As I type this, the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing their first game of the season. If you’ve never lived in Pittsburgh, you might not understand how momentous this event is. Everywhere I went today, people wearing Steelers apparel outnumbered those of us in plainclothes. Strangers on the bus struck up conversation about the home team. I just went out on a few errands, and there is no one on the streets: everyone is home watching the game. Around the Super Bowl last year, no fewer than six people sent me a version of the Lord’s Prayer ending with the stirring words “A-Ben.” This is the town where a local restaurant advertises its $2.75 “Roethlisburger”: “give us three dollars, and we’ll give you a quarter back.” At church, we all have a copy of the Steelers schedule in our offices - not so much so we will know when to watch the game, but so that we don’t make the terrible error of scheduling an afternoon event that coincides with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
We have gotten into the informal habit of kicking off our education program year the Sunday after Labor Day. Last year, that meant September 7. But when I consulted my handy Steelers schedule, I realized a Big Problem: September 7 was also the Steelers home opener. At 1 p.m., no less.
I quickly determined that there was no way I could compete with the Black & Gold. But neither was I going to delay the Smithfield School opener. Instead, I would have a Steeler-themed Rally Day, a kick-off themed kick-off. And, for an extra challenge, I would figure out some way to have a Steeler celebration that was not completely secular. Here’s what I came up with:
I decorated the social hall with gold and black balloons, gold and black streamers, and big signs that said “Here we go, Smithfield, here we go!” I publicized the event with a football-themed bulletin board. (I got that idea here.) And I even decorated myself: I came to church with ponytails, pompoms, and my first-ever Steelers t-shirt. (This was an important milestone, since I was raised a New England Patriots fan.) As families entered the church, they first turned in (or filled out) registration forms for the kids at a welcome desk, made name tags, then entered the social hall, where they helped themselves to some gameday-style snacks.
To get everyone’s attention, I began by waving my pompoms and chanting “Here we go, Smithfield, here we go!” Gradually, everyone joined in. Once attention was gained, I said this:
Welcome, everyone, to this kick-off Sunday for our brand new Smithfield School year! Today begins a new year of growing together in faith. It begins a new season of coming together for class each Sunday morning at 9:45, making new friends and learning new things. And there’s something else that’s happening today, too, isn’t there? This afternoon? Oh right - the Steelers are kicking off, too! So in their honor, today we are throwing a black and gold party for Smithfield School. Let’s begin with a song; you have the song sheets on your chairs.
With piano accompaniment from our generous music staff, we sang a modified version of the spiritual “Guide My Feet.” The verses went like this:
1.) Guide my feet while I run this race …
2.) Guide my arm while I throw this pass …
3.) Guide my mind while I learn at school …
Next, I called forward the Smithfield School teachers and assistants; we laid hands on them and commissioned them for their important work. This part did not have a direct foodball tie-in, but I think that was forgivable.
Then, we divided up into three groups, dividing by birthday (January-April in one group, May-August in the next, September-December in the last) so that families would be mixed up with the single people. Each group moved to a different part of the social hall to play a game; I blew a whistle when it was time to rotate to the next station.
I staffed the field-goal kicking station, which I decorated with a sign featuring Philippians 3:14: “I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” I asked a Bible trivia question (most of which I made up on the spot, so they could be tailored to each child’s age - for one very little child, I simply said, “Does Jesus love you?”) to each participant; if they answered correctly, they earned the chance to kick a field goal and win a prize. The prizes were Steelers/football themed goodies from the party store: some temporary tattoos, pencils, erasers, and some candy too. The inflatable goal post was a significant investment, but I figured that with a football-crazy church like ours, this wouldn’t be the last time it gets used.
Meanwhile, another group played “pin the logo on the helmet,” which was decorated with Ephesians 6:17a: “Take the helmet of salvation.” Pretty self-explanatory.
The third game was a “fill the font race,” where teams relay-raced across the room using small cups of water to fill a larger bowl. This was a big hit. The text for this was 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.”
Once all the groups had visited all the games, everyone returned to their seats, and I dismissed them to a shortened first class session, to get to know one another and meet their teachers. Or, as I put it in my notes for the day: “Now, families bring your kids upstairs and get them signed in. Adults can go directly to the library. Liddy can go directly to the loony bin.”
This year’s kick-off is this coming Sunday, September 13. In honor of the G-20, our theme is “God’s Global Community.” Expect world maps, “The Whole World’s In God’s Hands” (thanks, Lesley Clare, for those inclusive-language lyrics!) and the grand opening of our labyrinth. If you’re in town, come join us!
At Smithfield, kids borrow a worship activity bag each week from the ushers as they enter the sanctuary. At the start of last summer, I had the children decorate plain canvas bags with drawings of their favorite Bible story, using fabric markers. (Note: use smocks when working with fabric markers, and beware: they have an amazing ability to find their way onto kids’ Sunday clothes. Sigh.) I think that’s Zacchaeus in the tree in the bag at left.
I put two books in each bag, swapping them out for new titles each week. We don’t have a terrific library of kids’ books at Smithfield, although there are a few good ones here and there — mostly we have assorted mass-produced Bible story picture books like the ones at right. They’re not too offensive, but not very memorable either. I would love to make an investment in new, high-quality books on faith for kids, but I know our budget won’t allow for that this year. (Got suggestions for books we simply must buy? Share them in the comments!)
The next ingredient is a clipboard. The clipboard prevents hymnals and pew Bibles from being used as hard surfaces for writing, keeping errant crayon lines far away from them. Plus, kids think clipboards are fun for some reason. Beats me. They can be purchased for cheap in packs from office supply stores.
I tuck children’s worship bulletins (one for ages 3-6 and one for ages 7-12) into the clipboard. We download and print these from 
Underneath the children’s bulletins, kids find a coloring page that also matches the text of the day. (See 
Two sheets of construction paper also provide ample room for drawings, writing, and games of tic-tac-toe. I try to use two contrasting colors of paper, since as any child will tell you, some colors are simply better than others.
What to use for all this coloring? Well, a bag of crayons, of course! In a fit of organization, I separated our baskets of assorted crayons into Ziploc bags with one each of all the essential colors. After all, I well remember what it’s like to wind up with all orange and brown when what you really need is purple and black.
And for the piece de resistance, I enclose a simple craft kit or game — a different one each week. I spent about $50 at 
By last Friday, Camp Downtown had taken its toll: five consecutive 6:15 alarm clocks and 11-hour work days left me moving so slowly that I nearly missed the morning bus. Meanwhile, the kids had gotten to know each other so well, and were so excited about the Just Ducky tour they knew was coming up in the afternoon, that they were extra-full of excitement and energy. So it’s probably good that it was the last day, because I don’t know if I could have made it through another! I took a self-portrait of exhausted me in the ducky rearview mirror.
Our Bible story on Friday was the parable of the sower, and we used two great lesson plans from the 
After a yummy pizza and watermelon lunch at my church, we headed back across the river for the most highly-awaited field trip of the week, the 
We splashed for a while in the Bessemer Square fountain, then returned to First Lutheran to prepare for our potluck celebration. After sharing dinner with the campers’ families, complete with custom sheet cake with our logo, we offered a short program to show off our week: a slide show created by one of the youth counselors, a repeat of the Jonah skit from Wednesday, and songs led by 
Because surely we can do better than this.