In this Church History course, you will find connections between history, art, politics, science, and the saints. Join us and be inspired to imitate the Saints and become a Saint yourself.
This will be Church History class taught like none other. While other classes begin in September with Jesus and while hoping to end with WWII, usually end in May with the Reformation (about 400 years short of their destination). I will be teaching the students 10 stories, one from each of the first 10 centuries every week – one for every century. These will be very short and interesting stories that keep their attention. The following week we will cover the next 10 centuries with 10 more stories. Thus, in two weeks, we will know one story from each century from the time of Jesus until the present. The following weeks will both review and build on those stories and start making connections to other events/people in that century and other centuries. This will establish some historical “pegs” to hold up a framework where other connections can be made. That is Part 1 of the course. Part 2 will be a quick review of Part 1 and then a general survey of Church History synthesizing our “pegs” into the story of the Church. It will be glorious.
OUR ULTIMATE GOAL: To have some kind of basic outline of Church History mastered so that students will have a framework to “hang” other stories from history, literature, film, art, politics, and science.
MY (secret) ULTIMATE GOAL: To inspire the children to imitate the Saints and become a Saint themselves. To show that the Saints are the fruit of the Gospel and that this fruit is produced in every age. To carefully expose them to some of the scandals of the Church; show them that scandals are present in every age but God is faithful to His Church.
Class 1 –1st Century to 10th – Round 1
Class 2 – 11th Century to 20th – Round 1
Class 3 – 1st Century to 10th – Round 2
Class 4 – 11th Century to 20th – Round 2
Class 5 –1st Century to 10th – Round 3
Class 6 – 11th Century to 20th – Round 3
Class 7 – 1st Century to 10th – Round 4
Class 8 – 11th Century to 20th – Round 4
Class 9 – 1st Century to 10th – Round 5
Class 10 – 11th Century to 20th – Round 5
Class 11 – 1st Century to 10th – Round 6
Class 12 – 11th Century to 20th – Round 6
Class 13 – 1st Century to 10th – Round 7
Class 14 – 11th Century to 20th – Round 7
Course materials: Notebook (preferably one with graph paper in it – because they are cool). We will make it into a kind of scrapbook. Tape (to tape down images and articles). Some colorful pens (Not required, but it helps keep students interested – because they are cool)
Homework: Homework will include: Daily reading & studying for 10-15 minutes, Verbally sharing of stories with those NOT in the class