Not too long ago, as a part of its Structure sequence, Lego launched a wonderful construct of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. I’ve a certain fascination with cathedrals and what they’ll educate us about what it means to be the church. I noticed a chance to replicate with my congregation on church historical past, structure, religion, and being the folks of God collectively. So I created a seven-week Kids’s Time sequence the place we explored one side of the cathedral every week till it was full.
This coincided with our capital marketing campaign to boost funds for much-needed enhancements to our church constructing. It turned out to be a good way to speak about how our bodily church constructing displays and helps our mission and ministry. It was impressed partially by the Lego project at Washington National Cathedral.
What follows is a top level view for a way to do that venture along with your congregation, together with the theme for every week, photographs, and the corresponding pages within the Lego construct e-book. As a result of we have been on the ground with the youngsters, it was exhausting for adults to see it from their pews, so we took footage of every stage of the construct and projected them on display screen. Every week we confirmed one slide from the earlier stage of the construct after which one slide with the brand new sections we added for that Sunday. You’ll be able to entry and adapt these slides at this hyperlink: Lego Build PowerPoint Slides.
Define of the Construct
Week 1: Foundations
(Construct E-book pages 1–45)
For our first week, I launched our cathedral constructing venture and confirmed the youngsters the field for our Lego Notre Dame. The field shows the finished venture and a number of the cathedral’s historical past. Then I confirmed the primary construct, which hardly seems like a church or a cathedral in any respect. I requested the youngsters to go searching our church and surprise about what crucial a part of a church is. One mentioned, “Religion”; one other mentioned, “The cross.” I drew their consideration to the ground and mentioned that the ground, or basis, is most vital as a result of, with out that, nothing else can stand. We talked about love and religion being the inspiration of our church. The whole lot rests on these issues.
Week 2: Supporting One One other
(Construct E-book pages 46–97)
For week two, I talked in regards to the flying buttresses of Notre Dame, which was the primary cathedral to make use of buttresses on this method. I described how the flying buttresses enable the partitions of the cathedral to be thinner, larger, and capable of help extra stained glass, which permits for extra gentle. I clarified that it’s “flying buttresses,” not “flying butts,” and this bought an excellent snigger. Lastly, I talked in regards to the help that we give each other at church: the love, grace, forgiveness, and care we prolong to one another, which buttress our lives collectively and make our church stronger.
Week 3: A Area and Place for All
(Construct E-book pages 98–137)
This was, maybe, my favourite a part of our construct with the massive open nave. I talked about my expertise of visiting Notre Dame and being with folks from all around the world in that nave. I associated that there’s a house and place for everybody within the church, together with them. I introduced a set of random Lego figures that I ordered on eBay and invited the youngsters to take one and put it within the cathedral so we may see ourselves in it. They cherished selecting a determine and placing themselves within the cathedral.
Week 4: We Are Cross-Formed
(Construct E-book pages 138–189)
At this stage of the construct, you may start to see how Notre Dame, like most different cathedrals, is constructed within the form of the cross. We talked about how the church is cross-shaped as a result of we’re formed by Jesus’s life, dying, and resurrection in addition to by hope, new life, love, and serving our neighbor. This form will grow to be extra apparent because the construct continues and the roof is accomplished.
Week 5: There Are Many Methods In
(Construct E-book pages 190–239)
For week 5 we seemed fastidiously on the entrances to Notre Dame: the three fundamental entrance portals throughout the entrance, the 2 giant entrances on the facet, and the small purple door, generally known as “The Porte Rouge.” We mirrored on the entrances to our church and the way there are lots of methods to come back right into a church. We additionally talked about how we need to make certain that folks can discover their method in and discover a place throughout the church.
Week 6: Magnificence
(Construct E-book pages 240–287)
For the finished construct, we seemed on the ending touches of the cathedral: the spire with figures of the apostles and evangelists surrounding it, the pinnacles, the bushes, and extra. I talked in regards to the significance of constructing one thing lovely as a result of that magnificence reminds us of the goodness and great thing about God. We are able to additionally discover this magnificence in nature and within the folks in our lives.
Week 7: Mild
(Mild Equipment)
As a bonus week for the venture, I found that there are third-party lighting kits for Lego initiatives. I ordered and put in this lighting kit for the Cathedral. This ingenious little package helps gentle up the Cathedral from exterior and inside. We talked about how the church ought to be a beacon of God’s gentle and love on this planet. This occurred to coincide with our first week of Creation, which was an ideal tie-in to the lighting of the Creation wreath and the theme of sunshine shining within the darkness.
Conclusion
The response to this venture was overwhelmingly constructive from our youngsters and adults. It’s by far the very best Kids’s Time thought I’ve ever dreamed up. Doing it as a weekly sequence created continuity and anticipation amongst our youngsters and congregation. Everybody loved following alongside, studying extra about Notre Dame and cathedrals, and reflecting on being church collectively. It was a frequent level of dialog between Sundays.
Featured picture in addition to further photographs of Lego Notre Dame Cathedral are by article creator, Keith Anderson
