VBS program promotes faith, community and heritage
7/2/2003 News media contact: Kathy Gilbert · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. Photographs are available with this story. A UMNS Feature
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
The squirming circle of energetic 5-year-olds fell out of
their chairs laughing every time their vacation Bible school teacher
tried to get them to recite their memory verse.
"Wisdom is like a baobab tree: no one person can encircle it," Earline Clark says, trying again.
Every time she says "baobab" it comes out a little more mangled than the last time.
"It's bowbob tree!" the children shout in unison after every mispronunciation.
The
kids had it down. Clark, like most of the grown-ups, was still having
trouble with the word at the end of four days of teaching and learning
the new VBS program, "Under the Baobab Tree," at Edgehill United
Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn.
Baobab (which is pronounced
bow - as in "wow" - bob) is just one of the African words children learn
in the program written and produced by the United Methodist Publishing
House.
The new resource combines the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with African, Caribbean and African-American traditions.
"In
years past, we have had to adapt VBS curriculum because it didn't reach
our children," said the Rev. Diane Luton Blum, pastor at Edgehill.
"The children really responded in ways that were far more peaceful and joyful than in years past."
Blum
said the curriculum gave the adult leaders, African American and white
alike, the chance to learn about the culture and experiences of
African-American Christians.
"It was enriching for all of us," she says.
The
concept for the new curriculum came after two years of research and a
renewed commitment by the Publishing House to produce "quality,
scholarly resources that are relevant for the African-American
community," says Fred Allen, communications director for the agency.
Marilyn
Thornton has been living "Under the Baobab Tree" since she came on
board at the Publishing House last year. As one of the primary writers,
she has overseen the production and conducted most of the training for
the program. She was also on hand at Edgehill to "beat the drum," teach
the songs, direct the skits and hug the kids.
"As a person who
has come out of the black church all my life and one who has used a
whole realm of different materials, I just did not see the heritage
perspective in any of the materials being produced," she says. She has
combined the concept of "standing on the shoulders of our ancestors"
with theology in a way that is fun and exciting for children as well as
adults, she says.
"In so many vacation Bible school programs, the
adults are separate from the children or the adults are not there at
all," she says. She has found churches have wanted to pull the two
groups together, but the thought of writing and figuring out how to do
that on their own was just too daunting a task.
"When they see it all here in this resource, they are finding that really exciting."
The
genesis of "Under the Baobab Tree" came as a result of partner
relationship with a local church in Kansas City, Mo., Allen says.
St.
James United Methodist Church developed and has been conducting a
variation of the traditional VBS called Vacation Liberation School.
"Our
contention at St. James is that Christianity is a liberation movement,"
says the Rev. Emmanuel Cleavor, church pastor. "Jesus introduced his
earthly ministry with the words of Isaiah: 'The spirit of the Lord is
upon me. ... He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives ... to
release the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19).'"
"Rev. Cleavor really
spurred the development of our program," says Susan Salley, director of
New Ventures for the publishing house. "He told us to focus on
liberation. He said it goes back to history but it all goes back to
Jesus Christ."
As research was done for the project it became
clear that the baobab tree was the perfect image to use for the new
curriculum, Thornton said.
In Africa, the baobab is a large tree
that grows in the grassland, which covers about 65 percent of the
continent. For three-fourths of the year, it is leafless and stores
water. Animals and sometimes people live in its large branches. In
villages, it is a place of community gathering.
"I remember the
first time I went to Africa and actually witnessed the baobab tree as
the center for gathering," Allen says. "I saw children and elders, men
and women, all gathering around the tree during the midday hour to share
a meal.
"When you see the richness of how a culture has taken a
part of God's creation and placed it in the center of poverty and
despair and great anguish, it becomes more than a metaphor," he says.
In
the VBS curriculum, spiritual songs are combined with contemporary
music to build on the heritage theme. Children play traditional
African-American games such as "Little Sally Walker and Little Johnnie
Brown" as well as learn new games like the "Underground Railroad."
"Underground Railroad" is a version of tag that gets the players from slavery to freedom.
"You
have your stoppers and your helpers," Thornton says. "Somebody will get
free but somebody else is not going to be free because that is
reality."
More than 750 churches have already reviewed the
project, Salley says. The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, which
has never before endorsed a VBS program, has endorsed "Under the Baobab
Tree," she says. The Disciples of Christ Church as well as the
Presbyterian Church (USA) have also endorsed the program.
Allen says it is important to note that the program is not exclusively for African Americans.
"It is broad in its information and will help the whole church see how connected we are in these common human realities."
More information is available by calling (800) 672-1789 or visiting www.cokesbury.com.
# # #
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer in Nashville, Tenn.
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