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.