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| Children's Sabbath "Children Blessed To Be Blessing: Lifting Up The Next Generation" x On this Children’s Sabbath weekend, October 16 - 17, 2010,
we invite you to pray, worship, study, and act to fulfill God’s
invitation to be a blessing and to nurture and protect the children God
has entrusted to our care. You are especially encouraged to look and
listen for God’s call to seek justice for children living in poverty and
to respond with faith, courage, and commitment. The Children’s Sabbath weekend is a time of inspiration, information and, most importantly, action for children that extends long past the weekend itself.  “Blessed to be a Blessing” is the theme of the 2010 Children’s Sabbath.
In Genesis, God says to Abram (later renamed Abraham) “I will make of
you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so
that you will be a blessing.” The central fulfillment of God’s promised
blessing was children, grandchildren, and countless generations to
follow. God invites Abram and us, however, to consider how we will be a
blessing. All with which we have been blessed—families, resources,
skills, talent, energy, vision, commitment—is intended not for our
self-gratification, not for our hoarding, but to be used to bless
others. 2010 Children's Sabbaths Manual (Vol. 19)(see below) This
manual serves as a guide for you and your faith community to engage in
year-round child and family advocacy work and celebrating the National
Observance of Children’s Sabbaths Weekend. This easy-to-use manual
includes resources for Christians to use in worship services or prayers,
education programs, direct service activities, and social justice
initiatives. The resources can be used with one’s own faith community or
in multi-faith events. | |
| Resources (click to download) This
section includes welcome letter from CDF President Marian Wright
Edelman, an overview of the manual, frequently asked questions, and
examples of how faith communities have observed the Children's Sabbaths
in the past. This section includes various ideas to help you plan your celebration of children's sabbaths. This section includes ways for you to
spread the word about the Children’s Sabbaths in your place of worship,
reproducible materials such as bulletin inserts and newsletter inserts,
and ways to reach out to the community and media. This
section includes a suggested outline and resources for you to create
your own multi-faith Children’s Sabbath service that is inclusive,
respectful of different traditions, focused on the Children’s Sabbath
core themes, and adaptable to your particular community and leadership. x | | Resources(click to download) This
section includes the service of worship and prayers, sample sermons,
children’s activities, and music selections for Catholic and Protestant
communities to utilize as part of their Children’s Sabbaths
celebration.
This
section contains useful resources which may be useful to you and your
place of worship as you work to create change for children today and
bring hope and a better tomorrow. In addition to exploring the resources
from your own religious tradition, you may find that resources from
another tradition are informative and useful as well. "Action
Ideas for the Children’s Sabbaths Weekend and Throughout the Year",
section of the 2010 National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths® manual
"Blessed to Be a Blessing" The actions that you plan
for the Children’s Sabbath weekend and for the year that follows are an
essential part of the Children’s Sabbath. As important as the worship
experiences and educational sessions are, it is vital to plan actions
that will help translate that prayer and inspiration, that awareness and
information into new hands-on service and justice-seeking advocacy for
children that will create real, measurable change for children and truly
bring a better tomorrow. So, are you ready to plan? There are two kinds
of action to plan for your Children’s Sabbath: hands-on service and
advocacy activities for the Children’s Sabbath weekend itself, and
actions that can be carried out throughout the year to come to make a
lasting difference for children. | |
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