencils, felt tips, scissors, a hole punch, ribbon.

Talk about people who have kept essential services going during the lockdown, e.g. carers, delivery drivers, bin collection workers, postal workers.
Ask each child to choose one of these community heroes or heroines they would like to give a medal to.
Give everyone a medal template to decorate and cut out. The children could write a thank you comment or draw images of the things the person does regularly.
If possible, award the medals to people by leaving them outside at an appropriate time or contacting the organisation to let them know you appreciate them.

Material for secondary-aged children

Based on Galatians 6.(1-6),7-16

Download the Paul's world sheet to read background and introduce the theme.

Starting point

Fill a rucksack with something quite heavy (bottles filled with water, bags of rice, etc.) but don’t tell the young people in your household what’s inside it. Invite someone to pick it up and carry it round the room. Ask them how it feels after a few circuits. Then ask them to open the rucksack and share out what's inside with the others. Let the person resume walking, but with the others following. How does it feel now? What burdens might the items symbolise?

Tweet what matters

Think about social justice. You could look at websites such as Tearfund, Christian Aid or Comic Relief. Identify an issue you feel passionate about, write a tweet (140 characters) about it and devise some hashtags to go with the tweet.

If you have access to a twitter account, upload the tweet and mention @ROOTS4Churches so that it can be retweeted. Alternatively email your tweet to web@rootsontheweb.com.

Racing with burdens

Have a series of team races, outside if you've got a garden, that involve carrying burdens, e.g. a piggy-back race, a wheelbarrow race (one person holds the legs of another and walks them along), a relay race while carrying a full cup of water, a running race while carrying a bin liner full of clothes.

I will bear your burden

Hold one of the weights used in the rucksack in Starting point above, and think about the things that are worrying you, e.g. a friendship issue, anxiety about a way Coronavirus has affected you. Imagine that what you're holding represents all the concerns that are weighing you down. Put the weight down, and pray silently to be released from anxiety and have the strength to face the coming week.