The Twelve Great Feasts
The Department of Religious Education is publishing a new Vacation Church School (VCS) curriculum written and field-tested by Barbara Harris, Presbytera Laura Morton, and Rhonda Webb. All three volumes of the Twelve Great Feasts VCS curriculum are now available:
- Traveling on the Ark of Salvation
Vol. I: Feasts of the Theotokos (Item V21)
- Behold the Light!
Vol. II: Feasts of the Life and Ministry of Christ (Item V22)
- Going for the Gold
Vol. III: Feasts of the Triumph of Christ and His Church (Item V23)
Read Thinking of Doing a Vacation Church School? for the authors' ideas and suggestions for launching a VCS ministry in your parish.
The Twelve Great Feasts VCS currriculum is a comprehensive five-session, half-day program for children ages 5–11 (kindergarten to 5th grade). The authors also provide suggestions for adapting VCS to a parish’s needs, such as alternative schedules and age groupings.
The robust program keeps children moving and engaged with the following components:
- Hymns and original songs
- Crafts
- Puppet theater
- Morning and afternoon prayer services
- Worship lessons
- Classroom lessons, activities, and memory verse
- Recreation and snack time
- Daily full-group assemblies and a closing program
- Spotlight on missions
The VCS Master Toolkit for each volume gives each church—of any size, on any budget—the resources and flexibility to plan, set up, and implement a successful program. The Director and Teacher Guides in the toolkit contain program manuals and reproducible forms and worksheets. Each binder also includes two CDs:
- Each volume's Data CD has printable and many editable publicity, classroom, and worship materials, along with logos and clip art for creating unique supplementary materials.
- Each volume's Music CD contains the program's English hymns (in the Byzantine tradition) and original songs, in both vocal and instrumental sing-along versions.
The programs' Student Booklets and Prayer Service Booklets may be printed from the Data CD, or, for convenience, purchased separately from the Department of Religious Education
Contact: Department of Religious Education