Now Seating: A Table For One
Introduction
Finding the right curriculum for CYF Conference is a must in laying the foundation for a solid message throughout the week – and this year, we felt it was important to spend time creating the curriculum in order to find the most solid ground for this table to be built upon. This curriculum is part compilation and part original creation.
By taking time to customize the curriculum, and in working closely with the keynoter for the week, we feel like we are giving the counselors a greater chance to succeed at connecting the dots for the campers and offering to them a cohesive message and voice.
We have provided several activities and small group discussions so that as counselors, you can pick which activities you and your co-counselor feel would work the best for your small group. Included also are ideas for group games as well as a CD of popular songs with lyrics and discussion starters to round out your small group sessions. We also invite you to incorporate any creative thoughts and ideas you have that you feel would add more support to our “table” throughout the week. The activities for each day are in a recommended order, but even that is flexible as each day, each group and each counselor pairing will inevitably take on a unique shape as the week progresses.
But the basics are as follows: today, as Christians in the Disciples of Christ denomination, we sit at the table. It is a table that has its roots in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, along with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The legs of the table also are made up of those early leaders in the Disciples movement, and that history is important to our own understanding of our faith as a whole.
The table is set for us, and it is a table that requires our humility as we find a seat for ourselves among our sisters and brothers. It is a table for all who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but as people of faith we often struggle with wanting to save seats for those we know and understand instead of offering a seat to someone we might not want to consider our neighbor.
And as we pull up a chair to the Christian table, we discover that it is a table of grace and forgiveness. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is a promise that surely, God will forever forgive us. However, the struggle often times is remembering that if we are to be forgiven, we also must forgive and extend grace to others.
It is also important to remember that we are not alone sitting around this table. The community of believers who join us at the table is as diverse as it is similar. And how important is it for our friends to have a place around the table as well? How vital is the support of our loved ones in playing the part of Jesus in the everyday world around us?
And finally, we’ve always been told that there is no such thing as a free lunch. But at the Lord’s Table, the bill has already been paid through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are free from the sins of the world in as much as we eagerly seek God’s forgiveness.
The groundwork is laid, the legs are in place, the tabletop is set, the chairs are pulled up, and there is a place for us all. We are free to share in this meal together.
Curriculum prepared for CYF Conference 2004 by Lesleigh Carmichael and Stephen Moseley
