Following Jesus: More About Young Children and Worship Review

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(More customer reviews)I was very excited to hear that Sonja Stewart had published a follow-up to "Young Children and Worship." However, in actually looking through the book when I received it, I was disappointed to see that a certain amount of "Political Correctness" has been introduced, as well as some other elements that distract from the original Gospel accounts. Many of the stories have had a boy and girl added to the cast of characters. While I think I understand Ms. Stewart's intent (to draw young children into the stories in a "you are there" manner), I feel that it is actually a distraction. In some lessons there are more than twenty little wooden people to move around, which is difficult for the storyteller and confusing for the children. And some of the wondering questions, in particular, are hopelessly like something a school counselor leading a group discussion would come up with: (from the lesson entitled "Jesus' Trial") "I wonder why they want to kill Jesus just because they do not agree with him? I wonder how they could have settled their differences besides wanting to hurt or kill? I wonder what other ways Judas could have handled his guilt and sadness besides killing himself? I wonder how Judas could have been helped not to kill himself?" Perhaps I underestimate the wisdom of very young children, but I truly do not think they are yet ready to wrestle with the dynamics of first-century Jewish religious thought or the reasons why someone would end their own life.
Nevertheless, there are some excellent resources in this book, in particular the templates and instructions for making the materials. I just cannot imagine using this book "as is."

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This volume introduces the life and teachings of Jesus to children aged 3 to 7. It sets Gospel stories in the context worship that children can relate to. Sonja Stewart offers advice on how to create a worship environment which enables young children to begin to appreciate the meaning of worship through biblical stories and parables. Focusing here on the life and teachings of Jesus, she shows how to illustrate the stories using felt and wooden materials so that the children can "read" them as well as hear them. At the same time, she translates the stories into a fourfold order of worship that parallels adult worship but is approriate for young children. The book includes 34 story presentations and patterns for the figures in the stories.

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