The Compendium of the Church Mice

Developed by Anglicans for Anglicans, this year-long curriculum for all Sunday school ages grew out of a 2011 contest that was part of General Synod’s Marks of Mission Initiative. The curriculum’s lessons are tied to the texts of a church’s liturgical calendar. Its creative activities, from puppetry to tree watching, are tied to the five major liturgical seasons and to the Five Marks of Mission.

Teachers are encouraged to read the gospel to children and to trust their instincts in talking to children about its passages. The children learn to live the marks through the gospel-linked lessons and related activities that range from humanitarian service to environmental stewardship.

The contest’s winners-Kate Saunders of Richmond, N.B.; Janet Cress and Nancy Wilcox of Binbrook, Ont.; and Kate Newman of Vancouver-produced an outline last November that Newman later fleshed out in detail as a year-long manual of lessons led by a church mouse. But the curriculum is not intended to be a binding plan to be mastered through massive amounts of prep time.

“Teachers can choose to follow the curriculum closely or select themes and activity ideas to complement their own lesson plans,” says Newman.

“We have a fairly young Sunday school for ages three to 10, and the curriculum really seems to appeal to them,” says Terry Shepherd, a Sunday

School teacher and office administrator at St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Nanoose Bay, B.C. “The themes are very creative.”