Easter Kids’ Litany

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Roland De Vries

A litany we will use this Sunday at Kensington, to be led by one of the kids of the congregation.

This is a great day; a beautiful day.
What makes it a great and beautiful day?
This is the day of Jesus’ resurrection.
What’s that you say? Tell us again!
This is the day of Jesus’ resurrection!
This is amazing news you share.
Can I hear these words? “He is risen! Hallelujah.”
We will say it: He is risen! Hallelujah!
Death is not the end of the story. Life is!
Jesus is life for a broken, dark world.
It’s an amazing message – something to share.

Jesus is our risen Lord – he is with us every day.
We can speak with him, sing to him, praise him.
He leads us into a life that is beautiful and good.
Let us live in his compassion and truth. Let
us live for his kingdom. He is risen!

Kids’ litanies for lent

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Roland De Vries

A series of litanies that we are using this year at Kensington – led by children of the congregation during Lent. Based on texts from Exodus… Good to have the kids’ voices sharing and leading in worship. Two of them were also done in French (those translations are at the bottom of this post.)

Litany 1 (Burning Bush)

Moses was out in the rocky places taking care
of his sheep, just minding his own business.
God said: “Now’s a good time to meet Moses!”
Moses went looking for one of his sheep that
had run off somewhere – just out doing his job.
God said: “This little bush will show my glory.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Moses saw something
different – a light, a fire, a bush in flame.
God said: “Take off your shoes, take them off
right now – you are standing on holy ground.”
Moses was amazed – a bush on fire, but not burned up.
God talking to him. He took off his shoes.
God said: “Moses, I want you to do something for
me – I want you to help my suffering people.”

God comes close to us and speaks to us, too.
He asks us to help people who are suffering.
God says: “Live like Jesus, he’s my holy Son.”
In the time of Lent, we discover God is with us
in all our experiences, good and bad. He helps us
live as his family every day.
God says: “Jesus is with you, all the time.”

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summer holidays – making memories?

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Roland De Vries

It took me a few years to get it, but I have now accepted the obvious – namely, that summer holidays aren’t about me. Vacations aren’t about me lounging in a hammock as I read a series of novels or about me leisurely exploring the natural world with camera in hand. Of course that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for me in the summer months, but I have realized that summer holidays, for the foreseeable future, are centred on the kids.

But having accepted the obvious (resistance was futile!) there’s another question that has dogged me this summer. The question whether summer holidays are essentially or primarily about “making memories.”

Over the past five weeks I have come across that phrase everywhere: in a PEI tourism brochure, at a Canadian interpretation centre on the St. Lawrence River, in the Facebook posts of friends, and in everyday conversations along the way. Summer vacation, it seems, is about making memories – for the kids, of course: