These days schools cannot be relied on to provide even the most basic background to the Christian Faith. It is vital, therefore, that Orthodox Church parishes take on this duty themselves.
As the area our parish covers is so wide, it is impossible to get all the children together physically for this purpose. Consequently we are endeavouring to provide this education by electronic means – by putting out teaching material on You Tube videos, which can be accessed on any computer or tablet.The course is entitled: LEARNING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
Each lesson (or ‘CATECHISM’) contains four elements:
– a narrative from the Old Testament, starting with Abraham;
– a narrative from the New Testament, starting with the Annunciation;
– simple questions on the stories;
– a practical section like learning how to make the sign of the Cross.
The stories are narrated as well as presented on screen, so that reading skills are irrelevant. It is hoped that the answers to the questions can be emailed to a named person within the parish so that some kind of personal communication can be established.
To access the videos, entitled THE LOVER OF MANKIND click on this link:
https://vimeo.com/album/4683826
Note: This system of teaching is, of course, highly experimental and I should welcome any feed-back which can lead to improvement.
Archpriest Edwin
Orthodox Parish of St Cuthbert 