St. Stephen Lesson Plan
Start by singing Good King Wenceslas. The Feast of Stephen is December 26.
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shown the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gathering winter fuel.
Games
St. Stephen was one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to the poorer members of the community. His vocation was to take care of the poor and preach the new of salvation through Jesus.
Distribute “Aid” to the poor (relay to give each person on their team some “aid”)
What is aid?
Water – water cup relay – sit front to back in two lines. 5 gallon bucket with water in it in front of the line, and a cup. At the back of the line, a smaller bucket to collect the water. You can make holes in the cup so that it dribbles as you move it. Pass the full cup from the person in the front, over their heads to the person in the back who dumps it into the back bucket. The first one to fill their bucket has delivered water to their neighbor.
Food – one person sits on a chair holding a bowl of cereal. Another person stands behind with a spoon. Goal is the back person to feed the front without knowing where their mouth is. This could be made harder by blindfolding one or both participants. Put only a limited number of cereal pieces in the bowl. All cereal has to be eaten. Two teams. Race.
Clothing – dress relay – get clothes from clothes closet
Housing – make tents with sheets from basement storage room
Gather Fuel (sticks or other) relay
Craft
A group of people of a different religion didn’t like that Stephen was telling about Jesus and so they collected a group of witnesses that would lie and say that Stephen was telling false stories (committing blasphemy) about Jesus. This got Stephen arrested and brought to court. Jesus told him, “When they hand you over; do not worry about how you are to speak, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10: 19-20)
St. Stephen relied on God and spoke the truth about Jesus. First he believed that God could be found everywhere, not just in a single place like a church or a single person like Abraham. Second, he showed how the Israelites rejected God’s messengers and now they killed God’s Son. Those who had been listening became so angry that they dragged him from court and stoned him.
Stephen's name means "crown". He was the first disciple of Jesus to receive the martyr's crown. A martyr is someone who was killed because he stood up for his faith.
Make Crowns.
Food
When we share God’s news about being saved by His only Son, sometimes people will not like us. They will ignore what we tell them. They will get angry when we talk about sins. We still have to keep sharing God’s message of forgiveness and love. We must continue to love others and do our best to take care of one another, treat each other with respect and kindness. Show God’s love to others through our actions.
How can we show God’s love to others? (examples - Do we always speak the truth or do we tell lies?
Stephen showed God's love by providing for the poor and needy.
Manna was food provided by God from heaven. Since Stephen relied on God to provide for the people, we will have manna bread in the form of blueberry bread pudding.
Blueberry bread pudding (manna bread)
Start by singing Good King Wenceslas. The Feast of Stephen is December 26.
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shown the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gathering winter fuel.
Games
St. Stephen was one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to the poorer members of the community. His vocation was to take care of the poor and preach the new of salvation through Jesus.
Distribute “Aid” to the poor (relay to give each person on their team some “aid”)
What is aid?
Water – water cup relay – sit front to back in two lines. 5 gallon bucket with water in it in front of the line, and a cup. At the back of the line, a smaller bucket to collect the water. You can make holes in the cup so that it dribbles as you move it. Pass the full cup from the person in the front, over their heads to the person in the back who dumps it into the back bucket. The first one to fill their bucket has delivered water to their neighbor.
Food – one person sits on a chair holding a bowl of cereal. Another person stands behind with a spoon. Goal is the back person to feed the front without knowing where their mouth is. This could be made harder by blindfolding one or both participants. Put only a limited number of cereal pieces in the bowl. All cereal has to be eaten. Two teams. Race.
Clothing – dress relay – get clothes from clothes closet
Housing – make tents with sheets from basement storage room
Gather Fuel (sticks or other) relay
Craft
A group of people of a different religion didn’t like that Stephen was telling about Jesus and so they collected a group of witnesses that would lie and say that Stephen was telling false stories (committing blasphemy) about Jesus. This got Stephen arrested and brought to court. Jesus told him, “When they hand you over; do not worry about how you are to speak, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10: 19-20)
St. Stephen relied on God and spoke the truth about Jesus. First he believed that God could be found everywhere, not just in a single place like a church or a single person like Abraham. Second, he showed how the Israelites rejected God’s messengers and now they killed God’s Son. Those who had been listening became so angry that they dragged him from court and stoned him.
Stephen's name means "crown". He was the first disciple of Jesus to receive the martyr's crown. A martyr is someone who was killed because he stood up for his faith.
Make Crowns.
Food
When we share God’s news about being saved by His only Son, sometimes people will not like us. They will ignore what we tell them. They will get angry when we talk about sins. We still have to keep sharing God’s message of forgiveness and love. We must continue to love others and do our best to take care of one another, treat each other with respect and kindness. Show God’s love to others through our actions.
How can we show God’s love to others? (examples - Do we always speak the truth or do we tell lies?
Stephen showed God's love by providing for the poor and needy.
Manna was food provided by God from heaven. Since Stephen relied on God to provide for the people, we will have manna bread in the form of blueberry bread pudding.
Blueberry bread pudding (manna bread)