Name of Unit: Faith: Salvation: What Happens in Churches during Lent and at Easter? Key Stage In Which This Unit Should Be Taught: Recommended Year Group (if specified): Key Stage 2 Previous Learning: Why Is Easter The Most Important Festival For Christians? How Do Easter Symbols Help Us To Understand The True Meaning of Easter? Easter People Who Is The Most Significant Person In The Easter Story? Why Are They Having a Jewish Party? Possibly: How Does Holy Communion Build a Christian Community? How Does The Christian Festival of Easter Offer Hope? (Depending on where this unit is placed in the school s RE Curriculum Map.) AT1 Learning About Religion AT2 Learning From Religion Focus: Forms of Expression. Focus: Identity and belonging. What This Unit Teaches: What happens in Churches during Lent and at Easter, particularly at: - Ash Wednesday, Passiontide, Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday; Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; Holy Saturday and Easter Day. An awareness and understanding of the expression of Christian beliefs in a range of styles and words within worship; Understanding of how the living out of ritual in church at Easter inspires and influences Christians; Reflection about what and who inspires and influences each of us. A visit to the parish church or the cathedral should form part of this teaching unit. Key RE Vocabulary: Cross-Curricular Links: Church; Easter; salvation; Christian; ; festival; worship; liturgy; Literacy, History; Geography; Art and Design; Music, Dance; Computing; ritual; Lent; Ash Wednesday; ashes; Lent study group; charity; Passion Personal, Social and Health Education; Citizenship. Sunday; Passion; cross; crucifix; Holy Week; Palm Sunday; palm leaves; palm cross; procession; Hosanna! Maundy Thursday; Maundy Money; foot washing; Last Supper; Holy Communion; Eucharist; Passover; stripping of the altar; Vigil / Watch; Garden of Gethsemane; Good Friday; crucifixion; Stations of The Cross; Passion Play; fast; meditation; Holy Saturday; fire; Paschal candle; Easter Day; resurrection; joy; hope; Dawn Vigil; baptism,
renewal of baptism vows; blessing; holy water; Admitted to Communion; First Communion; Christian community. Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development: Understanding of how worship and reflection can aid spiritual development; How Christians use life, death, resurrection and teachings of Jesus as an inspiration and influence to guide them morally; How joining together in common forms of expression builds up a community; Awareness of different traditions practices in Easter worship by different Christian denominations. Sensitivities: This unit teaches about what happens particularly in Anglican churches at Easter? The exact practices in Easter worship vary from Christian denomination to Christian denomination and indeed even within the Church of England itself! It is important that the particular practices of the tradition of the parish church are taught whilst giving the pupils an awareness of wider common practices within the Anglican Church. Be sensitive towards Muslim pupils who are not permitted to draw people under Islamic teachings. Possible Further Thinking and Extension Activities: Easter practices in worship between Christian denominations, including the Greek Orthodox Church; Easter practices and customs within worship that take place in other countries; Links between what happens in churches at Easter and the practices of other world faiths. Please remember that RE is not Collective Worship and so, in these RE lessons, although pupils are learning about Easter worship, they should not be expected to participate in any worship as part of RE. Future Learning: Possibly: How Does Holy Communion Build a Christian Community? How Does The Christian Festival of Easter Offer Hope? (Depending on where this unit is placed in the school s RE Curriculum Map.)
Learning Objectives AT1 AT2 Suggested Teaching Activities Points To Note Lesson 1 What Happens in Churches on Ash Wednesday, on Passion Sunday and during Passiontide Pupils should: and Palm Sunday? Understand what happens and why in churches at the beginning of Lent, Passiontide and Holy Week; (AT1) Explain how by taking part in rituals in churches at the beginning of Lent, Passiontide and Holy Week, a Christian is inspired and influenced. (AT2) Introduction: Discuss with pupils about learning. When they learn something, what is the best way of learning about it? What is the best way of really understanding something? What is the best way of remembering something? Encourage the answer of doing / experiencing. Tell the pupils that in this teaching unit we are going to learn about what happens in churches during Lent and at Easter? Main Part of the Lesson: Ask pupils what liturgical season is currently marking? Lent. Recap how Lent is the preparation time for Christians in getting ready for the most important festival of all for them, Easter. What is one of the main ways by which Christians mark the period of Lent and the festival of Easter? Elicit the answer of worship in church. Explain that during Lent and Easter, Christians will include in their worship some of the rituals that happened during the first Holy Week and Easter and other acts that are about what is being thought at that time. Why do Christians include these rituals? Elicit the idea of remembering what happened in Jesus time and to help Christians understand the real meaning of Easter for them. Why do Christians do these rituals together in church? Worshipping together and experiencing the events and rituals as a faith This unit teaches about what happens particularly in Anglican churches at Easter? The exact practices in Easter worship vary from Christian denomination to Christian denomination and indeed even within the Church of England itself! It is important that the particular practices of the tradition of the parish church are taught whilst giving the pupils an awareness of wider common practices within the Anglican Church. Resources: The parish church; The incumbent and other clergy; Video clips of how Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday are marked in the church; The Holy Bible; The Church of England website for worship texts: www.churchofengland.org Palm crosses.
community which brings them closer together through shared experience of the core beliefs of their faith. Ask the incumbent or another member of the clergy to visit and talk about how Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday are marked in the parish church. Alternatively show video clips to illustrate this. Ash Wednesday: Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent and marks the period when Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights and faced temptation. This is marked in churches by a Eucharist at which people are ashed to remind them of their own mortality. Ashes are an ancient sign of penitence; from the middle ages it became the custom to begin Lent by being marked in ash with the sign of the cross. The palm crosses left over from last year in church are burned to make ashes and people have the sign of the cross made in ash on their forehead by the minister. As each person receives the imposition of ashes, the minister says the words Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ. What do these words mean? Why do people have the sign of the cross made on their heads? Why is the sign of the cross made out of ashes? Throughout Lent, the liturgical colour of purple is used in the church on the altar frontal, vestments and clergy robes and there are no flowers or decorations. Liturgical dress is the simplest possible. The Gloria in Excelsis is not used. Why is this? The Bible reading that is used at Ash Wednesday services tells of Jesus entering the desert and facing temptation
Luke 4:1-13 Read this with pupils and discuss. During Lent, Christians often give up something that they can live without and if it is financial, they save the money and then donate it to charity. Alternatively Christians take something on, e.g. extra reading of the Bible or prayer to help them become a better Christian. Many Christians also attend Lent Study groups where they study The Bible and think about Christian teachings and living. Why do might Christians do these things? How does Ash Wednesday set the scene for the period of Lent, in preparation for Easter? Passiontide and Passion Sunday: The Sunday before Palm Sunday is called Passion Sunday. This marks the beginning of the time when the Church particularly remembers the passion of Jesus, the events leading up to and including Jesus crucifixion. The Passion Narrative is read in churches. In many churches crosses, crucifixes and statues are covered up with material that is the liturgical colour of purple or a plain colour. This is as symbolism of anticipating Christ s suffering. Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday comes at the beginning of Holy Week. It marks the time of Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem when He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and crowds lined the streets and waved palm branches in the air to greet and welcome Jesus. They shouted Hosanna! What do pupils think that Christians might do in churches to remember this remarkable event?
Churches have a procession on Palm Sunday, often outside the church within the parish but, at least, inside the church. The members of the church will all be given a palm cross made out of a palm leaf to wave during the procession and they will sing an appropriate hymn / song that contains the words Hosanna! in it. Some churches will even have a real donkey in their procession! The Bible reading that is used at Palm Sunday services tells of Jesus triumphant entry to Jerusalem, Matthew 21:1-11 or John 12:12-19 Read this with pupils and discuss. The liturgical colour is red and so the altar frontal, vestments and vicar s robes are in this colour to mark this day in the Church s calendar. Some churches also Admit To Communion on Palm Sunday, this is when children who have followed a series of preparation classes to learn about being a Christian will make promises about being a good Christian and are then admitted to communion, so on Palm Sunday they take their first Holy Communion. Why do Christians take part in a Palm Sunday procession? What does the palm cross symbolise? How might their palm cross help a Christian in their faith? Why might Palm Sunday be an appropriate time for children to be Admitted to Communion? Activity: The palm cross is a symbol that strengthens, inspires and influences Christians all over the world. It symbolises Jesus Christ and the core Christian belief of salvation when Jesus died on the cross to save the people of the world.
Ask pupils to express who has a positive effect on them. Draw and write about someone who strengthens, inspires and influences them, helping them to be a better person. Plenary: Share our inspirations with each other.
Learning Objectives AT1 AT2 Suggested Teaching Activities Points To Note Lesson 2 What Happens in Churches on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday? Pupils should: Understand what happens and why in churches in Holy Week; (AT1) Explain how by taking part in rituals in churches in Holy Week, a Christian is inspired and influenced. (AT2) Introduction: Re-cap with pupils about their learning in the previous lesson. Explain that we are going to continue learning about what happens in churches at Easter and today, particularly about what happens in churches on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Main Part of the Lesson: Ask the incumbent or another member of the clergy to visit and talk about how Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are marked in the parish church. Alternatively show video clips to illustrate this. Maundy Thursday: When is Maundy Thursday? The Thursday of Holy Week. What happened on the 1 st Maundy Thursday? The liturgical colour used on Maundy Thursday is white and so the altar frontal, vestments and vicar s robes will be white to mark this day in the Church s calendar. The Distribution of Maundy Money takes place on the morning of Maundy Thursday. This is an annual service in one of the cathedrals in Great Britain, a different one is chosen each year. During the service the Queen gives a bag of Maundy money, to selected pensioners. The Maundy money is a set of special coins that is exclusive to this service. The number of pensioners matches the age of This unit teaches about what happens particularly in Anglican churches at Easter? The exact practices in Easter worship vary from Christian denomination to Christian denomination and indeed even within the Church of England itself! It is important that the particular practices of the tradition of the parish church are taught whilst giving the pupils an awareness of wider common practices within the Anglican Church. Resources: The parish church; The incumbent and other clergy; Video clips of how Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday are marked in the church; The Holy Bible; The Church of England website for worship texts: www.churchofengland.org
the Queen. They have been especially nominated and chosen to receive the Maundy Money in recognition of the special work that they have done in their communities. Show a video clip of an extract of one of the services. Why do pupils think that The Distribution of Maundy Money takes place? Why is it The Queen who distributes the money? Concept = service. Why is good service to the community by pensioners recognised? Why does this particular ritual happen on Maundy Thursday? How might this expression reinforce the Christian faith and inspire and influence Christians? The Passover Meal and Maundy Thursday Eucharist: It was the Jewish festival of Passover when the events of the 1 st Easter took place. Many churches remember about the roots of Jesus and by re-enacting a Passover meal. Churches will have a Eucharist on the evening of Maundy Thursday. Other names for Eucharist are Communion, The Lord s Supper and The Last Supper. The Bible reading that is used in Maundy Thursday services tells of the events that happened on the night before Jesus died; these include the Last Supper, foot washing and Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:17-56 or Mark 14:12-end or Luke 22:7-65 or John 13:1-20 and 18: 1-27 Read this with pupils and discuss. What do they think churches might include in their worship on Maundy Thursday? Why? Video clip of The Distribution of Maundy Money; Video clips of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services and activities in churches; A selection of the words of hymns / Christian worship songs that express the Christian belief of what happened on Maundy Thursday or / and Good Friday; Watercolour paints and paper / other materials for pictures; Materials for handwriting; Easter reflective music. Sensitivities: Be sensitive towards Muslim pupils who are not permitted to draw people under Islamic teachings. They could draw something to symbolise the person that inspires them or just write about them. Please remember that RE is not Collective Worship and so, in these RE lessons, although pupils are learning
What effect would this have for Christians? During the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, the vicar will wash the feet of some members of the congregation, often 12 people. Why do churches carry out foot washing? What effect might it have on the people whose feet are washed? What effect might it have on the person who is washing the feet? What effect might it have on the people who are witnessing the feet being washed? about Easter worship, they should not be expected to participate in any worship as part of RE. By celebrating the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday, how might Christians feel? What effect might this have on their faith? After the communion has been distributed, the sacrament of Jesus body in the form of the remaining wafers is saved for distribution at the Good Friday service of Veneration and Reserved sacrament. At the end of the Maundy Thursday Eucharist, the altar is stripped; this means that the altar frontal and all the vestments in the church are removed. What is this symbolising? Jesus being stripped and laid bare on the cross. A night vigil / night watch then takes place in the church during which people stay for a time or come back later in the night to spend some time praying and keeping watch with Jesus. What does this remind people about? How might this help a Christian s faith? Good Friday: Good Friday is the day following Maundy Thursday. What happened on the 1 st Good Friday? This is the day when Jesus was crucified, put to death on the cross. It is an important part of the big story contained within The Bible, God s
plan for the world. It is the point at which the Christian concept of Salvation happened, the core Christian belief of God letting His son, Jesus Christ, be killed to save the world from all its sin. The Bible reading that is used in Good Friday services tells of the events on the day that Jesus died. Matthew 27 or Mark15 or Luke 22: 66-23 or John 18:28-19 Read this with pupils and discuss. Having been stripped of all vestments the night before, the church is bare inside of any decoration. Christians often act out / reflect on the events of Good Friday in The Stations of The Cross. These are a series of scenes from the story of Jesus crucifixion including the events leading up to it. They are often as images, possibly in pictorial form and can also take the form of a play. Passion plays are another way of recalling the events of Jesus death and resurrection and these are often performed by Christian communities, including outside the church building. Why might these take place outside the church building? Jesus Final Hours: Often for the final three hours that Jesus was believed to be alive on Good Friday, the time that He was on the cross for, Christians spend the time in church meditating and praying and listening to music. The Veneration of The Cross: Some churches have a special service at which there is veneration at the foot
of the cross. This is where people have the chance to offer devotions and make prayers to God at the cross. The cross is often a crucifix with a statue of the body of Jesus on it and many Christians like to kiss the body as they leave the cross. The reserved sacrament is shared in the form of wafer. People leave the church in silence at the end of the service, signifying that that is remembering the time at which Jesus died. What effect might these rituals that happen in churches at Good Friday, support Christians in their faith? Activity: Have a selection of the words of hymns / Christian worship songs that express the Christian belief of what happened on Maundy Thursday or / and Good Friday and are sung in churches on one or both of those days. Pupils choose one of the hymns / songs or another one that they know of. Read it carefully and make a watercolour painting / or use other materials to illustrate the core Christian beliefs expressed in it that are remembered and often lived out in churches on Maundy Thursday and / or Good Friday. The words of the chosen Lent / Easter hymn / song could be displayed alongside the pictures, possibly written out in handwriting by the pupils. Plenary: Play some reflective Eastern music. View each others pictures and reflect on how the events of Maundy Thursday or Good Friday have been interpreted. Consider the effect that the expression of the events in worship in churches at Easter can have on Christians and others who witness them.
Learning Objectives AT1 AT2 Suggested Teaching Activities Points To Note Lesson 3 What Happens in Churches on Holy Saturday and Easter Day? Pupils should: Understand what happens and why in churches on Holy Saturday and Easter Day; (AT1) Introduction: Re-cap with pupils about their learning in the previous lessons in this unit of work. Explain that we are going to continue learning about what happens in churches at Easter, and today particularly about what happens in churches on Holy Saturday and Easter Day. This unit teaches about what happens particularly in Anglican churches at Easter? The exact practices in Easter worship vary from Christian denomination to Christian denomination and indeed even within the Church of England itself! Explain how by taking part in rituals in churches on Holy Saturday and Easter Day, a Christian is inspired and influenced. (AT2) Main Part of the Lesson: Ask the incumbent or another member of the clergy to visit and talk about how Holy Saturday and Easter Day are marked in the parish church. Alternatively show video clips to illustrate this. What happened on Easter Day? What is being remembered in churches on Holy Saturday and Easter Day? What is being joyfully celebrated on these days? It is important that the particular practices of the tradition of the parish church are taught whilst giving the pupils an awareness of wider common practices within the Anglican Church. The Bible reading that is used in Holy Saturday and Easter Day services tells of the events that happened in Jesus resurrection; when Jesus rose from the dead. Matthew 28 or Mark 16-18 or Luke 24:1-49 or John 20 21:14 Read this with pupils and discuss. The Resurrection is also part of the big story. Christians believe that it is part of God s plan and shows that goodness Resources: The parish church; The incumbent and other clergy; Video clips of Holy Saturday and Easter Day services and activities in churches; The Holy Bible; The Church of England website for worship texts: www.churchofengland.org
triumphs over evil and that life is stronger than death. It gives the promise of hope and eternal life. Many churches now have special services in the evening of Holy Saturday to begin their celebration of Jesus resurrection. Why is this? The new day in Judaism begins after sunset and so this would have been seen as the new day in Israel at the time of Jesus death and resurrection. Holy Saturday / Easter Day: The Lighting of the New Fire In some churches this will take place on Holy Saturday, in other churches this will be carried out on Easter Day. If it is taking place on Easter Day, some churches do it at dawn at an Easter Sunrise Service and others will do it at the main Easter Morning Service. The church is in darkness. A fire is lit outside the entrance of the church and a new Paschal candle lit from it. The Paschal Candle has the symbols from the beginning and end of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Omega, on it along with the year. The Paschal Candle is carried into the church and smaller candles held by everyone in the church are lit from it. These words are sung by the vicar: The light of Christ. Everyone responds with the words: Thanks be to God. The Paschal Candle is placed at the front of the church where it will remain throughout the whole year. It will be lit at every service between Easter and Ascension Day and then at any baptisms and funerals that take place in the church during the year. A number of times through the services, the vicar will proclaim, "Alleluia. Christ is risen. Sensitivities: Please remember that RE is not Collective Worship and so, in these RE lessons, although pupils are learning about Easter worship, they should not be expected to participate in any worship as part of RE.
The congregation will respond, He is risen indeed. Alleluia. The lights of the church all come on and everyone sings. Crosses, crucifixes and statues will have been unveiled. The church will have been cleaned and decorated with flowers, new candles, the liturgical colour of white / gold on its altar frontal, its vestments and the vicar s robes. What is the symbolism behind each part of this ritual? Admittance To Communion: Some churches also Admit To Communion on Holy Saturday, this is when children who have followed a series of preparation classes to learn about being a Christian will make promises about being a good Christian and are then admitted to communion, so at Easter they take their first Holy Communion. Why might Holy Saturday be an appropriate time for children to be Admitted to Communion? Easter Day: Many churches have an Easter garden, (a model or life-size,) showing the cross of Jesus along with the crosses of the two criminals crucified with him and the tomb with the stone rolled away. The Easter garden will be blessed during the main Easter morning service. Why do churches choose to have an Easter garden? How might it enhance the worship of the Church at Easter? Some churches have baptisms on Easter Day. In all churches Christians renew their baptismal vows, the promises that were made for them when they were baptised or that they made themselves, if they were old enough, at their baptism. The vicar will sprinkle holy water over everyone as part of God s blessing that
they give to all present. Why is Easter a particularly appropriate time for Christians to renew their baptismal vows? The service will continue with a great celebration of Easter Communion. What might experiencing all these rituals of Easter mean for Christians? Many churches will have a special display of lilies and a Memory Board / Memory Book remembering people who have died. These will be loved ones that parishioners have asked to be remembered. Activity: Design an Easter card that a Christian might give to someone to celebrate the festival of Easter. The theme of the Easter card is Easter Day worship in church and so the card should have an appropriate illustration and Easter message to reflect the worship and celebrations of Holy Saturday / Easter Day in church. The card should convey how the rituals of Easter worship in church on Holy Saturday and / or Easter Day reinforce the Christian beliefs about Easter. Plenary: Play some Easter Day hymns / Christian worship songs as background music and share each other s Easter cards.
Learning Objectives AT1 AT2 Suggested Teaching Activities Points To Note Lesson 4 What Happens in Churches during Lent and at Easter? Pupils should: Express religious beliefs and rituals including styles and words of Lent and Easter worship in churches used by Christians and suggest what they mean; (AT1) Express how what happens in churches during Lent and at Easter inspires and influences Christians and share their feelings about what they have learnt. (AT2) Introduction: Help pupils to remember their learning through this teaching unit about what happens in churches during Lent and at Easter. Activity: Create a leaflet from the Christians in a church that can be given out to visitors about what happens in the church during Lent and Easter. The purpose of the leaflet is to inform about and explain the different rituals and worship that happen in church during this holy period, from a Christian s perspective; the audience is people who may be visiting the church over Lent and Easter. Share the Learning Objectives of this lesson with the pupils and remind them to use these as Success Criteria for their work. Ensure that the RE vocabulary specific to this unit is on display for pupils to use in their work. Plenary: Pupils to share their feelings from their learning about what happens in churches during Lent and at Easter. This unit teaches about what happens particularly in Anglican churches at Easter? The exact practices in Easter worship vary from Christian denomination to Christian denomination and indeed even within the Church of England itself! It is important that the particular practices of the tradition of the parish church are taught whilst giving the pupils an awareness of wider common practices within the Anglican Church. Resources: The Holy Bible; The Church of England website for worship texts: www.churchofengland.org