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God is Calling You! Exploring God’s Purpose for Your Life: A 7-part Study-unit for Small Church Scho

By Fr. Michael Anderson

What's Inside:

Introduction

This unit is intended to accomplish the following:

  • To instill in participants that all people are called by God to love Him and each other
  • To instill in the participants that God gives all people including themselves a special vocation and purpose for their life
  • To foster a desire in participants to explore and pursue their personal vocation within the Church and their community
  • To present participants with descriptions of and discussion about a variety of "Church Vocations"
  • To provide tools to help participants explore what might be God's calling for their life

By the end of this unit the student should:

  1. understand that God calls all of us to have a Christian vocation
  2. identify himself/herself as someone God is calling to be a special part of His plan
  3. understand that all vocations are not necessarily jobs
  4. have a sense that all vocations are supposed to glorify God and help others
  5. understand the consequences of avoiding God's will in their life
  6. be prompted to explore seriously what God wants them to do with their life
  7. be able to list several vocations in the Church (priest, deacon, monastic, choir director, teacher, administrator, vestment maker, writers, iconographer, church cleaner, caretaker or visitor of sick, etc.)
  8. be able to relate their abilities and interests to a Christian vocation

Age and Grade Level

Understanding that Vacation Church Schools, Camps and many small Church Schools have participants ranging in age from early elementary to high school, each session contains several options from which the teacher can choose to best serve his or her students. These options include objectives as well as ideas for discussion, reflection and action. In general, ideas are organized in the following sections: "A" is for younger participants approximately 7-9, "B" is for ages 10-12(13), and "C" is for teenagers.

Occasionally, any given section may refer you back to another section. In such cases the ideas listed in that section can be used for both age groups.

Of course, this may vary, however, depending on the participants' experience and ability.

Additional Resources

While there are many resources which you may want to interface with this unit, the following are indicated in the session outlines.

  1. Finding One's Calling in Life by Fr. Thomas Hopko. Resource Handbook, Vol. II, Theology of Lay Ministries. (Available through the Orthodox Christian Publications Center, PO Box 588, Wayne, NJ 07470; 201/694-5782; FAX 201/ 305-1478.)
  2. Ministry of People by Fr. Sergei Glagolev. Resource Handbook, Vol I, Theology of Lay Ministries. (The Resource Handbook should also be available in your parish library or through OCPC.)
  3. To Serve by Fr. Sergei Glagolev. Resource Handbook, Vol I, Theology of Lay Ministries.
  4. Saints for All Ages Series developed by the Orthodox Church in America. (Available through OCPC - see above)
  5. Baptism Service Book developed by the Orthodox Church in America. (Available through OCPC - see above)
  6. Build Your Own Bishop, Priest, and Deacon by Dr. John Boojamra and G. Alberts. Available from Light and Life Publications 4818 Park Glen Road, Minneapolis, MN 612/ 925-3888.
  7. The Tale of Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt, Lion Publishing. Available at children's section of your local bookstore or from your local library. (A revised version has been included in this outline for those who are unable to obtain a copy.)

How to use this book:

This book is divided into seven sessions. Each session is designed to take between 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete with the option of expanding even further into additional activities. Each session is, itself, divided into the following nine sections:

  1. Aim: Also known as the rationale, this section provides the basic principles and reasons of the session. The “Aim section also defines the goal(s) of the session, which is the general outcome for the unit session.
  2. Guidance for Leaders: This section briefly provides further discussion of the rationale or motivation for the session, and give the leader some things to keep in mind when teaching.
  3. Objectives: This section lists specific tasks that participants should be able to accomplish as a result of finishing a session. They include skills, experiences, and ideas to be acquired. Objectives are usually framed in terms of goals. For example, "By the end of this unit, students should be able to . . . ."
  4. Useful Texts: This section lists references to any texts that you should use during the session. Sometimes they will include the useful texts described at the beginning of the entire unit (above), though mostly they include scriptural passages, liturgical texts, and lives of the saints. Teachers should keep these texts on hand during each session and should read and reflect on these before the time of the session.
  5. Materials: This section lists materials needed for the activities in the session, such as those for writing, or creating expressions of participants' experience. All sessions require a chalkboard-like surface and journals.
  6. Procedure: This section provides the general overview of the session in terms of procedure, what needs to be done. Feel free to follow or adapt activities according to local need.
  7. Check-In and Review: Each session begins with a brief check-in and warm-up. This section describes a warm-up to suit each particular session. The main idea of the check-in is for participants to describe their own progress in a manner that will get them thinking about the contents of each session in a new way. After check-in, it is important to briefly review the content of the last session. Suggested review questions are given for each session. Reviewing is an important way of tying the unit together and making it possible for newcomers to catch-up on what they missed. Check-in and review should take no longer than 5 minutes.
  8. Activity: This section describes the activities that will be used during the session. Each activity is described first in terms of the time required and the purpose behind it. In the main text of the activity, parts which should be spoken (preferably paraphrased in your own words if possible) are in bold type. Possible answers to these questions are provided for you in brackets []. Occasionally, the answers may reflect synodal proclamations and similar expressions of the Church’s position. More often, however, the answers given reflect a range of possible views that might be encountered in daily life and will be flexible enough to encourage students to come to a suitable conclusion of their own. The answers are given to you in order to assist in starting the discussion. The more they discuss the ideas of the unit, the more they will learn and make the ideas their own. Text not in bold print signifies instructions to the instructor. Text in italics signifies quotations from useful texts.
  9. Session Conclusions: This section describes a recommended "exhortation", or summary of the session's main ideas. Before ending, briefly review the session's main ideas to test if the objectives have been achieved. Occasionally, suitable prayers or take-home activities are included.

Important!

Remember that your preparedness and your interest in the subject and in the participants are invaluable. If you think that what you do together is important, the example will rub off on them.

Please read and think about each session well before you are scheduled to teach it. You may want to gather materials, consult with your priest about some point of information, or get data from the parish library, public library, or an Orthodox book service before the session. It is always a good idea to reflect on the lesson several days before presenting it. Good ideas often come over time.

Begin and end each session with a prayer [i.e., O Heavenly King, It is Truly Meet]. Check with your parish priest about what would be most appropriate. It is important that participants understand that doing God's will is always achieved when we continuously call on His name for guidance.

Finally, be flexible and creative!

This study unit demands local input, talent, and creativity. Do not be afraid to alter the sessions to fit your own circumstances. The more you can make this material to the youth in your area, the more successful we all will be!

Let us hear from you!

If you use this unit, in its present form or in your own adapted fashion, please let us know. Share your experience and your photos with The Orthodox Church newspaper! Many people throughout our Church need to see that programs like this are being done. You can contact our unit at Orthodox Church in America, Education and Community Life Ministries, PO Box 675, Syosset, NY 11791 or at yyacm@oca.org. We hope this unit is helpful in your ongoing ministry!