“Defenders of the Faith” theme of new educational resources

SYOSSET, NY [OCA Communications] — Educational resources on the 2006-2007 OCA youth theme, “Defenders of the Faith,” are now available on the web sites of the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Christian Education at http://dce.oca.org and the Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries at http://yya.oca.org.

“The resources are intended as supplements to regular Church School sessions,” said Mrs. Alexandra Safchuk, DCE co-chair. “They may be used at any time convenient in a given parish’s Church school program, special gatherings, camps, and vacation Church schools.”

Two lessons are available for four different levels: pre-kindergarten/kindergarten, ages 7-9, ages 10-12, and teen. Additional activities, including teen talk sheets, will be available at the web sites noted above.

“Each lesson provides the teacher or leader with a theme, objectives to be accomplished in the class session, activities designed to meet those objectives, and a list of required materials,” Mrs. Safchuk added. “In addition, the teacher is given background information, so as to be able to teach the lesson with confidence.”

Additional resources, provided at the end of the lesson plans, include music for the Lord’s Prayer; numerous educational activities and crafts; the lives of Saints Poplia of Antioch and Elizabeth the New Martyr and Father Arseny; and thumbnail versions of icons of Christ and Saints Stephen, Catherine, Dorothea, and Elizabeth.

“The resources are designed to form a ‘complete package’ of essentials to teach the lessons on each level,” Mrs. Safchuk said.

DCE members are anxious to receive feedback on these new resources. Comments and suggestions may be sent to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).