Hogwart's Update - Day 5

VBC 2011 has come and gone – and it was a fantastic week! We can’t tell you how much we enjoyed our time with the campers. They were truly a joy and brought a ton of energy to the St. Thomas community. We hope that this week has been fun and meaningful for your campers and your family. We hope that the campers learned that God loves them deeply and that St. Thomas is a place where they are always welcome.

The Harry Potter theme for this week was a lot of fun to work with, and our volunteers did a great job of bringing themes from Harry Potter into the life of Jesus and the Christian story. We hope that campers left St. Thomas today having learned that God is deeper and bigger than magic – that we don’t need to rely on potions and spells, because God is always in control and he will always take care of us. When the world is scary, God loves and protects us in a way that only God can. We have been marked by the love of God by his Son, Jesus Christ, and we will never be the same – a lot like Harry was marked by the love of his mother. We are all created and loved by God and our uniqueness is a gift from God and a gift to others.

Our theme for today was transfiguration – how we have been changed by the love of Christ. In the Common Room we heard the story of Harry’s mother’s sacrifice and how that made Harry who he was – as well as a Bible story of how Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross marks us and makes us God’s own. In the Department of Mysteries, Mother Karen asked all of the campers what they liked most about themselves – helping them think about what makes them unique. God loves all of us the same, even though we are all different. We continued to play “Muggle Quidditch” in the park and finished up our crafts today – along with making “Butter Beer” (cream soda, caramel sauce, and whipped cream)! We have had several requests for the Butter Beer recipe so we will try to get that posted here to the blog next week.

Throughout the week, campers learned about clean water and how many people around the world do not have access to the kind of water we have here in America. This makes life very hard for people who don’t know how they will get water to drink, cook with, or clean. The spare change that was placed in the Goblet of Fire will go to Episcopal Relief and Developments work on water access and sanitation. I just got back from Coinstar and we raised over $275! We hope that along with learning about these issues, campers have also realized that they can make a difference – which is what Christ calls us to do. Part of being a Christian is serving our neighbors, even if they live across the world. The Goblet of Fire will still be out this Sunday, so feel free to bring the last of your coins!

Thank you all for such a great week and for allowing your children to be with us! Our volunteers were incredible and they were blessed by your children’s presence. All VBC families are invited to join us for our 10:15 Holy Eucharist Service this Sunday where the campers will be singing the songs they have learned this week. We hope to see you at St. Thomas soon – know that you are always welcome here!

Hogwart's Update - Day 3

Today was a special day at Hogwarts. We spent time together remembering Jesus with a Holy Eucharist service. Campers were joined by adults from St. Thomas who frequently come to our Wednesday Eucharist service and we gathered in worship around the table Jesus lays out for us. The campers led everyone in singing at the beginning of the service, practicing the songs they have been learning in Professor Flitwick’s Frog Choir – the same songs they will be leading us in this Sunday. Granny Mary (who turned 85 years old today) told us the story of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples and invited us to join in this meal. When we gather around the communion table, we have deep fellowship with Jesus and with one another. Mother Karen led us in a responsive prayer that reminded us that when we take communion, we remember Jesus. The campers took this to heart and I know that Jesus met them today in a special way.

Because of our Holy Eucharist, we did not visit the Common Room, the Department of Mysteries, or Sharing the Magic. We still spent time at Quidditch Pitch…and we even played “Muggle Quidditch” today! If you are unfamiliar with Harry Potter, Quidditch is a soccer-like game played on broomsticks. Ask your camper to explain Muggle Quidditch to you. At Wizzarding Wheezes, we continued to work on our magic wands – adding stain and glitter paint. They are looking great! We also made tea cup candles that will adorn your home at the end of the week.

A few questions and things to talk with your campers about from today:

• What stood out to you about the Eucharist service today?

• If your family attends a church that celebrates communion or the Eucharist, you might talk with your camper about why that is an important thing in your family and at your church. The focus of our service today was remembering Jesus in the Eucharist and spending time together, as God’s people, around the table.

Hogwart's Update - Day 2

Day Two of Vacation Bible Camp is a wrap, and it was a great day. If we could only get the weather to cooperate for the rest of the week!

Our theme for today was Care of Magical Creation and this was experienced in different ways at each of the stations. Hagrid made a special trip from Hogwarts to tell the Creation story at the Department of Mysteries. Campers were invited to think about Creation as a gift from God – each day being unique and wonderful. Hagrid also asked if we took out any of the days of creation, would we still have everything we need. Behind Hagrid in the chapel, a balloon shaped like the earth floated at the center of the cross – reminding us all that Jesus loves and holds the world in the center of his heart. In the common room, we heard a story about Hagrid’s love of every creature, no matter how big or small, exciting or boring. God gave us creation as a gift, but it is a gift we must love and care for. When we love God’s creation, we love God. Campers continued to work on their magic wands at Wizarding Wheezes, as well as potting their very own “mandrake” plants – complete with eyes and hands. It will be exciting to see them grow! We continued to learn our songs for Sunday in Professor Flitwick’s Frog Choir and we closed with one of the choruses today…and the campers sounded amazing!

In Sharing the Magic, we continued to learn about clean water and experimented with cleaning our own water today (don’t worry, we didn’t drink it!). By creating our own water filters, we began to see that it takes a lot of work to make clean water like what we have here in Seattle – but it is not impossible. The money raised from our coin drive will help people around the world learn about how water and sanitation, as well as provide them with access to clean water.

• A few questions that you might ask your campers about their day:

• What is your favorite gift that you have ever been given? How do you take care of it? What are ways you can take care of God’s gift of Creation?

• God gave us rest (the seventh day of Creation) as a gift. Would creation be complete without the gift of rest?

• Did you enjoy cleaning water today? How would you feel if your water was always dirty and you didn’t have the tools to clean it? (This could be a great time to remind your camper about the coin drive!)

That’s all from today! We are looking forward to seeing everyone in the morning, and don’t forget that everyone (parent’s, visitors, friends) are invited to our Holy Eucharist service at 10:00am tomorrow!

Hogwart's Update - Day 1

Wow! What a fun first day of Vacation Bible Camp. Apart from a few thundershowers, the day went off without a hitch.

Our morning started with worship and prayer, led by Professor Trelawney (Sunni Bannon). After our worship time, we experienced

our very own Sorting Ceremonies – complete with sorting hats! It was quite fun to see the anticipation in the eyes of the campers as they waited to hear their group name (Owl, Dragon, Phoenix, Hippogriff, Sphinx or Thestral). From the sorting ceremony, we began our station rotation: Quidditch Pitch (recreation), Wizarding Wheezes (crafts), Sharing the Magic (service), The Common Room (storytelling), Prof. Flitwick’s Frog Choir (music), and the Department of Mysteries (chapel).

The theme for today was prayer. We learned in The Common Room that in prayer, God gives us the confidence, strength and love we need to find our way through tough times. We don’t always get exactly what we want when we pray, but God gives us more than enough to carry us through any circumstance.

At the Department of Mysteries, we learned that part of prayer is silence and listening. Just like any relationship is built upon both talking and listening, so too is our relationship with God. Professor McGonagall (Mother Karen) showed us prayer beads that she made for each camper that they will be given to take home on Friday. What a gift!

In Professor Flitwicke’s Frog Choir, we began learning the songs the campers will sing in the service on Sunday, the 31^st. They sounded great!

We also began learning about the water crisis faced by the developing world in Sharing the Magic. The campers shared ways that they use water in their lives and began to see that we are truly fortunate to have such easy access to something so necessary for life. Remember to bring your spare change this week to give to Episcopal Relief and Development’s work with water access! Drop your coins in the “Goblet of Fire” as you enter the church.

Some questions that you might ask your campers to help them continue thinking about what they heard today are:

• What sort of things do you talk to God about when you pray? (You might also share with them what you tell God).

• Has there ever been a time when you didn’t know what to do or didn’t think you could make it through a difficult time? Did you pray about it?

• Do you ever like to spend time in a quiet place? What did Mother Karen tell us about how God speaks to us when we are quiet and listen?

• Have you ever thought about how different your life would be if we didn’t have water to use? What if we turned on the faucet and dirty water came out – or worse, nothing came out? There are lots and lots of people all over the world who don’t have to think about this because that is what happens.

That’s all from our first day! Can’t wait to see all of the campers in the morning!