Capstone

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this module is to encourage the students to become more grounded and knowledgeable in their faith and church history. Just like the Saints in this module defended their faith when faced with an adversary, the student's main takeaway should be that they did not do this on their own accord, but by building a strong relationship with God that is centered through prayer and trust. This capstone will challenge the students' knowledge of the Saint's lives and stories and encourage them to work on building a similar relationship with God.

INSTRUCTIONS/IDEAS

The Church Fathers Scavenger Hunt

• Split the students into two teams (or however many depending on the number of students)
• Give each team 1 piece of paper
• Assign 1 student per team to be the designated writer
• Ask the writer to write down the following making sure to leave lots of room in between:
  • St Athanasius
  • St. Gregory the Wonder-Worker
  • St. John the Beloved
  • St. Basil
  • St. Cyril
• Take the students into the church and do the following:

Remind the students that there should be no yelling, screaming, or running in church during this activity

In the case that the servant is unable to carry out the activity in the church an alternative could be to set up 5 icons (or printed pictures if icons are not available) of the Church Fathers in the Sunday school room or a different location.

This can also be formatted as a discussion activity where the whole class identifies each icon together as the children try to remember each Church Father and their impact.

• Have them identify each icon (found in each lesson) with the respective Church Father and write down the following for each icon:
  • Are there other objects written in the icon? If yes, what are they?
  • Is there anyone else in the icon? If yes, who?

• After all of the teams are finished with their scavenger hunt take them back to their classroom and have the 5 icons of the saints ready
• One by one reveal the icon and announce which Church Father is on the icon. Make sure to go over who and what is in each icon and their importance.

Athanasius

• Bishops behind him, the Council of Nicaea
• Arius is beneath him, Athanasius defended the true Faith and defeated his heresy
• Holding in his hands the Nicene Creed: "We believe in one God..."

St. John the beloved

• On Christ's shoulder

St. Basil the Great

• Book in hand; wrote Divine Liturgy
• Hat and cross; was a Pope

St. Cyril/Kyrillos, Pillar of Faith

• Pillar
• Hat and cross; was a Pope

Optional: The first team that gets all of the icons done correctly first gets a prize

It is important to go back and relate this activity to the overarching theme. Remind the students how the people and objects in these icons play a role in demonstrating the life of Faith and prayer that the Saints lived by and how we should all do the same.