Two months out The art of tradition
Sunday school youth design Christmas Eve bulletins
Since 2008, Sunday school youth at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Coopersburg, Pa., have decorated the bulletin covers for Christmas Eve services. Last year’s covers featured mosaic designs of iconic Christmas images.
ter drawn by a child and then stenciled into the main scene by Ritter using a light box. One year showcases a drawing by an individual child from Trinity. Another year’s cover art features an angel walking through a for- est, which was drawn by a youth who was taking art lessons at the time. The other youth drew pic-
W
tures that added to the wooded scene. Last year’s covers included
hether it be car- oling wi th the church choi r,
baking Christmas cook- ies for neighbors or mak- ing a day of selecting the perfect blue spruce to chop down and decorate, Christmas traditions are an important part of the holiday season for many. Seven years ago, Trin- ity Evangelical Lutheran
Church (Pleasant Valley), Coopersburg, Pa. (freegrace@
trinitypv.org), started an activity that has become a favorite Christmas tradition among members. In 2008, Greg Shreaves, then pastor of Trinity, had the
idea to have the Sunday school youth decorate the covers of the bulletins to be used for Christmas Eve worship. Jennifer Ritter, who has taught Sunday school at Trinity
for “many, many years,” spearheads the majority of these bulletin projects. “The first year I started out very simple, very basic,” she said. “Each kid got a piece of paper, about 1 inch by 2 inches, and drew a picture that reminded them of Christmas.” Ritter transferred the individual drawings to a piece of
paper the size of the bulletin cover and created a collage, including drawings of a manger, angel, cross and Advent wreath. The artwork was a hit at that year’s Christmas Eve service, and the activity has continued since. In the years following, Ritter often chose designs that
three designs that were mosaics of Christmas images: the star of Bethlehem and two depictions of Mary and child. Rit- ter created outlines of the images and then provided Christ- mas shopping advertisements for the youth to tear up and glue into the outlines to create the mosaic designs. “I loved the idea of using the colorful holiday advertis-
ing, the commercialism of the season, and ripping it up into pieces to create something representing the true reason for the season,” she said. Each year’s bulletin cover is proudly displayed on a gal-
lery wall in the church. “Families are always
excited to see what the kids have come up with, and the kids love showing off their artwork to their parents,” Ritter said. Trinity’s current pastor,
Tyler Rasmussen, said the tradition adds a personal touch to Christmas Eve worship: “It starts us off on the right foot even while people are gather- ing. It shows we’re not just celebrating an event 2,000 years ago, but this is alive for us today.”
42
www.thelutheran.org
were inspired by pictures on Christmas cards that Trinity’s 18 to 20 Sunday school students could re-create. Some of the bulletin covers feature nativity scenes, with each charac- Send congregational stories—those for a specifi c month/holiday or your best timeless idea—to
julie.sevig@
thelutheran.org.
By Megan Brandsrud, an associate editor of The Lutheran.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52