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| Painting by Anthony J. Kelly, professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University |
- Worshiping with Children offers some great tips for talking about the Trinity with children:
Trinity Sunday calls us in two slightly different directions. It is an opportunity to tell the children about the trinity which is often referred to in worship, but seldom explained. Fairly simple introductions of the Trinity and highlighting its use in worship helps. But, Trinity Sunday is also really “God Sunday,” an opportunity to celebrate the mystery of God that is more than we ever fully understand. Both are important to children.
- She goes on to suggest gathering and sharing our "used to thinks" and "I wonders" about God and reading Sandy Sasso's book, In God's Name:
Sandy Sasso’s beautifully illustrated book In God’s Name notes that after creation all animals and people had names. But God did not. So, each the animals and people came up with its own name for God, none of which was complete without the others. The book is a bit long. To shorten it, read only pages 5 and 16-31. (Read only the names on page 29 that you have read aloud.)
See the complete post here: Worshiping With Children: Year A - Trinity Sunday (June 19, 2011)
- Here's an animated video of In God's Name that I found on YouTube:
- An idea for making Trinity punch from rotation.org:
Our class makes Trinity punch for the congregation. We use a yellow fruit juice (pineapple is good, or a tropic blend) to represent God the Creator. Think "let there be light" (yellow) or the creation of living things like fruit trees. Grape juice represents Jesus Christ (reminiscent of the wine of the last supper, the wine of the wedding at Cana, the "I am the new vine,” etc.) And a clear carbonated beverage represents the Holy Spirit (invisible, but effervescent). The Middle English word for spirit was "sprit" or "sprite", so any beverage with a similar sounding name would be especially meaningful. When the liquids are still separate, they each have their own identifiable character or "personality". When combined in a punch bowl, one can still distinguish their flavors and sense what they contribute to the whole, but they cannot be separated. Just like the Trinity. I have had an adult say this metaphor helped her "understand the Trinity for the first time.”
- Make a Trinity Twister from this website (pictured above).