Uniting Church in Australia Come and See Early Years (3 & 4) Understanding Faith Communities: 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia Student Objectives That students will • Be encouraged to think about the meanings of love, acceptance and forgiveness. • Explore the meaning of The Uniting Church logo and some of the beliefs of The Uniting Church. • Read and contemplate the stories of some early members of The Uniting Church and consider their lives of faithfulness and their contribution to the community. • Be encouraged to value their own contribution, as well as that of others, to The Uniting Church today. Values (As articulated in The National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools, DEST) • Care and compassion • Doing your best • Fair go • Freedom • Honesty and trustworthiness • Integrity • Respect • Responsibility • Understanding, tolerance and inclusion Teacher Reflection: Multi-Faith Perspectives This unit aims to enable students to reflect deeply upon their life experiences and to share with others. Teachers need to be inclusive of all faith traditions represented in their classroom, mindful that Christianity is one pathway among many to God. Therefore all students should be invited to share their experiences and reflections in ways that honour their personal faith and culture. To assist teachers, a four-term calendar and a resources list are included in the binder. Recommended Resources Teacher Reference Student Resources www.reonline.org.uk Living Religions: (go to People of Faith) Christianity ISBN 0 431 49860 0 Life Times - 4 book series Islam ISBN 0 431 14987 9 Rites of passage of major World Religions Judaism ISBN 0 431 14988 7 Publisher Evans Bros. London, 1998 Hinduism ISBN 0 431 14989 5 www.evansbooks.co.uk Sikhism ISBN 0 431 14990 9 Buddhism ISBN 0 431 14999 Your librarian will be a great resource. Uniting Church in Australia Come and See Early Years (3 & 4) Understanding Faith Communities: 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia Lesson 1 Exploring Love, Forgiveness and Acceptance Resources Lesson Format • Copies of Focus Questions worksheets 1 and 2 • What does it mean to love someone? for each student • What does it mean to accept someone? • What does it mean to forgive someone? • Book: 'Fox' by Margaret Wild and Discuss with students their understanding of what love, acceptance, forgiveness Ron Brooks (2001 means Allen & Unwin) • One group of students in response to the question, ‘What would happen (or any storybook if there were no forgiveness?’ came up with these answers: that explores the • “There would be a lot of red bottoms! ideas of love, • “There would be a lot of red comments in record books!” acceptance, forgiveness.) • Read the picture storybook 'Fox'. • Plain A4 cover • Explore with students the questions on Worksheet 1 and 2. paper for drawing Uniting Church in Australia Come and See Early Years (3 & 4) Understanding Faith Communities: 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia Lesson 2 The Logo Resources Lesson Format • Copies of Focus Questions Worksheet 3 for • What are the principles embodied in the Uniting Church Logo? each student. • What do these express about the beliefs of The Uniting Church (and all Christian Churches!) • A coloured version of The Uniting • Work through Worksheet 3. Church in Australia emblem • Students are to make up their own emblem, expressing their understanding of things like friendship, love, peace, justice, racism. • A4 cover paper and possibly some squares of coloured paper, scissors and glue Uniting Church in Australia Come and See Early Years (3 & 4) Understanding Faith Communities: 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia Lesson 3 People of the Uniting Church Resources Lesson Format • Copies of Focus Questions Worksheets 5 to 11 • Who are some of the people who have been an important part of The for each student. Uniting Church? • What did they do and what do they believe in? In this lesson and lesson four, work through Worksheets 5 to 11 as time allows. • You may decide to divide the work between students. People covered are: • John Flynn and The Royal Flying Doctor Service • The MacKenzie sisters • Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop • John and Charles Wesley • Alex: a ten year old girl from South Australia Uniting Church in Australia Come and See Early Years (3 & 4) Understanding Faith Communities: 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia Lesson 4 People of the Uniting Church Resources Lesson Format • Copies of Continue work on Worksheets 5 to 11 Worksheets 5 to 11 for each student. Uniting Church in Australia Come and See Early Years (3 & 4) Understanding Faith Communities: 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia Lesson 5 The Uniting Church Today Resources Lesson Format • Copies of Focus Questions Worksheets 5 to 11 • How are we part of The Uniting Church? for each student. • Who are some of the people in The Uniting Church today? • When did The Uniting Church begin? The ‘Birthday’ of The Uniting Church is the 22nd June. • The Uniting Church in Australia was formed in 1977as a union of three churches which had been present in Australia for nearly two centuries. • The Congregational Union of Australia, The Methodist Church of Australasia and The Presbyterian Church of Australia agreed to come together on a Basis of Union accepted by the three churches after some twenty-three years of negotiation. • Some Congregational and Presbyterian congregations decided not to enter union, but all Methodist churches, working under a national constitution, became part of the Uniting Church. • The inauguration date was the 22nd of June 1977. Plan a birthday celebration for the 22nd June. • Colours red, black and white. • Invite someone from The Uniting Church to come and speak about their part in the story o eg. an older person, a member of the local presbytery, a local U.C.A. minister, even the Moderator sometimes is available if you plan early enough! • Plan a church service in which you tell some of the Uniting Church story. Discuss with students their own part in The Uniting Church. • Eg. As members of the school community. o Where do you see signs in the school that remind you of this connection? o Eg. Logos, church services, the school’s charter, members of a local congregation. Uniting Church in Australia Come and See Early Years (3 & 4) Understanding Faith Communities: 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia Assessment ideas How well did the students: • Explore the meaning of love, acceptance, forgiveness through: - reading stories, - listening, - discussion, - written answers, - drawing? • Grow in understanding of some of the foundational beliefs of The Uniting Church by: - colouring the logo correctly, - reading, - discussion, - making their own badge representing for example: acceptance, peace, love, justice? • Grow in their knowledge about early members of The Uniting Church, their faith and contribution through: - reading their stories, - written answers, - discussion, - solving puzzles, - drawing, - writing? • Grow to value their own part and that of others in The Uniting Church today through: - preparation of and participation in a “Birthday” Church service, - listening to and being involved in a discussion with a present member of The Uniting Church, - noticing signs pointing to their own and the school’s involvement in The Uniting Church through observation and discussion? Evaluation How well did the unit: • Lead the students to a deeper understanding of the concepts of love, acceptance and forgiveness? • Enable the students to grow in their understanding of the foundation beliefs of The Uniting Church? • Allow the students to explore something of the stories of members of The Uniting Church, their faithfulness and their contribution? • Encourage the students to value their own contribution as well as that of others to the life of The Uniting Church today? Understanding Faith Communities 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia: Logo Work Sheet 1 The Fox1 Some questions for you to think (and talk) about: 1. What does dog ask magpie to do for him? 2. What does dog ask fox to do for him? 3. What happens at the end of the story? Why? 4. Do you think that dog’s love for magpie changes magpie? How? 4. Do you think that dog’s love for fox changes fox? How? 6. Can you remember a time when you needed help and someone gave it to you without expecting anything in return? What did you feel like? Perhaps you could do a drawing or write about this. • Read this story from the Bible (Luke 19:1-10) about Jesus and then answer the questions underneath When Jesus was going through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem, crowds of people wanted to see him. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector. People didn’t like Zacchaeus. He took too much of their money, so he was very rich. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus too. But he was very short and the people would not let him through, so Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree. When Jesus came, he looked up and called him by name. “Zacchaeus, come down. I must stay with you today.” Zacchaeus was so happy that he couldn’t help but come right down. But the people were angry. “Why is Jesus staying with Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus does bad things. He’s a tax collector and he takes money that isn’t his.” Then Zacchaeus said, ”Jesus, I will give half of everything I have to the poor and if I have taken money that doesn’t belong to me, I will give it back and four times more.” Jesus said, “Zacchaeus, today you are saved. You are right with God and you are right with the people. I, the special Son of God have come to find and save everyone who is lost.” (Luke 19:1-10) 1 Source: Young Children and Worship by Sonja Stewart & Jerome Berryman (1989) Westminster/John Knox Press Understanding Faith Communities 4.5 The Uniting Church in Australia: Logo Work Sheet 2 Questions 1.