A Doorways into Prayer Retreat

These women of Living Savior Lutheran Church

 from Fairfax Station, Virginia 

gathered for their Women's Retreat 

on May 4-6, 2019.

                                                                                                       photo by Rose Kasperson

They gathered at the Rosyln Retreat Center

 in Richmond, Virginia.

Spring beckoned and delighted all around.

Friday evening Bible Study looked 

at the Resurrection power

 that is the gift to all believers

 because Jesus is alive.

We are blessed to have the Holy Spirit 

alive in each of us that is bringing 

this new creation to fulfillment.

Saturday morning was the teaching time

 to learn about Doors into Prayer.

As Christians we live in a 

spiritual warfare battle.

But, we are blessed to have a 

personal relationship with the

 conqueror of death- Jesus Christ.
How does prayer intricately unite us
 to the power that rose Jesus from the dead?
Can prayer lives be "resurrected"?

The afternoon included time to make

 and process the learning in a paper bag journal.

They were started and ready

 to go for each attendee.

The creative times serves as a 

"modern day quilting bee".

Time to make and create

 as well as share life and hear the heart

 of another sister in faith.

 A selection of some covers

 for the Doors into Prayer

 paper bag journals.

This is the journal of Jean-Marie- 

who also shared some wonderful tools 

and techniques with her Art background.

Some took afternoon time

 for a walk or a nap.

Others just kept right in the creative flow.

Saturday evening included some planning

 for next year and time to plan 

the Sunday morning worship experience.

On Sunday we finished up worship details

 and gathered to worship together.

Worship ended with a 

blessing and sending.

Until next year---

we head into the reconnecting of life with 

some new prayer tools for our own lives

 and many ideas of how to bless others.

Refreshing respite.

Till next year!

Retreat was facilitated by Connie Denninger

 and the head of the Retreat Team

 was Wendy McGraw.
Thank you to all who contributed
 photos for this post.

Preschool Chapel and Young Disciples Telling the Story

 Bonnie Hughes teaches at

 Prince of Peace Lutheran Preschool

 in Springfield,Virginia.

Not only does she work 
with the littles--- 2 1/2 year olds,

she is the Director of the Art

 that happens in the building.

 Over a period of about 2 weeks, 

she works with the students as they begin to visualize

 the stories leading up to and during Holy Week. 

Zacchaeus leads into the Holy Week prep.
The 4 year old classes make most of the murals.The
Teachers read the Bible story of the mural
 they are going to work on. 
Then they ask the children for ideas 
of how they could tell this story by way of a picture.

The Kindergarten class makes
 the Last Supper mural.
The classroom teacher reads 
multiple versions to the students
 of the mural they are creating.
They also look at different artist's
 interpretations of that story.
Then they discuss how they could
 tell the story and what the essential elements
would be for the mural. 
  Children then create the pieces

 that make up the large murals.

They measure about 3 by 4 feet.

 They are mixed media

 and mixed process creations.
What I really love is how Bonnie talks
 about the art and the young creators.
"This art is an example of 
children working not only as artists, 
but as disciples of Jesus,
 telling important faith stories through their work."

 Painting, cutting, and glueing.

This has been a tradition at Prince of Peace 

for over 30 years.

 I can remember the Easter chapel

 for our own children when the murals lined up

 in the front of the sanctuary for worship.

Now a grandson attends this very preschool 

and will bring this faithful tradition
 to another generation.

The murals remain in the narthex 
to visually tell and enhance

 the Holy Week and Easter story

 to all who step into the building.

You can almost hear the shout- 

Alleluia- Jesus is Alive!

Thanks to Visual Faith coach Bonnie Hughes
 for the photos and this story.

Visual Faith- a Counting Gifts Journal

After a MOPS Visual Faith encouragement time in May, 

a group gathered to make Counting Gift journals.

 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield, Virginia.

An evening out. 

Focused time.

All the materials right in one place?

Super!

Visual Faith Coaches- Sara Wilson and Joen Schultz 

teamed to coordinate the gathering of supplies.

 Information was sent out to the 

MOPS moms in their FB group.

Chatting and catching up with each other.

But, staying pretty focused on the task at hand.

So what is a Counting Gifts Journal?

 One Journal.

 2 pages for each month.

 One side to count one gift (or blessing) a day.

One side to gather the collected prayers for the month-

called Prayers by the Month.

Intentional and prepared prayer time.

A process to gather snippets of time for busy mommas-

for a collected PRAYER STORY.

Want more information?

Want to host your own Make and Take?

Contact Joen Schultz, Sara Wilson 

or Connie Denninger at Visual Faith Ministry.
Visual Faith Ministry

Visual Storytelling

 This is the sanctuary of 

St. Stephen's Lutheran Church 

in Hickory, North Carolina.

Artist Diane Guelzow 
(her husband Rev. David Guelzow
 serves at St. Stephan)
made these banners to compliment 
the stained glass windows in the chancel.
These banners are made with paint on paper.
They make a festive enhancement 
for worship.
I was drawn in to the "story" 
they helped to create.

Donna Lee orchestrated 

this large display of all ages of "fisher people".

 This was in keeping with 

the Convention theme- "Let's Go Fishing!"

Students in their Lutheran School 

handmade origami fish for the net.

These banners also enhanced 

the entrance to the Convention Hall.

They were also made by Diane Guelzow.

It is paint on paper.

Absolutely stunning.

There were many 
effective images that helped us remember the
theme, the story, the prayers,
and the ministries of the SED.

We give thanks to all who made 
this gathering a blessing to all that attended.
May these visuals help us all to be better witnesses,
storytellers, and "fisher people."
May we earn to fish on the "other side."

Visual Faith- Eldersburg, MD

~Saturday, March 17, 2018~

A Visual Faith Gathering at 

Faith Lutheran Church

in Eldersburg, Maryland.

Sharing about Visual Prayer

 as the center for Bible Journaling

Time to experiment 

and try some things out.

Quiet space and

reflection time.

Dealing with distractions.

Resources and tools

along the way

Seeing Visual Prayer on the walls 

in the Fellowship Hall 

and Sunday School spaces.

Thanks to DCE Meghan O'Hara-

 as she seeks to bring Visual Faith resources

 and experiences to the members of Faith Lutheran.

Visual Faith Resources for Holy Week

This is a photo of the Holy Week resources 

that are available for download and printing. 

These are perfect to share for 

worship communities, 

schools, family and personal use.

They can be found on the 

Visual Faith Ministry

 website under the Resources heading.
holy-week-sermon-notes

Melinda Ransdell - who writes at 
unconventionally steadfast has created
 a collaborative effort to use 
the images designed by 
Sally Beck 
to create new worship resources.
The resources can also be found here:
holy-week-sermon

A little bit about artist- Sally Beck.

"For twenty-five years I had the blessing
of working for 

Creative Communications for the Parish

 (St. Louis) as art director and illustrator. 

I can't imagine a better career—

one in which I used my art
 to express my faith.

 Creative Communications

 publishes worship and devotional materials

 for adults and children

 with an emphasis on the Church Year seasons

 of Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas. 

One of my many assignments 

was to create yearly collections

 of black and white

 spot illustrations based on the lectionary.

 These illustrations were ones that pastors

 and church secretaries could use as 

worship folder covers or inside illustrations.

 My task was to read the Sunday lessons, 

recognize the theme 

of each week's Old Testament, 

Gospel, epistle and Psalm readings, 

and create a piece of art to fit.

A little calligraphy, a little drawing—

and always with the Holy Spirit

 leading the way. 

The art that appears in the posts 

of the Visual Faith groups

 is the result of those assignments."

We are thankful for the blessing
 of this creative pairing of gifts. 

Mackenzie Sottini-Visual Faith Practices in the Classroom

Lutheran Educator-

Mackenzie Sottini

Teacher Mackenzie Sottini

 describes one of the Lenten practices in her

Resurrection Lutheran School classroom.

Using the resource from her church,

this Cary, North Carolina teacher

 reads to her 5th grade students from 

Lenten Psalms and they "listen"

for words that "jump out to them."

The students are using  a calendar 

that can be downloaded and printed here:
lenten-path-2018

As they reflect on their "word of the day" 

they fill in part of the palm branch

 and color in the space.

The students keep their 

calendars in a file folder.

All the calendars look different,

because each journey is different.
What do words of LENT look like?

 This same Lent resource has centering
 and discussion about discipleship.
These young students
are also talking about, 
 thinking and praying
 about their personal walk
 with Jesus.
What does that look like?

What is wanted?
What is needed?
What are the priorities?
Where do I need guidance? 

What are distractions in my life? 

They will have the visual stories to tell
and share in this classroom,
in their homes and in their 
connected relationships.

Thanks for sharing this glimpse
 into your classroom,
for Lutheran Schools week.