Archangels Youth Ministry Programs
January 30
On Saturday, Father Harry and Presvytera Kerry led a virtual Workshop on Prayer in the Home. The workshop began with the acknowledgment that live-stream worship can be challenging. Attendees chimed in about how it differs from being in church and the challenges it creates to really connecting to God. For instance, we are not always dressed up, we are often sitting on our living room couch, and we are tempted to multi-task. For young families, children can be highly distracting for parents trying to focus on the service and also distracted themselves in their home environment. Presvytera Kerry emphasized that it is important to expect of children what is developmentally appropriate, and to give children the space to be themselves. Father Harry and Presvytera encouraged us to face icons as we engage in prayer or worship. Father Harry emphasized the importance in the early church of the home, in addition to the church, as a center for worship. This is an aspect of our Orthodox tradition that the pandemic is actually helping us to recover. The short service of the “Typika” was introduced and discussed as a way to engage in and lead worship for our own families at home. The Typika was developed primarily for use when one cannot attend liturgy and is foremost an option for Sunday mornings for those for whom the live-streaming or in-person worship are not options, though it can also be used at other times. Obviously, the Covid spike is keeping many at home currently, and so the Typika can be particularly useful as we shelter through the winter months. The Typika, among other things, is full of several beautiful psalms that are no longer included in the Liturgy. There are opportunities within it for multiple readers to participate, which can be ideal for adults and also for children capable of reading. The “Typika” was offered as one particular tool to empower families to carve out meaningful time for prayer. Please reach out to Alexia in the Church Office if you would like a copy of the service of the Typika!
