Was the Reformed tradition really started by a control freak?

Reformed re:form Traditions Session 1 Was the Reformed tradition really started by a control freak? Where s this Going? Kids explore Calvin s concept of God s Sovereignty and search for it in their own lives. Supplies Video n Whiteboard n Book of Confessions (or equivalent book n Sticky notes for your branch of Reformed tradition) What about the Bible and My Tradition? n Whiteboard n Markers Individual Activity: The New Placard Affair n Scissors n Tape n Permission for activity in sanctuary Group Activity: Semper-o-Rama n Colored pencils n Markers n Crayons n Other art supplies Group Activity: On Your Mark, Get Set, Scroll! n Fun rolls of toilet paper n Permission for activity in sanctuary Regroup 1 n Whiteboard from Prepare n Wide, shallow bowl of sand n Matches n Basket of candles n Markers

re:form Traditions Session 1 Was the Reformed tradition really started by a control freak? Where s this Going? Kids explore Calvin s concept of God s Sovereignty and search for it in their own lives. Prepare What s behind all this? There is nothing we can do to earn God s forgiveness. We receive God s grace through God s gift of faith! This idea kicked off the Protestant Reformation when a priest named Martin Luther spoke out against the church s Isaiah 43:11-13 practices of charging people for forgiveness. A few years down the road, John Calvin, a smart guy who worked hard (and worked a lot), began preaching and writing and helping lead the reformation of the church. Calvin was a little bit of a control freak, but this helped him to spell out and organize many of the beliefs of the Reformation. He tried to put them all into practice in the city of Geneva. Work hard, live simply was a motto of his. For Calvin (and to the Reformed tradition), theology matters. Right belief leads to right action. It was Calvin s belief about God especially God s sovereignty that led him to live and lead the way he did. God is sovereign means God is the supreme authority over all of creation. God is in charge, and that s a good thing. God provides existence to all that exists, life to all that lives, and breath to all that breathes. God makes all of creation and God loves it. We are connected to God, whether or not we know it or believe it. Without connection to God there would be nothing. God is love. God demonstrates this love for us by actively sustaining all of creation, keeping it going, and providing for it all. This is a central theme of the Reformed tradition. Calvin emphasized God s sovereignty, but major Reformed theologians from his time onward gave new twists and turns on this basic idea. Different parts of the big Reformed family find affinity with different Reformed theologians throughout time. And because Reformed theologians like Calvin want to love God with all their minds, they may disagree about how to understand God s sovereignty. 2 He s got the whole world, in his hands. Reformed people like to talk about providence. In God s sovereignty, God always provides. Providence means we can trust that our past, present, and future are now and always in the hands of a loving and sovereign God.

Reformed people often meet in committee or session to discern the will of God and the mind of Christ. However, even as faithful followers of Jesus Christ, we still find ourselves agreeing to disagree at times. The Reformed tradition is a living tradition with many contributors. John Knox took the ideas of Luther and Calvin and used them to shape the Reformation in Scotland, and Abraham Kuyper did the same in Holland. Karl Barth reinterpreted Reformed theology in modern times and stood in opposi- Reformed theologians came from many different European countries: tion to the Nazis. The interpretation of the Christian faith that began with Luther and Calvin 500 years ago continues today. In fact, for Reformed Christians, our understanding of the Christian faith must change, because the world around us changes, forcing us to rethink our faith and to learn how to make sense of it for our lives today. This is the idea of the church reformed, always being reformed. The core Christian beliefs remain firm (Jesus is the Son of God, we are saved by God s grace, etc.), but a lot gets reformed again and again. We pray for God s Spirit to guide us in the reformation of our faith, and we reform the faith in and with the community of faith. This means Martin Luther (1483 1546) German priest and theology professor (turned monk) who initiated the Protestant Reformation. John Calvin (1509 1564) French theologian and pastor, prolific writer and architect of the Reformed tradition. John Knox (1510 1572) leader of the reformation in Scotland, one author of the Scots Confession, shaped Presbyterian polity. that you and I participate with our minds, hearts and actions in what God is doing right now in the world. Where are kids at? Kids have a keen sense of things that need to be adapted over time. Help them explore how Calvin was motivated to reform by his overriding conviction in the Sovereignty of God and how their tradition continues to reform. Kids want to know about themselves. History begins to matter when they see they are part of it. Explore your time together as their history. The story continues with them. 3 Abraham Kuyper (1837 1920) leading Dutch Calvinist, pastor in Netherlands who eventually became Prime Minister. Karl Barth (1886 1968) Swiss Reformed theologian, author of the Barmen Declaration, denounced Nazism, shaped the Reformed tradition we know today.

encounter 15 minutes Video 1. Set up Make sure you ve got the obvious stuff for this session re:form Traditions video (DVD or download), Anti Workbooks, Bibles, pens or pencils, paper, tape, etc. Write across the top of whiteboard: God, the Church, individual Christians. Write on sticky notes: forgives, has faith, sins, decides right and wrong, creates, listens, is trustworthy, gets angry, can change, protects, judges, has power. Have kids decide where the stickies go and why. No right or wrong. It s all about their explanations. You ll return to this at the end. Tell kids the video will show how the church answered similar questions throughout time sometimes in controlling ways! 2. W atch Whiteboard. Markers. Sticky notes. Book of Confessions (or equivalent book for your branch of Reformed tradition). Was the Reformed tradition started by a control freak? (DVD Chapter 1) 3. Unpack What does it mean to be in charge of something? God is in charge. How does this seem like good news? Like bad news? What did you see that you like about your tradition? What aren t you fond of? Sovereignty of God: God is the majestic, holy God who creates, sustains, rules, and redeems the world. God s providence is God s guidance and work in history and in the lives of individuals. The Presbyterian Handbook, 2006 Geneva Press, p. 178 What about the Bible and my tradition? Make two columns on whiteboard: About God and About Us. Read Isaiah 43:11-13. Go through each verse. List the words or phrases in the appropriate column. Read other translations. Add new ways of saying things to the lists. Whiteboard. Markers. What picture does this paint of God? What does a witness do? What does it means that we are witnesses? List responses. Show the Book of Confessions or your tradition s book outlining your beliefs from its beginning until now. Look for how different people from different times and places responded to the questions you re exploring: how God is sovereign, and how we are God s witnesses who share in God s work. 4 Is this what believing [faith] means to understand nothing, provided only that you submit your feeling [conviction] obediently to the church? John Calvin Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.2.2.

engage 25 30 minutes Choose 1+ Anti-Workbook (AW) activities to explore the session question. The first 2 are for individual use, while the last 2 involve the whole group. 1. House Rules AW p. 4 Talk about a house rule you liked growing up, one you didn t like, and why. What are their rules? Do these rules exist to control or to help? Why? What if there were no rules? Calvin, often seen as controlling, was famous for the rules he set up in Geneva. Give kids time and space to follow the instructions in the Anti-Workbook. Later, they may want to trade and compare, or have the group nominate and narrow the list to their top five. How are others rules similar or different? Where s this going? Kids consider how boundaries and rules protect and enhance life. What does the world look like under your rules? How can living with certain rules help us recognize God as sovereign and the provider of all? How can living with rules help us participate in what God is doing in the world? 2. The New Placard Affair AW p. 5 What has changed in worship since you were a kid? (Kids roles, instruments, vestments, gender-inclusive language). Share past bulletins, newsletters, or photos. Other than technology or style, what is the motivation or goal for changing how we worship? Stand in the sanctuary. Consider the pew arrangement, baptismal font, and pulpit. What decorations are there? Where does the pastor sit? What can you tell you about what this church believes about worship? The role of the people? The pastor? Youth? Children? Introduce the activity. How would your group shape worship to reflect their beliefs about God, about people, and how these beliefs relate to each other? How easy or difficult is it to determine where you ll place each card? What criteria are you using to make your choice? How might your pastor, parents, or friends from a different tradition answer these questions? How might this activity make you think differently about worship? Where s this going? Kids reform church worship practices. Scissors. Tape. Permission for activity in sanctuary. Share this activity with the pastor and/or worship leadership. Consider leaving the placards up so youth can share their reflections with the congregation! Or, invite the pastor, session, or leadership to do this exercise and talk about it with the confirmation class the following week. ) 5

3. Semper-o-Rama AW p. 6 Placing faith in the hands of the people means the church reformed will look different in different places Semper Reformanda. Talk about what happens to the original meaning of messages in a game of Telephone or when posted on Wikipedia, where people can add to or adapt them. Invite kids to think about the benefits and drawbacks of involving lots of people as something progresses. Introduce the activity. How are you affected by seeing what other people draw? How are the finished drawings alike? Different? What is there that you alone never would have added? Do any of the drawings feel like your own? Why? Or why not? How is drawing together like people working together in the church? How does God work through circumstances, situations, and personalities to shape the message and the church today? Where s this going? Kids build on the work of those before them to explore the idea of the church reformed, always being reformed. Colored pencils. Markers. Crayons. Other art supplies. Semper Reformanda [sem-per re-for-man-da] The church reformed, always being reformed. Since God s word continues to speak anew and since God continues to care and provide for people in today s changing world, we adapt the ways we understand our faith and the ways we participate with God in the world. 4. On Your Mark, Get Set, Scroll AW p. 7 How are kids tied into the long line of people of faith John Calvin, Martin Luther, their grandparents, you? Sometimes as a family heirloom is passed along it changes a bit. An old lamp may need a new shade. As the Reformed tradition passed from the 16th to the 21st century some things changed and some stayed the same. The reasons may have been functional or perhaps sentimental. Like a roll of toilet paper (a very long scroll), our traditions connect us to our past, speak to us today, and move us to our future. Introduce the activity. Why do we keep things or pass them on? How can the way people spoke about reality and understood their faith in the past help us today? What does the place you began represent to you? Why is it important? Where are you in this game beginning, end, passer, receiver? Where are you in the big picture of your own faith tradition? Where s this going? Kids physically and actively pass it on. Full rolls of toilet paper. Permission for activity in sanctuary. 6

respond 15 20 minutes Regroup Look at the stickies positioned under God, the Church, and individual Christians. Ask kids to rearrange, if needed. Write the word because in front of God. Ask kids to shout out actions of the Church and Christians in sentences starting with, Because God... (Because God creates, the Church celebrates and Christians create too! Because God hear us, the Stickies on Whiteboard from Prepare. Wide, shallow bowl of sand. Basket of candles. Matches. Church listens and Christians share.) Share Go around the group and ask each person to share what they ve done (if they re comfortable) and explain how they did it and why. Affirm all thoughtful explanations and attempts at the work. Point out two or three things about each kid s work that you like best. Invite others to offer thoughtful observations. Questions for conversation: What does God is sovereign mean in your life? How do you see God s sovereignty in your life? In the world? How are you a witness to God? A participant in God s work? A reformer? Capture it Use a digital camera, camcorder, scanner, web cam, or audio recorder to capture group conversation and individual pieces of work. Upload them to your online galleries, or ask students to do so. What might be the next ways the church adapts to stay true to God s word in this time and place? Send Prayer, recognizing God s sovereignty and love, our grateful response, honest confession, and faithful participation are all central to the Reformed tradition. Cultivating a simple liturgical prayer ritual to end every session can deepen and enrich your experience as a group. Gather around the shallow bowl filled with sand. Light one candle and place it in the bowl. (Be careful with fire!) Remind kids that we believe God hears our prayers. We respond with gratitude and name our needs. Invite each kid to light a candle, place it in the bowl, and share simple words or phrases describing things they are grateful for or needs in their lives or the world. (For peace. For my grandma who is sick.) All respond, God, in your mercy, hear our prayer. If desired, finish with the Lord s Prayer. 7 No one in the history of Christian thought has written on prayer as much as John Calvin. Victor Shepherd John Calvin on Prayer, Renewal Fellowship, Summer 2005 Channels, Vol. 21, No. 1.