Since 2011, Lifepath Brinkburn has welcomed school groups each June. Kirstine Davis, the administrator of the scheme, explains what Lifepath is all about and how children can learn about the Christian faith in a fun and engaging way.
Lifepath is basically a Christian schools event, developed by Scripture Union (SU) and has now held various events across the country.
Several years ago, we developed a document for schools, Exploring Faith at Lifepath which states that “pupils are offered a variety of activities to help them learn about the Christian faith that has been practised across these islands for the past 1,500 years.”
This year we used St Aidan as our Saint and reflecting on his Lifepath, we explored the way he “Spread God’s Love” as he lived here in Northumberland. Starting with the messages on “Love Heart” sweets, we explained how love can be shared, in lots of different ways. There was a visit from a resident monk, a puppet called “Ada” who told us a bit about how monks lived and how important the Bible was to them.
Every child has a “Believing” workshop: Jesus stories, Prayer stations or a Bible aerobic session. There is a “Living” workshop, a drama about the life of our saint, this year Aidan, exploring his actions and dipping into his motivation for living the way he did. The rest of the day is “learning” about the monks’ lives with activities such as gardening and scriptorium. The last type is “exploring” their lives with singing, crafts or tile making. Each workshop explains something different about Christianity, the lives of the Monks and includes a reference to our theme, Sharing God’s Love.
The day ends with a Bible story illustrating our theme. This year it was Peter and John healing someone, sharing God’s love. We then have a recap on all they have learned about Aidan. Then there’s a reflective cairn building, where each child is invited to add a stone to our cairn, before we sing our last song.
This year we sent every child home with a book of Luke’s first three chapters, done in an age-appropriate style and a larger book of Acts by the same author, for the school classroom
It is a busy week and we rely heavily on our wonderful volunteers to come and be a part of it. More information here (https://www.mustardtreetrust.org/lifepath). Read an article on the SU website here (https://content.scriptureunion.org.uk/story/lifepath-brinkburn-june-2020) or email me, Kirstine.mtt@gmail.com
Written by Kirstine Davis, Lifepath Administrator