Advent in the Classroom

This sharing comes from

 Resurrection Lutheran School 

in Cary, North Carolina.

"Several of us from Resurrection Lutheran School

 in Cary, NC.

 attended the Visual Faith seminar on Prayer Art 

during the Southeastern District-

 All Church Workers Conference 

in Williamsburg. 

 I was inspired by the beautiful cards 

created when thinking of one verse 

or one word in the verse.

We created the attached art 

using the word "rejoiced"  from the verse

 "They saw the star and they rejoiced"  

Matthew 2:10

The cards were drawn by a preschool, 1st, 5th,

 and 8th grade classes.

  It was interesting to see the different 

interpretations and images.

Thank you for your inspiration and creativity."

Chris Johanson

1st grade 

Resurrection Lutheran School

Advent Waiting- Preschool Style

Advent waiting at 

Prince of Peace Preschool

 in Springfield, Virginia

 Teacher Bonnie Hughes 

leads the Visual Faith connections

 for the children at this preschool.
Bonnie's very capable helper is
Greta Holliday.

 Hands- on processing.

Becomes BIG PICTURE images.

What does art LOOK LIKE

 when you can create it together?

It is memorable.

Beautiful.

It connects Faith

 to Art and Heart.

Bonnie Hughes is a Visual Faith

 coach serving on the team 

of Visual Faith Ministry.

more Here:
Visual Faith Ministry

Welcome to Pastor Girma to the SED

 On Sunday evening, November 5, 2017 

Pastor Girma Allemu was installed as pastor of 

Ethiopian Evangelical Mekane Yesus Lutheran Church

in Cary, North Carolina.

 Pastor Girma with SED President John Denninger

 and congregation host- 

Rev. Mark Drengler

 at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 

Cary, North Carolina.

This was also the chartering service 

for  Ethiopian Evangelical Mekane 

Yesus Lutheran Church.

May the Lord bless Pastor Girma 

and his family and his ministry

 in Cary, North Carolina.

Reformation 500- Change the World

A Circuit of Churches and their Pastors

 worked for 2 years to bring about

 the Reformation 500 celebration

 at Dorton Arena

 in Raleigh, North Carolina 

on Sunday, November 5, 2017.

Rev. Dr.  Gregory Selz

 was the proclaimer 

for the celebration.

It was a beautiful celebration with choir, 

handbell choir, organ and brass ensemble.

These 6 churches had participants

 as part of the Reformation 

Visual Faith display.

The Art Show Display

 included adults.

Exhibitors shared their mission and vision.

The Touched by God's Love Clinic 

were busy with heart screenings, 

blood donations, 

dental screenings and a prayer station.

A beautiful celebration

honoring the Reformation 500

and reminding us ALL-

It's Still All About 

JESUS.

Welcome to the SED- Pastor Cizek and Family

 The installation service for Rev. Curt Cizek

 as Pastor of Risen Christ Lutheran Church

 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 

was on Wednesday, November 1, 2017.

 Neighboring pastors both active 

and retired joined the service celebration.

 Rev. Dr. John R. Denninger- 

Southeastern District President,

 served as officiant for the Rite of Installation.

 We welcome Pastor Curt and his wife, Linda, 

and their son, Andrew, to ministry in the SED!

May the Lord bless them in all ways

 in their ministry in the SED.

Lord, Build Your KINGDOM HERE!

Visual Faith- St. John's- York, PA

On October 7, 2017 a group of women 

gathered for the first ever 

Visual Faith Event
 at St. John, York, Pennsylvania. 

We called it “Prayers From My Heart” 

and invited women to

come and make prayer flip calendars 

to use when praying over their loved ones.

We spent some time 

in the beginning remembering 

that God has created us in His image 

and because of that we are creative women.

 It was also important for us to learn what 

Visual Faith is all about. 

We had some healthy 

and some not-so healthy snacks. 

There were lots of supplies 

for people to use.
What a clever way to store washi tape!

 We had worship music playing. 

It was a great time for people 

to get to know each other 

and even make some new friends.

 There was joy in the room. 

 An amazing peace and calmness covered 

the room as women worked on their flip calendars. 

Some were singing along 
with the worship music 

and some were quietly sharing as they worked. 

All seemed more relaxed 

than they had been when they first came in. 

The comment heard most often was,

 “I hope we’re going to do this again!”

Some grown-up coloring skills.

 A special thank you to Visual Faith Coach- 
Denise Wright
 for planning and organizing this event,
 as well as sharing the story and photos.

Melissa Merker- Reformation Art

On Sunday October 8th, 

those gathered at Jordan Lutheran Church

 in Apex took part in a 

congregation-wide art project

 after the worship service for all ages. 

Members of Jordan was encouraged to illustrate 

their favorite Bible verse,

 themes of the Reformation, 

and the Sacraments. The illustrated work

 will be displayed at the 

Change the World: 

One Life at a Time Reformation 

Celebration event

 at Dorton Arena at the 

NC State Fairgrounds on 

Sunday, November 5th. 

Artwork from around the region 

will be displayed as we celebrate 

the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

More information about the 

Art Show and the Change the World event

 can be found at www.trianglefaith.org.

Thanks to Melissa Merker 

for the photos and blog post information.

Donna Lee- Visual Faith Teacher- Part 1

Donna Brauch Lee- 

Visual Faith Coach and Teacher

Tending the Flame Workshop Presenter- 2017

Donna came to Tending the Flame in 2016 

and sat in on a workshop about Visual Faith.

Then she went home and out of that flame

 the Lord started a bonfire.

After a meeting with her pastor, 

Rev. Dave Guelzow 

at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church

 in Hickory, NC., 

they came up with a plan to turn an 

underused room into a Visual Faith Center.

This began a year of creating Visual Faith tools 

and resources to join the current curriculum- 

that tied together theology, art and faith life living.

The stories of the students became alive with color

 and interactive processes 

that told the story 

of God's faithfulness in their lives.

This post we will share ideas 

about how to use paper bags 

as Faith Art Journals.

This could be used for any parochial school setting, 

Confirmation class, Sunday School, 

VBS program, or enrichment activity.

What a great activity for 

family faith life in the home!

It is just plain old lunch paper bags 

bought at Costco or your favorite grocery store.

You can add in smaller sizes 

and colors and get those at Michael's.

Here she used a Faith Visual

 and cut it out for the cover.

Washi tape or colored duct tape 

make fun decorations. 

Add ribbons.

The paper bags can be put together

 to make a vertical flip book.

OR-

Folded in the middle 

and hole-punched 

and secured with yarn, or ribbon.

 You can print off Bible verse cards, 

add in and color Bible verse cards to color.

Or make it the spot 
for memory work for students.

The top left is a journal for remembering 

your birth and baptism story.

We can celebrate what we remember.
Some of the visuals can be 
downloaded for free here:
Heb 12 and Psalm 51
The small Bible verse cards 
can be found here on Amazon:
Psalms-Color-Cards

It could also be a Thanksgiving journal

 for students to record the things 

they give thanks for with a heart of gratitude.
There are many free printables on Pinterest.
 Recycled greetings cards
can add much variety to these projects.
Donna will be sharing her ideas 
and learning experiences at the 
SED President's Conference 
next week- Oct. 18-20, 2017
 in Williamsburg, Virginia.

More of Donna's Visual Faith tools 
will be shared in upcoming posts. 

Consistent Prayer- Consecrated Hearts- Women's Retreat

 The Fall Women's Retreat

Our Savior's Way

Ashburn, Virginia

 Presenters- Deaconess Sally Hiller

and Connie Denninger

Wonderful preparations and welcome

for all the attendees.

 Visual Faith display 

of practices and projects.

Family Faith Rolodex

Advent and Lent prayer

Visual Prayer and

Bible Journaling 

The VRSLY project

Counting Gifts

Prayers by the Month

 Time in the Word.

Conversations around the Table.

Meeting new friends.
Great music and worship.

The Blessing of the Prayer Shawls.

Thanks to Nikki Deacon

 and Ramona Meese and her team 

for a beautiful day of refreshment.

Creative Haven-in the Neighborhood

We gathered this week 

for some time in the studio.

Open schedule- 

come when you can.

Some worked on Bible Journaling,

some Visual prayer,

some worked on a project called-

Prayers for My Loved Ones.

One made a paper bag journal to collect 

prayer encouragement for a friend 

who was just diagnosed with cancer.

We visited, made new friends, 

practiced our lettering,

and ate a meal together.

Some have been doing these

creative faith practices for a long time.

For some, these are brand new things

 they are learning about. 

We talked about about how Visual Faith 

practices have changed our lives.

How we have a different prayer journey and

we spend more time reading God's Word.

We long for the time we get to spend 

 "being Present" with the Lord.

That is a story worth sharing.

 We invite others to come along 
as we learn together.

Maybe YOU would like to host

 a Creative Haven- Visual Faith event 

in YOUR home?

We can help with that.....

check out the the Visual Faith Communities on FB.
Visual Faith Community- North Carolina

Visual Faith Community- DC Metro

Visual Faith Community- Delmarva

or email Connie at:
condoit@aol.com