Summer Activities
Summer Activities
With the arrival of summer and the availability of free time, the branches of Church Education think about how to occupy the time of students and teachers in a beneficial way. These summer activities are divided into several programs, including a spiritual program, a cultural program, an artistic program, a sports program, a recreational program, and a vocational program, in addition to activities for women and girls. We will speak about all of this in some detail.
The Spiritual Program
This includes memorizing verses from the Holy Bible, whether alphabetically or according to specific topics. In addition, there are competitions in the Holy Bible or in the lives of the saints. All of this may be accompanied by prizes distributed to the winners.
Among the spiritual programs is also the learning and memorization of Church hymns in Coptic and Arabic.
As for servants and adults, general spiritual trainings can be included. Prayer meetings and meditation on the Holy Bible are also held, as well as a program for reading spiritual books and the lives of the saints. Some may be assigned to summarize a spiritual book or part of it and present it in a meeting for servants or for youth.
The Religious Cultural Program
This program is connected to library activities through reading specific books in theology, doctrine, rites, Church history, and other important religious knowledge. These readings are conducted under guidance.
This branch may also include offering lessons in the Coptic language that help in understanding the Divine Liturgy and hymns. If there is no one to teach the Coptic language, these lessons can be presented through video.
The Artistic Program
This includes discovering talents and developing them in all their branches. This field includes drawing.
It also includes photography, such as photographing ancient icons in archaeological churches or modern icons that possess the characteristics of Coptic art and suit the rite and doctrine. From all this, albums can be made and displayed in Sunday Schools, or marketed to those who admire them and wish to own them.
Among the artistic fields is training in drawing crosses, a field in which the late His Holiness Pope Macarius III previously excelled. Currently, there are some monks in monasteries who have excelled in this field, and apprenticeship under their guidance is possible.
Also among the artistic activities are plaster works through which images of saints are presented, suitable for sale or as prizes in Sunday Schools. Using plaster, models of some churches and monasteries can also be made, and the like. There are also many works in arquette, which, in addition to their benefit, provide entertainment for Sunday School students and servants alike.
Some have artistically produced a model of the Tabernacle with all its parts and contents, with explanations and reference to its details in the Book of Exodus, or a model of Solomon’s Temple.
All of this can be presented as an exhibition for Church Education.
From the collection of branch exhibitions, a general exhibition can be held in the cathedral exhibition hall, where books by professors and graduates of the Theological Seminary were displayed on the occasion of its centennial anniversary.
The artistic activity also includes playing hymns on musical instruments.
The Sports Program
This is carried out by some churches that own suitable land or are able to rent land. The Youth Bishopric supervises such activity every summer, with prizes distributed to winners from various dioceses.
Recreational Activity
This includes parties organized by some branches for youth or children.
Some branches also present theatrical plays portraying certain biblical figures or saints of the Church.
Successful plays can be recorded on videotape or film, benefiting other branches.
The Vocational Activity
Some churches train their children during the summer in vocational skills that benefit them materially, provided that this training is accompanied by a spiritual program.
Training is not limited to manual crafts; it may also be at a higher level, such as teaching computers and their various programs.
Women’s Activities
These include workshop activities such as making clothes and embroidery, with these works displayed in exhibitions in various churches.
Some churches also have a branch for tailoring priestly garments and the crosses and embroidery placed upon them.
Other Activities
In a meeting of Church Education trustees, some presented other types of activities, including training in scouting work and forming teams to maintain order, as well as health education.
These also include puppet theater, trips, and servants’ conferences, and of course we must not forget the club.
The Church Club and Its Spiritual Discipline
Many churches establish clubs in their courtyards to serve youth, especially during the summer. The club may also continue during the school year. What concerns us here is to speak about the mission of the club and how it is carried out.
First, the club is a means, not an end.
It is a recreational means free from the errors found in other clubs. It is an opportunity to observe youth behavior outside the scope of church meetings so that, if their mistakes are known, they can be spiritually treated. It is also not pure play; rather, recreation is mixed with spiritual work. Each period begins and ends with prayer, and includes some hymns and chants, and sometimes biblical competitions or spiritual lessons.
If the club lacks spirituality, it has not fulfilled its mission.
If it is accompanied by mistakes such as noise and disturbance, clashes among youth with improper speech, or other stumbling blocks, this is very dangerous, because it occurs on church grounds and under its care.
Therefore, the establishment of a club requires precise and firm spiritual supervision.
A club without spiritual supervision may cause more harm than benefit, accustoming youth, boys, and children to disrespect the Church and to lack of discipline.
The club must have regulations and schedules known to supervisors and participants alike, and everyone must abide by them. Many complaints reach us about clubs and the disturbance they cause, which harms neighbors and even church spiritual meetings, due to the shouting and screaming of children in a manner not befitting the spiritual atmosphere.
Parents also often complain about their children returning late at night from the club. Children justify this by saying they were at the club, and parents ask: Does the church club administration allow youth to leave at midnight? Especially when girls may be among them? Or is there no supervision of schedules?
Can we not teach our children to play quietly, as we teach them to respect their neighbors’ feelings, to keep schedules, not to return home late at night, and to respect the church atmosphere?
Here we ask: Who is responsible for the club’s mission and spirituality?
The priests are responsible, as well as the Church Education trustees, the supervisors, and the club committee. The club must have a committee that supervises the implementation of its regulations, the presence of supervisors, the performance of their duties, and their commitment to spiritual rules.
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