A New Sunday School Year

and a few new resources

About this time every year I find myself mildly panicking. Much of my summer margins are spent on much preparing: gardens, house projects, new school schedules, and Sunday school lessons. (Of course the garden has been fully ignored for a while now.) The finish line feels so far off until that day the print shop order comes in.

Our booklets contain the year’s hymns and scripture recitations. I use a magazine template from Canva.com and order the heaviest paper possible in stitched 8.5x11 booklets from the print shop. They are virtually indestructible.

This year we will be in the books of Samuel and Kings, Daniel, and the gospel of Matthew.

Hunting down art for Bible lessons can be frustrating when there are no depictions of a certain scene or when what is available might be too scandalous for young people, but the reward is all the sweeter when finally found.

The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Tomb on the Morning of the Resurrection, by Eugene Burnand, 1898

Here are some of the online spots I go to for finding art:

• Eugene Burnand is best known for his painting of Peter and John Running to the Tomb on the Morning of the Resurrection, but he also has beautiful drawings for Jesus’ parables.

• The bulk of art prints that I find are are from Art and the Bible. They have a search function for topic, artist, and even by Bible passage. I especially appreciate the information they provide about the artist, style, and unique details of a work.

• The Visual Commentary on Scripture is another great resource.

• Wiki Art will often have works that the above resources do not. It helps to know certain artists, such as James Tissoit, who will usually be there for me when all else fails. Other favorite artists include Henry Ossawa Tanner, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt.

• The Jesus Mafa paintings. These were created in the 1970s by a group in Cameroon, Africa. Locals acted out scenes from the New Testament, took a photo, and then painted them. Our students were delighted by this as we also will act out scenes and take a picture.

• The Art & Theology blog by Victoria Emily Jones. She has a treasure trove of art, music, and poetry from various traditions.

Birth of Jesus with the Shepherds, JESUS MAFA 1973

We will try our hand at illuminated manuscripts. A light desk is a must. Younger students will use gold markers and these free coloring sheets. Older students will work on more detailed work with gold paint and ink. I am relying on the tutorial and templates from The Postman’s Knock. They will also work on their own designs as described in this tutorial.

Our prayer focus will be guided by this Loving the Lost Prayer Guide and this coffee table book on world missions. The free prayer guide gives specific prayer requests for people groups around the world and even includes activities such as recipes. The coffee table book is full of gorgeous photography from the past and today.

From the same shop, I found a couple of new missionary biographies. I do think our group will be particularly excited to learn about Rebekah Naylor.

Last year, we spent the year working through the ABCs of Theology cards from Tiny Theologians. This year we will work through the ABCs of God’s Attributes. We introduce a new card each week and review them with simple games. It’s been an absolute joy to hear children shout out theological concepts like “Imago Dei!” and I am praying that this added element to our class will provide further grounding and comfort from these truths.

Thank you for following along. If you haven’t seen the previous Sunday School posts, you can find them here: part 1 and part 2.