Sunday School Lesson Time!

1. A Miniature Church - The Altar

The Sunday School children have been sooooooo looking forward to this day when they would start the lessons on making a miniature church! using paper origami for all the main parts in a church. Today they are doing the first lesson in which they learn about the purpose of a church and the altar in particular.

See how they get along below..........

The vicar has been VERY kind to the children and allowed them to all come into the sanctuary. The vicar is seen here telling them all about the altar. Alice wants to know WHY there are two candle sticks on the altar. The vicar is able to explain that one candle represents Jesus as a human being and the other as Jesus, the Son of God. Oh dear! Has anybody noticed that there is ONE little boy who looks very bored and naughty? That little boy is young Robert Alexander. You see.....he has even brought his dog and the vicar was good enough to let his dog, Georgie, join him in the sanctuary. However, even that has not made Robert Alexander a good boy has it? He is STILL pretending to be bored and not at all interested! Poor vicar! At least the other children are looking very much more interested in what he has to tell them. Next
Priscilla Jane has already been told all about the altar and why churches all have them. The vicar has asked her to do a VERY special job here. She has got the cardboard box which will be used to put all the miniature paper church furniture in. The problem is.....HOW can we SEE the furniture once it is in the box which represents a church? Priscilla Jane has had a brainwave! She has decided to cut out one of the sides. Baby Clarissa Elizabeth may be too young to join in and help but she certainly loved to watch all that goes on from her high chair. She is VERY content because her daddy, the Rev Ken, remembered to bring her little teddy for her to keep her secure. See how well Priscilla Jane has managed below! Next
Well done Priscilla Jane! Look how clever she has been with those pair of scissors?! She is showing her work off to the vicar and Megan who have come down from the sanctuary to see how she was getting on. Next
The vicar has done his very best to gather ALL the children together to tell them the bible story that Miss Webb had chosen for this lesson on the church building and, in particular, the altar. Although most of the children are listening intently to what the vicar has to tell them, there ARE a couple of children who are "doing their own thing". Can you see which two children they are? As we hope you can see, young Amelia has taken herself to the top of the stairs! She always loves to sit up there during a Sunday School lesson. Although you may think she is NOT listening, she IS because she is a very intellectual child who never misses anything that is told her in church. However we are not so sure about young Robert Alexander who is typically sat slouched on the bell tower stairs. He does NOT look as if he is hearing one word of what the vicar is saying does he? Next
Alice, as the oldest young lady in the Sunday School, has been asked by the vicar to give out the templates of the altar for the children to colour in, cut out and make up. Look what a good pet dog, Georgie is to Robert Alexander? She has got his altar template and is just about to give it to him. Isn't she a clever dog?! The vicar has told them that the first child who finishes colouring in and cutting out will have THEIR altar used in the Sunday School miniature church!! We wonder WHO will be that lucky child to have such a wonderful honour? Next
Amelia does look as if she is doing very well in her work. Already she has coloured her altar template in with yellows and reds. She has now begun to cut it out. Do you think that SHE will be the first to finish her altar? Next
Look at all the other children here. They are all enjoying colouring their altar templates in with different colours. Emily loves the colour blue so it is no surprise that her altar will have a lot of blue in it! Some have even started to cut them out but none we see here are finished yet are they? Next
Oh dear! We don't think that Robert Alexander stands much chance of finishing his first do we? He hasn't even begun! Hurry up Robert Alexander, the other children are already well ahead of you! Next
Well done Priscilla Jane! She has already finished hers. It is coloured in and cut out and stuck down. Sepp, Homer's pet rat, is being naughty again and jumped up on to the table to inspect the coloured pencils and crayons. Next
Alice has put the cardboard box with the side that Priscilla Jane cut out on to the big table. Priscilla Jane has proudly put her altar in the box and Phoebe is having a look at it. She is MOST impressed with Priscilla Jane's work and is now inspired to finish her altar too so she can take it home with her. The children have enjoyed this first lesson in the miniature church series so much that they are very much looking forward to the next lesson. The next lesson is going to be on the font so please keep coming back to see when the children do this lesson! Top

See Miss Lorna Webb's lesson plans for "A Miniature Church" for more details and templates etc. Sunday School teachers may consider using this page in conjunction with the lesson plans in order to enhance the children's interest in the lesson programme.
Paper origami is the art of paper folding and it originated in Japan.
In some churches this is actually called "the holy table".
The word "sanctuary" comes from the word in Latin, "sanctus" which means "holy".

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