Ryan the Rhino – A New Resource for Christian Formation
An exciting new resource has been developed by the Environmental Network of ACSA (Green Anglicans). This is a Sunday school manual on caring for Creation. Rhino the hero of the story teaches the children God’s story of creation and challenges them to care for God’s world. The aim of this manual is to build healthy relationships with God, each other and all creation. We also want the children to understand and appreciate the inter-relationships and mutual interdependence of all life on earth, that we are part of a ‘web of life’. The manual contains exciting interactive activities, stories and songs. There are a wealth of ideas and resources. Based on the days of Creation the children learn about the beautiful world that God made. They also learn about how we have damaged God’s world through pollution, waste, greed and climate change. The children learn to become Earthkeepers and how to become a caring part of this wonderful web of creation. The book is available for free online at Caring for Creation: Ryan the Rhino The manual was developed with the support of SAFCEI , WWF-SA and the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Sessions can be used during holiday clubs as well as Sunday School Some feedback from Churches
The children had a lot of fun, they interacted a lot with the material and came up with new ideas. We painted tshirts and had a big Creation Service with the whole church which was lots of fun. They were really sad when we said that we had finished with Ryan and want us to do more! Our church is next to the University and we often find lots of litter and bottles outside the church on a Sunday morning. This is what one Sunday School boy said “It doesn’t matter if it is their mess, it is God’s world and we need to clean it up!” St Mark’s District Six The kids have been loving the course, though we often find out time is way too short and we have to run sessions over two weeks. It is very creative and practical so the children do understand what is going on! St Andrews Strand I told every Sunday School teacher in my archdeaconry to run this course after I saw the impact on my own church. The kids have even taken over my carport for their recycling project!!. Archdeacon, Diocese of Johannesburg