how has the christian message survived for over 2000 years...

How Has The Christian Message Survived For Over 2000 Years? Christianity

Southwark Diocesan Board of Education

Southwark Diocesan Syllabus for Religious Education

Name of Unit: How Has The Christian Message Survived For Over 2000

Years?

Faith: Christianity

Key Stage in which this unit should be taught: KS 2

Recommended Year Group (if specified): Upper Key Stage 2

Previous Learning:

Salvation units;

Incarnation units,

Christian Baptism and Marriage; other religious rites of passage.

AT1 Learning About Religion

Focus: Beliefs, teachings and sources.

AT2 Learning From Religion

Focus: Meaning, purpose and truth.

What This Unit Teaches:

How the Christian message spread in the past;

The Ascension;

What persecution is and why it might inhibit the spread of a message;

Pentecost;

How the Christian Message spread after Jesus’ Ascension and the 1st. Pentecost;

What Pentecost shows about The Trinity;

How Confirmation contributes to the spread of the Christian message;

How Christians believe that the Holy Spirit equips them to share the Christian message and how the confirmation ritual shows this belief.

Key RE Vocabulary:

Christianity, Christian, faith, message, Acts, New Testament, Bible, disciples /

apostles, Ascension, Gospel, belief, persecution, refugee, asylum seeker,

Icthus, Pentecost, Holy Spirit, “Fruits of the Spirit,” Galatians, Trinity, Father,

Son, Holy Spirit, Grace, cross, Creator, Incarnation, Salvation, baptise,

symbol, symbolism, stole, blessing, Admitted To Communion, Confirmation,

confirm, rite of passage, oil, anoint, candle, Confirmation certificate,

Confirmation card, promise, Holy Communion, Eucharist, denomination.

Cross-Curricular Links:

Literacy; Numeracy; Computing; Art and Design; Design and Technology;

Geography; Music; PE; Personal, Social and Health Education; Citizenship.

British Values.

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development:

Spiritual: - Writing a message to the world, opportunities for reflection,

writing Confirmation promises;

Sensitivities:

Pupils and / or their families who are refugees or asylum seekers or may

have experienced or know someone who has experienced persecution;




Moral: - Persecution and its effects;

Social: - Collaborative working, understanding British values;

Cultural: - Links with Buddhist prayer flags, Christians around the world,

persecution because of cultural / race beliefs.

Respectful handling of artefacts.

‘The Great Commission’ video is for discussion as part of this RE unit and

is not being used as part of Collective Worship.

Possible Further Thinking and Extension Activities:

Persecution in our society and our country – against different individuals and groups of people, in its different forms;

Exploration of the similarities and differences between different Christian denominations;

Linking confirmation to Bar and Bat Mitzvah and with other rites of passage in other faiths;

Link with the Jewish festival of Shavuot.

Future Learning:

Possibly: - Salvation Unit(s) that have not yet been taught, (depending on where this unit is placed in the school’s RE Curriculum Map)

- Incarnation Unit(s) that have not yet been taught, (depending on where this unit is placed in the school’s RE Curriculum Map)

Who Decides? (Bridging / Transition Unit)




Learning Objectives AT1 AT2 Suggested Teaching Activities Points To Note

Lesson 1

Pupils should:

understand the events of

Jesus’ Ascension and how

believers were tasked

with spreading the

message of God;

(AT1)

Be aware of the

necessary ingredients for

a purposeful message

that conveys meaning.

(AT2)

What Ingredients Does a Message Need To Spread?

Introduction:

Ask the pupils to think of ‘a message’ that they have heard today.

Encourage the pupils to think broadly about messages, what a message is

and the different ways in which we hear messages each and every day.

What was a message that the pupils have heard today?

Discuss:

How did they hear / see / read it? Did they have to go somewhere to

receive it or did it come to them? Where were they? Who was it from?

Who gave the message? Was the person that gave the message the

originator of the message or were they passing it on from someone else?

Was the message intended for them to receive or for someone else?

What kind of message was it? e.g. the genre / the tone of it? What

difference has it made to them that they have heard the message? Do they

plan to spread the message any further? Why? / Why not?

How important are messages? Why?

Main Part of the Lesson:

Display an image of the Ethiopian man - Acts 8: 26-39.

Paired Talk: What kind of message would make him change his mind about

something / change his life?

Discuss ideas e.g. an important message, a quality message, etc.

Give background Biblical information about Jesus’ Ascension reading /

telling the pupils the story of Jesus’ Ascension. Make sure that they are

In the Bible, Jesus was crucified,

died, rose from the dead three

days later and then ascended

into Heaven.

Following Jesus’ Ascension, the

Holy Spirit came through wind,

a dove and tongues of fire and

was poured upon Jesus’

followers. This was the first

Pentecost and the birth of the

Christian Church.

In the book of Acts (of the

Apostles,) in The Bible, we

read how the followers of Jesus

began to spread the “Good

News” (gospel) after receiving

the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Some disciples, such as Peter,

also spread the gospel before

Pentecost.

Resources:

The Bible,

video clip of the story of Philip

and the Ethiopian;

Gold envelopes;





aware that it comes from The Book of Acts in The New Testament of

The Bible, Acts being the “acts” of the apostles.

Explain that Jesus’ Ascension was not the end of his influence on Earth, but

part of His legacy was to task His apostles with the responsibility of

continuing His work here.

After this and the first Pentecost, which we are going to learn about later

in this unit, (but hopefully the pupils will know something already about it from

being in a Church school,) the disciples began to spread the “Good News”

of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the message of God.

Watch / read the story of Philip and the Ethiopian.

Why did this message convince him to become a Christian? What right

ingredients did this message have for it to work? What made this message

so special?

Discuss difficulties of spreading the message in Biblical times. Wonder at

how the message has been spread, despite the difficulties.

Establish the ‘ingredients’ for a message that will spread (e.g. important,

clear, people / another means to explain it, people to understand and

accept it.)

Explain that these ingredients must work as a cycle or the message will

stop being spread.

Activity:

Ask the children to imagine that they have an important message to pass

on to as many people as possible. Give each pair / group a gold envelope

to represent the message.

How would they have spread the message in Biblical times?

How would they spread the message now, in the present day?

Triangles of material cut out

like bunting pieces;

Fabric pens;

Ribbon to tie material triangles

on;

Reflective music.





Individually, pupils to think about what message they would want to

spread around the world?

Have some triangles of material cut out like bunting pieces. These will be

similar to Buddhist prayer flags.

Each pupil to write their message for the world on their piece of material.

These can then be tied onto a line across the classroom or in the school

grounds for the message to be carried by the wind across the world, just

like Buddhist prayers on Buddhist Prayer flags.

(The messages could also be put into a gallery on the school’s website to spread

the messages across the world wide web!)

Plenary and Reflection:

Read the messages to the world.





Lesson 2

Pupils should:

be aware of how the

strength of the Christian

message and the

perseverance of Paul

enabled it to survive;

(AT1)

understand how strength

of belief can overcome

persecution. (AT2)

What Might Stop The Spread of a Message

and How Might That Stop Be Overcome?

Introduction:

Ask the pupils to think about the following question:

What feelings or beliefs are important to you?

Discuss.

Main Part of The Lesson:

Move onto discussing these questions with the class: -

What feelings or beliefs are important to your family?

What feelings or beliefs are important to your friends?

What beliefs are important to the school?

Does everyone have to believe the same or are people allowed to

make their own minds up and have their own beliefs: -

in their family?

in their class?

in the school?

in the country?

Is it important that people are allowed to hold their own beliefs of

what is important to them?

Why?

(Links can be made here with British Values)

Link to previous learning by introducing Paul, (see Points To Note) as one

man who spread the Christian message.

Explain that we know about Paul spreading the message by reading about

him in Acts in The New Testament of The Bible.

Show a map of Paul’s travels to tell others the “Good News.” Show video

Saul was a Jew who persecuted

Christians until he heard the

voice of Jesus on the road to

Damascus. (Acts 9) He

became a follower of Jesus,

travelled to many countries to

tell others the “Good News”

and became known as Paul.

Persecution: hostility,

oppression and ill-treatment,

especially because of religious,

cultural, race or political

beliefs.

Resources:

The Bible,

Paul in prison - Acts 16:16-40;

/ Video clip of Paul in prison;

Map of Paul’s journeys,

(many available on the Internet)

Amnesty International website;

Video clips about refugees /

asylum seekers who have been

persecuted because of their





clip or read / tell story of Paul in prison. Why was Paul in prison?

Introduce the word ‘persecution’ and define. Are people persecuted

today? Where, when and why are people persecuted today?

Give examples of some people today who are being persecuted, e.g. from

the Amnesty International website.

Talk about refugees and asylum seekers.

Show appropriate video clip(s) about refugees / asylum seekers who have

been persecuted because of their faith and message.

Record class thoughts.

Discuss how the early Christians were persecuted and, at that time,

Christians had to often meet secretly and share their faith quietly.

Tell pupils about the Icthus sign, the sign of the fish made up of the Greek

letters that spelt “Jesus Christ, Son of God.”

The Early Christians would draw the sign in the sand if they met someone

else whom they thought was a Christian as well and if that person was,

they would draw a dot in the fish sign as an eye. These were secret signs

to each other that they were Christians and shared the Christian faith.

Activity:

Often people who are persecuted and who have to leave their home

quickly, e.g. refugees, have few possessions, with them, indeed some have

none at all.

Ask the pupils to think about the Christian faith and the message of Jesus

that is at the heart of the Christian faith.

Their task is to design an object that the persecuted Christian could carry

around with them that is symbolic of the Christian message.

faith and message;

Image of the Icthus symbol;

Materials for object

representing the Christian

message;

Cards featuring names of

people who have been / are

being persecuted for their

beliefs, (religious and political,)

around the world,

cards featuring the belief that

they are being persecuted for

and images of the people

involved;

Sensitivities:

Please be sensitive towards

pupils may be refugees or

asylum seekers, have

experienced persecution

themselves or have friends or

family who have had this

experience.





Think what the purpose of this object could be to the Christian in helping

the Christian message continue to survive.

or

Pupils match up cards featuring names of people who have been / are

being persecuted for their beliefs (religious and political) around the

world.

Discuss answers to the match-up activity and display images of the people

involved.

Plenary and Reflection:

What might inhibit the spread of a message?

What effect might persecution have on the spread of a message? Why?

What helps you if and when you are challenged on beliefs that you might

hold?

I wonder . . . how and why messages spread in places of persecution.

When Christianity began, the early Christians were persecuted for their

faith.

How and why has the Christian message that they stood up for survived . .

. for over 2,000 years?





Lesson 3

Pupils should:

make links between the

events of the first

Pentecost and how

Christians feel

empowered to spread

the Christian message;

(AT1)

consider how I live my

life and others live their

lives, considering the

attributes that we try to

live by.

(AT2)

How Did The Christian Message Spread

After Jesus’ Ascension and The First Pentecost?

Introduction:

Recap on the events after Jesus’ death and that Jesus physically left Earth

and ascended to Heaven.

Who would spread the Christian message now?


Tell the pupils about Pentecost.

Read them the story of Pentecost from Acts, ensuring that the pupils are

aware that it can be found in The book of Acts in The New Testament of

The Bible.

Alternatively tell the story, look at paintings / pictures to learn the story

or show a video clip.

Explain how the Holy Spirit was something that would be with the

disciples and would help them and empower them to continue to spread

Jesus’ message and undertake His ministry on Earth.

Talk about the symbols of the Holy Spirit which were apparent at that first

Pentecost and that remind us today of that event.

Discuss with the pupils:

What are the symbols of Pentecost and what do they represent?

As Pentecost was the beginning of the disciples going out to spread Jesus’

message for Him as He had now ascended to Heaven, this

was the beginning of the Christian Church and so is celebrated as the

church’s birthday.

Jesus ‘commissioned’ his

disciples to spread the Good

News to other people,

we can read about this in

Matthew 28:18-20

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit is

a biblical term that sums up

nine attributes of a Christian

life according to St. Paul in his

Letter to the Galatians, "But

the fruit of the Spirit is love,

joy, peace, forbearance,

kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness and self-

control."

Galatians 5:22-23

Resources:

The Bible:

The Ascension: Acts 1: 6-11,

The First Pentecost: Acts,

Paintings / pictures of the 1st.

Pentecost,

Video clip of the story of the

First Pentecost,





Pentecost is celebrated by the Christian church each year 50 days after

Easter, 10 days after Ascension Day.

Introduce ‘The Great Commission’ given by Jesus to the disciples before

He ascended: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”


What did Pentecost show about the Holy Spirit?

How did Pentecost change the disciples?

Why is Pentecost an important celebration for Christians?

Talk about fruit and how that is what a tree / bush bears, the richness and

best part of a tree / bush. Fruit is good for people and helps them to be

healthy, giving them many benefits.

Talk with the pupils about how fruit is mentioned in The Bible by Paul

when he writes about the Holy Spirit.

Read the Bible verse: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

Galatians 5:22-23.

Why do the pupils think these are called ‘The fruits of the spirit?’

Explain that the disciples believed that the Holy Spirit would make them

‘fruitful’ and equip them to do this job of spreading the Christian message.

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit is a biblical term that sums up nine attributes

of a Christian life.

Watch the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ song and discuss each ‘fruit.’

How would each one help people to spread the Good News message?

Fruits of the Spirit: Galatians 5:

22-23;

Fruits of the Spirit song:

https://www.youtube.com/watc

h?v=ymNuBZXCK20

Materials for making The Fruits

of the Spirit tree;

Materials for Pentecost

pictures;

‘The Great Commission’

video:


h?v=ONROQBrbZU8

Sensitivities:

‘The Great Commission’ video

is aimed at Christians. It is

being used here as the basis for

discussion in this RE lesson and

not as part of Collective

Worship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymNuBZXCK20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymNuBZXCK20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONROQBrbZU8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONROQBrbZU8





Activities:

Pupils design and make a ‘fruit’ for a Holy Spirit tree with

the fruit’s name on it.

Choose the fruit shape, colour pattern, texture and font style

appropriately to represent the fruit’s name, (e.g. Kindness.)

On 1 side of the fruit write which fruit of the Holy Spirit’ that fruit is

representing.

On the other side of the fruit write a sentence to indicate how that fruit

would help Christians to continue to spread the Christian message.

or

Represent through art a scene from the events of the 1st. Pentecost.

Pastels, wax crayons, chalk, paint, coloured pencils or felt tip pens, etc.

could be used, particularly in the colours of fire that were present in the

‘tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit being poured upon Jesus’ followers.

Plenary:

Watch ‘The Great Commission’ as an example of a Christian video about

spreading the Gospel message.

How effectively does the video show how the message can be spread and

what the ‘Great Commission’ means?

How does Pentecost affect Christians (and us) now?

Assemble the Holy Spirit tree and share the links between the art and the

‘fruit.’

What are ‘The Fruits of the Spirit?’

How do they influence Christians and yourself?

How do The Fruits of the Holy Spirit influence our lives?





Lesson 4

Pupils should:

be able to describe

Christian beliefs of The

Trinity, explaining the

sources of these beliefs;

(AT1)

consider how The Trinity

has enabled the Christian

message to continue

today, giving meaning,

purpose and truth in

Christians’ lives.

(AT2)

What Does Pentecost Show About The Trinity?

Introduction:

Discuss and recap what we have learnt about Pentecost so far.

Pupils in pairs to spread the message of what is the story of Pentecost?


What do we mean by The Trinity?

In small groups, pupils thought shower into a mind map anything / all that

they personally know / that you understand by The Trinity.

Trinity Sunday is celebrated 1 week after Pentecost each year by the

Christian Church and is when Christians particularly focus on The Trinity.

Explain that The Trinity is at the heart of Christianity and is how

Christians try to understand God as 3 in 1.

Trinity = tri-unity or the 3-in-1.

Ask the pupils if they know / can think of what the 3 parts of God are?

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Where have the pupils heard of “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” before?

For Christians, God is experienced in three ways as God the Father, God

the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The creeds, said regularly in Anglican worship by the congregation, include

the statements:

“I believe in God, the Father almighty….

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord ….

You can read more about

Trinity explained through the

‘cube’ at ‘Three-personal God’

by CS Lewis:

http://ldolphin.org/CSLtrinity.ht

ml

Resources:

The Bible:

The First Pentecost: Acts;

Jesus commands his disciples to

baptise “in the name of the

Father, the Son and the Holy

Spirit.”

(Matthew 28:1);

Visual aids that could illustrate

the idea of The Trinity, as

suggested;

Rublev’s Icon,

(Pictures available in Google

Images);

Large version diagram that

shows relationships of the

person of The Trinity,

(as illustrated in the Suggested

Teaching Activities);

http://ldolphin.org/CSLtrinity.html

http://ldolphin.org/CSLtrinity.html





I believe in the Holy Spirit ……”

Each statement refers to one of the three ‘persons’ of the Trinity (tri-unity

or the three-in-one) and sets out how the first Christians came to

understand God and the beliefs they subscribe to today.

Explain how Christians feel that these 3 parts of God are all equally

important. Although they are separate, they are all together.

Some examples to try and illustrate the Trinity are: -

∆ Same but different:

Using water – freezing, drinking and boiling to represent idea of God being

present in 3 forms.

∆ The Triangle:

Talk about a triangle, how the 3 sides are all part of the triangle and

together they make up the triangle.

∆ The Cube:

Make a cube with opposite sides painted red, yellow, blue.

Is it blue all the way through? Or red? Or yellow?

The cube is made up of 3 dimensions, height, length and

width.

Each represents 1 person of The Trinity, but all 3

together make up a cube, you cannot separate the 3

dimensions or else it ceases to be a cube.

∆ Trinity Plaiting:

A classic 3 in one activity. Use a variety of materials to plait e.g. pipe

cleaners, rope, silky scarves and strips of material.

Different colours also useful e.g. green, red and gold.

See someone making the sign

of the cross, the ‘Brother

Francis’ video on ‘You-tube’ is

very short and simple:

http://www.youtube.com/watch

?v=yq36oI-OuvQ

Materials for making stoles;

Celtic blessings and prayers like

those of David Adam in ‘A

Celtic Daily Prayer

Companion.’

Sensitivities:

Please be sensitive towards

pupils may be refugees or

asylum seekers, have

experienced persecution

themselves or have friends or

family who have had this

experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq36oI-OuvQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq36oI-OuvQ





Introduce the idea of Christians thinking about God in three ways, but

how the ideas are interrelated.

How could different colours show these different persons?

∆ St. Patrick:

Tell the story of St Patrick and how he tried to explain The Trinity by

using a 3 leafed shamrock. He looked around him for a ‘three in one’

symbol and used it to help him explain the Christian idea of God.

∆ Rublev’s Icon:

Show a picture of Rublev’s Icon to the pupils.

One of the most famous icons ever painted, this represents

The story of Abraham and the three visitors (story can be found in Genesis.)

However the painting may be read as an image of the Holy Trinity.

What can people learn about The Trinity from this icon?

∆ Show this classic diagram which shows relationships of the persons of

the Trinity to pupils and ask them to talk about the Christian idea of

the Trinity.

Look at the words of the Grace often used in worship:





“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

and the love of God

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be ….”

Of all prayers it is particularly Trinitarian in its content.

Explained the words to pupils so they have a sense of what Christians

believe about the work of each member of the Trinity. Perhaps as

follows…..

An awareness what it means to have God as Father – celebrating His

love, His creation, etc.;

An awareness of how God shows His grace, (kindness and generosity,)

through Jesus His Son – the One who demonstrates God’s love to the

world and who is God‘s way of bringing us forgiveness;

An awareness of how God works in our lives through the Holy Spirit,

e.g. as ‘the One who comes alongside us.’

Making the Sign of the Cross:

See someone making the sign of the cross.

The ‘Brother Francis’ video on ‘YouTube’ is very short and simple. Maybe

you have a staff member who can demonstrate.

There may be Christian pupils who are happy to show the movements or

pupils could help a persona doll make the sign.

Talk about:

How, why and when is the symbol used?

What do the words mean for Christians?

Father, Son and Spirit are how Christians talk about God. The thumb and

two forefingers held together represent the Trinity, while the other two

fingers held together against the palm represent Jesus as human and divine.

Drawing upon the pupil’s background of Religious Education and

Collective Worship, explore Christian beliefs of God as the:





Father: - Creator;

Son: - Incarnation and Salvation, God as human who lived among us;

Holy Spirit: – God’s presence, power and blessing in action, sent to us,

among us and over us, the spirit of God on and with everything.

Why was and is each of the 3 parts of 1 God necessary?

How have each of these parts helped the Christian message survive for

over 2,000 years?

Jesus commands his disciples to baptise “in the name of the Father, the

Son and the Holy Spirit.”

(Matthew 28:19)

So what does Pentecost show about The Trinity?

Recap about the symbols of the Holy Spirit which were apparent at that

first Pentecost and that remind us today of that event.


What are the symbols of Pentecost and what do they represent?

What symbols could represent God as Father, God as Son, and God as

Holy Spirit?

What symbols could represent God as The Trinity?

Activities:

Pupils design and make a miniature stole for Trinity Sunday that could be

worn by the incumbent or another member of the clergy in church.

The stoles can be drawn and made out of paper or made out of material

decorated by collage They need to be particularly for Trinity Sunday and

so should represent The Trinity. They can include symbols that pupils have





seen already or that they are creating that they think symbolise The

Trinity.

Pupils need to think carefully about what they will include on their stole

for Trinity and need to write a label to accompany the stole on a display

indicating why they have chosen the different symbols and the design that

they have included on their stole.

Plenary:

Share the stoles with the rest of the class.

The clergy could also be invited into the class to see the stoles and read /

hear the thinking behind the designs of them.

End by looking at and listening to a Celtic Prayer and Blessing.

Many blessings are Trinitarian in formula. Look for Celtic blessings and

prayers like those of David Adam in ‘A Celtic Daily Prayer Companion’

e.g.

May God the Father bless us;

May Christ take care of us;

May the Holy Spirit enlighten us

All the days of our life. … From the Book of Cerne.





Lesson 5

Pupils should:

consider the beliefs that

Christians are promising

in Confirmation and

explain the sources of

these beliefs;

(AT1)

reflect on promises that

they might make to help

them live a purposeful life

with good meaning.

(AT2)

How Does Confirmation Contribute To

The Spread of The Christian Message?

Introduction:

Ask the pupils to think of things that their parents have done for them as

adults, because they are considered too young to do them themselves at

the moment?

Why were the pupils considered too young to do these things themselves

at their age?

Will they ever do them themselves?

What will be different about the pupils when they do those things for

themselves? (hopefully!)


Explain that today you going to learn about a rite of passage for Christians.

Re-cap what a rite of passage is.

Think about rites of passage outside faith and those inside faiths,

encouraging the pupils to remember their earlier work on Baptism and

Marriage.

What does it mean when you ‘confirm’ something?

Saying that something is definite, something that was done / said / arranged

before.

The rite of passage for Christians being learnt about today is called

Confirmation.

A Christian is confirmed when they are a teenager or older, it varies from

church to church and when the person wants to be confirmed.

Confirmation is the point in the

Christian journey at which

Christians affirm for

themselves the faith into which

they have been baptised. They

express their intention to live a

life of committed Christian

discipleship.

In an increasing number of

Anglican churches, children are

Admitted to Communion some

years before their

Confirmation.

In the Roman Catholic Church,

it is traditional for people to

have their First Communion

and then are confirmed later.

Not all Christian

denominations, (groups within

Christianity) regard

confirmation in the same way,

e.g. in the Methodist Church

Christians enter into

membership of the church

alongside the confirmation

ritual.





Ask the pupils what do you think Christians are confirming?

The promises about following the Christian faith made for them by their parents

and Godparents when they were baptised / christened.

If someone was not baptised when they were younger, they are baptised

before their Confirmation and are confirming their own promises that

they have made as a new Christian.

Many churches now admit children to Communion when they are younger

and so if this has happened, the person being confirmed is confirming the

promises that they made at that rite of passage. As they are now older,

hopefully they understand them in more detail and so can make the

decision even more for themselves.

When a Christian is confirmed, they are confirming that they are a

Christian, their full membership as a member of the Christian Church.

They can begin to receive Holy Communion if they have not previously

had their First Communion.

(The following can be used as stand alone activities or can be combined.)

Use of video clips, (See Resources)

Discuss:

What happens during confirmation?

Why do you think each part happens?

What do you think this rite of passage means to Christians?

Why do you think it is important to a Christian that they are

confirmed?

Resources:

Confirmation videos:

What Happens At

Confirmation:

http://request.org.uk/life/rites-

of-passage/confirmation-

video/#

Catholic Confirmation:


h?v=bawzl1c2Vsg

Confirmation artefacts;

Christian visitor who has been

confirmed;

Confirmation Promises and the

Confirmation Service is

available in Common Worship,

on the Church of England

website under the Prayer &

Worship tab.

Sensitivities:

NATRE offers guidance on the

storage and use of artefacts:

http://www.natre.org.uk

http://request.org.uk/life/rites-of-passage/confirmation-video/



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bawzl1c2Vsg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bawzl1c2Vsg

http://www.natre.org.uk/uploads/Guidance%20on%20Resources/1)%20Resourcing%20in%20your%20school/(2.4)%20Discussion.pdf





Use of artefacts:

For example: oil, candles, Confirmation certificates, Confirmation cards,

etc. Follow guidance for handling artefacts (see Resources)

What are each of these artefacts?

What are the common themes of them?

What do they tell you about Confirmation?

What does this rite of passage (Confirmation) that these artefacts are

used at mean to Christians?

Why do you think it is important to a Christian that they are

confirmed?

Invite in a member of the school community / congregation / incumbent

who has been confirmed to share with the pupils their experience of

passing through this rite of passage.

Pupils could pre-prepare questions similar to those used during and after

the video clips.

Activities:

Ask pupils to think about promises that they might make to help them live

a purposeful life with good meaning.

Show and read pupils the promises that confirmation candidates make at

their Confirmation.

What do the pupils think these promises mean?

Ask the pupils to reflect on the promises and write their own version of a

set of Confirmation promises to include all that they think a Christian

should be promising as they pass through this rite of passage in their

journey of faith.





Plenary:

How does Confirmation contribute to the spread of the Christian

message today?

How has Confirmation contributed to the survival of the Christian

message for over 2000 years?





Lesson 6

Pupils should:

suggest reasons for the

similar and different

beliefs which Christians

and other people hold,

explaining how religious

sources have helped the

Christian message survive

for over 2,000 years;

(AT1)

reflect on the messages

that touch their life and

the lives of others, why

the messages affect

people and how the

messages influence

themselves and different

people.

(AT2)

How Has The Christian Message Survived

For Over 2,000 Years?

Introduction:

Watch and listen to a video clip of London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay.


Ask the pupils who remembers the Olympic Torch Relay?

Talk about the story behind the Olympic Torch and the Olympic Torch

Relay.

What is the tradition of an Olympic Torch and the Olympic Torch

Relay?

Why is there an Olympic Torch?

Why is there an Olympic Torch Relay?

What is the purpose of the Olympic Torch Relay?

Who has carried the Olympic Torch on the relay?

Where has the route been on the Olympic Torch Relay?

Does the Olympic Torch Relay change / help anything?

If so, what?

Why has the tradition of having an Olympic Torch Relay before the

Olympic Games each time been so important?

How does the Olympic Torch Relay spread a message?

Why do the organisers of the Olympics want to spread that particular

message?

What message is the Olympic Torch Relay spreading?

Ask pupils / adults who witnessed the Olympic Torch relay to share their

experience of the relay and of the message that they felt they got from

witnessing it.

Resources:

Video Clip of London 2012

Olympic Torch Relay:

Montage is available on the

London 2012 Olympic Games

BBC DVD

or other video clips available

via Google;

Olympic torch information and

images: -

London 2012:


h?v=SL9kAqNbYug

Rio de Janeiro 2016:

http://www.rio2016.com/tocha

olimpica/en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL9kAqNbYug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL9kAqNbYug

http://www.rio2016.com/tochaolimpica/en

http://www.rio2016.com/tochaolimpica/en





Look at the symbolism used in the Olympic torches in London 2012 and

Rio 2016: -

Why were these designs chosen for the torches?

What do the designs say?

How do the designs help the spread of the message?

How do the designs contribute to the message of the Olympic Torch?

Is there anything similar between the Olympic Torch, the Olympic Torch

Relay and the spread of the Christian message?

If so, what?

Activity:

Pupils design and / or make a torch that represents how the message of

Christianity has spread, how it has survived for over 2,000 years and how

it continues to spread.

Pupils should produce an explanation to accompany their design ideas /

finished torch, which justifies and illustrates their choices of design,

materials, shape, colours, patterns, symbols, words, etc. and links them to

their learning throughout this unit.

Plenary:

Hold a ‘gallery’ event to enable children to share their Christianity

Torches and learning.

The Christianity Torches could also be used in the class’ own Christian

Torch Relay.

how has the christian message survived for over 2000 years...

Documents