The Unspoken Lesson: A Report From The Community

Summer has arrived in Hingham – and things are slowing down, right?

Maybe, but there’s still plenty going on in support of our Sunday School. This week, in collaboration with our Antiracism Ministry (ARM), I joined members of our community to hear Dr. Ibram X. Kendi in conversation with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, discussing his new book, “How to Raise an Antiracist.” And, in the course of his talk, I found myself noticing the ways his words resonated with other conversations I’ve been having recently, specifically in my work with the Godly Play Foundation.

The Unspoken Lesson

In Godly Play, we refer to many of the things that happen, from the way the room is arranged to the way we move the manipulatives during a story, as the Unspoken Lesson. When you walk into the room, you can see what’s most important, how the focal shelf featuring the Holy Family and the Christ Candle centers the space. The arrangement of the lessons parallels the organization of the Bible itself. Everything is intentional, even when we don’t speak it. So, what does that have to do with anti-racism?

In the same way that the Godly Play classroom offers countless unspoken lessons, children are exposed to unspoken lessons around race and racism, as well as about other kinds of bias and bigotry. For example, one unspoken lesson Dr. Kendi pointed to during his talk was the lesson that stems from caregiver friendships. Research, he told us, demonstrates a stronger correlation between children’s attitudes toward race and racial difference and the number of interracial friendships their parents have, then it does to their parents’ professed attitudes toward race. It’s just one reason why speaking the language of antiracism isn’t enough. The unspoken lessons are too strong.

Freedom Dreaming

In addition to his recently released work on guiding children toward an antiracist future – work that emphasizes how important it is that we actively counter the unspoken lessons about racism surrounding all of us –Dr. Kendi has a new children’s book, “Goodnight Racism,” that’s now a part of our Sunday School library.

With echoes of freedom dreaming, a vital part of Black intellectual and revolutionary tradition, this story doesn’t shy away from naming injustice while also envisioning a gentler future for all children. When we learn to interrogate the conditions of inequality, we can imagine something better, for our children, for everyone’s children, and for ourselves.

My Favorite Resources: 4 Tools For Faith At Home

Faith at Home can look like a lot of different things. From nightly prayers or saying grace before meals, to having a library full of religious books and a home altar and dozens of iterations as unique as our families, we all approach this matter in different ways. In general, though, on of the most valuable tools families have when trying to develop and maintain such religious practices is the ability to turn to the church community for support when you have questions.

Even though we’re only going on respite for two weeks, knowing where to turn within the wider church when you need new ideas can be an enormous benefit - I know it is for me. These are X of my favorite resources for seeking inspiration and honing my ideas.

• BuildFaith is a Ministry of Virginia Theological Seminary, and home to ideas suitable for people of all ages, for home use and church programming. Their categorization and tagging system can help you easily navigate what they have to offer.

• Newsletters: I know, I know. We all get too much email, and I’m someone who spends her existence very far from “inbox zero.” That being said, there are a few newsletters I get that are overflowing with good ideas. Some of my favorites include Glenys Nellist’s monthly “Links to Lovely Things,” Traci Smith’s weekly “Seven Things,” and “X Ways into Sunday’s Stories for Children” from Trinity Wall Street, which you can also find on their website.

• Video! The Godly Play Foundation has a great YouTube channel with many of their stories professionally recorded. Beautifully told by trainers from the US, Canada, and even by international trainers in their local languages, these videos can help your family come closer to these stories together.

• Music: You know the annual Spotify roundups where they tell you about your listening habits? I’m what you would call a heavy user, typically in the top 1% of Spotify subscribers. Besides the meditative tunes I sleep to at night, this habit is in part because I listen to a lot of Christian music as I move through my day. I recommend Rend Co. Kids, Rain for Roots, Seeds Family Worship, and Page CXVI, which actually has a lullaby album.

You don’t have to do anything special to create opportunities to grow in faith as a family. In fact, making these moments integral to your daily life such that worship is a bodily posture, a way of living seamlessly into grace, can be the most powerful practice of all.

Children + Families + St. John's: Growing Together

Welcome to the Blog!

This space is an experiment and an offering. As I find my way among you all here at St. John’s and get to know your families, I know that one of the most vital things we can do together is make connections between what is happening in the sanctuary, in Sunday School, and at home. I also know that this can be a challenge, both in terms of resource and in light of our busy lives. My simple hope, then, is to make those connections easier.

So, where do we start?

If you’re not receiving my independent newsletter project, Wiggles & Wonder, you might like it! This project emerged at the beginning of the pandemic as a way to support individuals and families in their faith lives. Newsletters come out on Thursdays (usually) and are a space of reflection, suggestion, resource provision, and more.

What else? If you keep an eye on the weekly Sunday School newsletter, you’ll find a variety of resources and those will steadily be compiled here as well. We also hope to start a Sunday School library that includes many of the books I mention in those newsletters so that you can borrow them for use at home.

Most importantly, this work thrives when we do it together! I am never more than an email, text, or phone call away for your practical and theological questions about our faith lives. I love working with children because they ask the big, hard questions about our beliefs and tradition and I learn so much by thinking about them. I want to help them – and you – go deeper.

I’m so excited to be here with you all and to share in these stories and practices. Let’s Grow Together.