Center for Children and Theology

We are planting seeds for new work in the years ahead but we need your support for our projects to grow! Can you help us expand our monthly donor base, so we can continue to develop new resources to support catechists, children and families? Become a monthly donor at the $10 level today!

Donation - CCTHEO Your gifts to CCTheo fund the research behind our publications and materials, help to make some of these materials available to communities in Latin America and Haiti, and allow us to offer affordable courses and conferences. Please be generous; our work is on behalf of the children of the church, a...

Here’s a good resource for living, fully rooted in both science and faith.

Cosmogenesis - Deeptime Network Cosmogenesis: Autocosmology as a Spiritual Practice Six week course with Brian Thomas Swimme and Jennifer Morgan Oct. 15 - Nov. 19

Our new workshop on neurodiversity in the church starts this week! Many families with neurodiverse children struggle at church and often leave. Let’s learn how to welcome and support all of these children and families in our communities! Join Elizabeth Vice for three live, online classes on Thursday evenings and opportunity for office hours to discuss specific questions with her. Elizabeth has so much experience and wisdom to share.

Neurodiversity in the Church - CCTHEO Join Elizabeth Vice for a live, online workshop on neurodiversity in the church. Learn practical ways to support neurodiverse children's relationships with God and their community. This course takes place on Aug 22, 29, and Sept 5 from 7:30-8:30pm, with additional office hours and private meetings a...

It is estimated that more than one in five children in the U.S. are neurodivergent or have neurodevelopmental differences. Let’s learn how to welcome and support all of these children in our communities. Join our workshop starting next week!

Sign up for our new workshop on neurodiversity in the church! When a child doesn’t seem to “fit in,” it can leave religious educators concerned and frustrated. Often these children are neurodiverse: they might think, process thoughts and experiences, or interact with the world differently. In this workshop, we'll look at practical ways to support these children’s relationship with God and their community.

Neurodiversity in the Church - CCTHEO Join Elizabeth Vice for a live, online workshop on neurodiversity in the church. Learn practical ways to support neurodiverse children's relationships with God and their community. This course takes place on Aug 22, 29, and Sept 5 from 7:30-8:30pm, with additional office hours and private meetings a...

We have a new book! You can pre-order it now in our shop for a special discount rate. Breath by Breath is a comprehensive guide to bring mindfulness and yoga into the lives of children. Author Nancy Levine Siegel brings decades of experience and wisdom as both a classroom teacher and kids’ yoga instructor and shares her research along with practical exercises.

Breath by Breath: Bringing Yoga and Mindfulness Into the Lives of Children (ages 3-12) - CCTHEO Discover the power of mindfulness, breathing, and yoga practices for children aged 3-12 with 'Breath by Breath.' This comprehensive guide combines educational research with practical exercises to develop self-control, stress management, and community building. Inspired by influential educators like....

Register now! A new session of our highly-popular atrium orientation course starts this Wednesday! We have a few spots left. This live, online class offers an overview of the spirituality of children, the Montessori approach, and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It offers wisdom and practical advice about how to orient children to the space and help them with transitions. This class will equip assistants to work in the atrium or give catechists the tools to prepare assistants. It is also a great class for parents who want to know more about CGS!

Atrium Assistants Orientation · May 2024 - CCTHEO This online course will cover the key points for an atrium assistant serving children 3-12 years old, including: -- Introduction to the spirituality of Children -- Orientation to the space -- Orientation to the Montessori approach -- Orientation to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) -- Helpin...

The parent-toddler course is back this summer! Davette Himes has practical tips and theological grounding to equip you to start a parent-toddler atrium in your church. She'll offer an in-person course and a separate opportunity on zoom. Check out the details for the in-person course in Alexandria, Va. July 9-13!

Parent Toddler Course - CCTHEO This five day day course will prepare catechists who have completed a CGS Level I course to adapt the methodology and content of the 3-6 atrium for toddlers and their parents. Course Leader Davette Himes has been offering a two-hour session for toddlers and parents at All Saints Episcopal Church in....

Happy third week of Easter! Have you shared our Easter playlists with families in your parish? Children love to pray by singing. These playlists have songs appropriate for Easter prayer and praises for ages 3-6 (Easter with preschoolers) or ages 6 and older (Easter with children).

https://cctheo.org/shop/easter-with-children-playlist/?mc_cid=c962ab8bd7&mc_eid=0e8257b371&fbclid=IwAR1zNzwdmrERcgxJ6w05sw2n3kZX9buwFHJPMA7ryAFi-08O6DOBCRWrqHA_aem_ASN_CngPIYkVmP03rTBomj3mHIsjrPlwZgXzTKXfkEyHhRokoELDLIg-xPh5c5H4JJY

Easter with Children Playlist - CCTHEO We are happy to share two new playlists for Easter, as part of our Grace Space Families project. Music is a wonderful way to pray with children. Children love to sing and carry the theology of the lyrics with them. Our “Easter with children” playlist is for elementary children, ages 6 and older,...

Register this week! Will your church offer baptisms or confirmations this Spring or summer? Do you want to use that opportunity to deepen families’ understanding of baptism, their relationship with God and their involvement in the church? Join our course that equips church leaders to prepare parents for the baptism of a child or for Baptism, Confirmation and Reception of teens or adults. Rev. Joyce Scherer-Hoock leads this four week, online, live baptism class starting April 9!

Baptized: Opening the Gift · Preparing Families for Baptism, a class for parish ministers - CCTHEO Preparing Families for Baptism, a class for parish ministers We are excited to launch our first offering of Grace Space Families. Over the next several years, Grace Space Families will offer gifts of the atrium for families at home, to share God’s love and God’s call to live grace-filled lives. ...

Happy Easter! Enjoy the season with our new music playlists! There is a list for 3-6 year olds and one with themes for 6 and older. You can stream the music for free on spotify or Amazon music. Share these with families in your atrium and beyond.

Easter with Children Playlist - CCTHEO We are happy to share two new playlists for Easter, as part of our Grace Space Families project. Music is a wonderful way to pray with children. Children love to sing and carry the theology of the lyrics with them. Our “Easter with children” playlist is for elementary children, ages 6 and older,...

"At age three, a little boy from our atrium was brought to a Holy Week service by his mother, during which the passion was read. At the quiet moment following the death of Jesus, the congregation knelt. And Ben stood and announced in his biggest voice, “But he rose!” He knew that despite the necessary inclusion of death in our Lenten observance, the Resurrection is not “undone,” even for a moment. Death is not a final moment but a passage to new life, and so we consider and prepare for the death of Jesus, as well as our own, with this in mind." A thought for Good Friday, from Catherine Maresca's Lenten makeover reflection. https://cctheo.org/news/lenten-make-over/?fbclid=IwAR2ZSxjcQlcFI1W8CHmDmpEzw_4hUIsZ1jZ6gwwVCEA_woe1Hyi9_qy_mic

A Lenten Make Over - CCTHEO February 2016 by Catherine Maresca As Lent begins we prepare ourselves for our celebration of Easter. For much of my life, the Easter cycle was divided into two parts: Lent, […]

Have you listened to our Lenten playlists for children? Music is a wonderful way to pray with children. We hope you will share these free playlists with families in your atrium, so they can listen and sing of the goodness of God at home, in the car, or wherever they are. Check out both playlists! One if for 3-6 year olds (Lent with preschoolers) and the other is for 6 and up. https://cctheo.org/shop/lent-with-children-playlist/?mc_cid=eee14f510c&mc_eid=0ec3feea9d&fbclid=IwAR1Z5rOR7fPjEzIF1PLECOSA9tfRVsXauhUW6_1xG2F_cUqISwdZ2qI1hZw

Lent with Children Playlist - CCTHEO We are happy to share two new playlists for Lent, as part of our Grace Space Families project. Music is a wonderful way to pray with children. Children love to sing and carry the theology of the lyrics with them. Our “Lent with children” playlist is for elementary children, ages 6 and older, and...

We are happy to share two new playlists for Lent, as part of our Grace Space Families project. Music is a wonderful way to pray with children. Children love to sing and carry the theology of the lyrics with them. Our “Lent with children” playlist is for elementary children, ages 6 and older, and the other playlist is especially for primary children, ages 3-6. We hope you will share these with families in your atrium, so they can listen and sing of the goodness of God at home, in the car, or wherever they are. Find the links here: https://cctheo.org/shop/lent-with-children-playlist/?mc_cid=eee14f510c&mc_eid=0ec3feea9d

Tonight! Join our conversation about building community with parents in the atrium. What has worked well in your atrium? To join our conversation on zoom, email [email protected] The call is 2/21 at 7 pm eastern.

CCTheo Conversations - CCTHEO

"Year after year I must allow the children to lead me into a new and joyful understanding of Lent. Like the joy that Christmas casts on Advent, can we allow the joy of Easter to enlighten the days of Lent?" As we enter the usually somber season of Lent, enjoy this 2016 reflection from Catherine Maresca. Are children showing you a new understanding of Lent?

A Lenten Make Over - CCTHEO February 2016 by Catherine Maresca As Lent begins we prepare ourselves for our celebration of Easter. For much of my life, the Easter cycle was divided into two parts: Lent, […]

Children love to sing . They carry the theology of the lyrics they sing with them out of the atrium and into their lives. When we look for music in the atrium, we want it to be developmentally appropriate and connected to the essential themes of the faith. In Enjoy and share our "ordinary time" playlists on Amazon Music and Spotify.

Last call! The baptism course begins this week! Register now guidance on how to deepen the understanding of baptism for parents and families in your parish. This course will equip you to prepare parents for the baptism of a child or prepare adults and teens for Baptism, Confirmation and Reception. Rev. Joyce Scherer-Hoock leads this four week, online, live baptism class starting this week! https://cctheo.org/shop/baptized-opening-the-gift/?mc_cid=3b9e0793fd&mc_eid=0e8257b371

Last call! The baptism course begins this week! Register now for guidance on how to deepen the understanding of baptism for parents and families in your parish. This course will equip you to prepare parents for the baptism of a child or prepare adults and teens for Baptism, Confirmation and Reception. Rev. Joyce Scherer-Hoock leads this four week, online, live baptism class starting this week!

Baptized: Opening the Gift - CCTHEO We are excited to launch our first offering of Grace Space Families. Over the next several years, Grace Space Families will offer gifts of the atrium for families at home, to share God’s love and God’s call to live grace-filled lives. The purpose of this class is to provide a curriculum clergy c...

The next session of our highly popular atrium orientation course starts this week! This live, online class offers and overview of the spirituality of children, the Montessori approach, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and gives practical advice about orient children to the space and help them with transitions. It is a great class for assistants preparing to work in the atrium, curious parents who want to know more about CGS, and catechists who will be preparing their assistants to work with them.

Atrium Assistants Orientation · January 2024 - CCTHEO This online course will cover the key points for an atrium assistant serving children 3-12 years old, including: -- Introduction to the spirituality of Children -- Orientation to the space -- Orientation to the Montessori approach -- Orientation to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) -- Helpin...

In these final days of Christmas, can you help us light a candle with a donation to CCTheo? We need your support to help us develop resources, offer courses and foster community and research among catechists. Even a small donation will help- we need to show growing support.

Christmas Appeal 2023 - CCTHEO As our work grows we are adding families at home to our ministry to adults serving children in atriums at churches, schools and homeschooling communities. Watch for a new logo, new programs and new resources to bring the gifts of the atrium into home in 2024. Join us to light a candle for hope, for....

This week we light the third candle for JOY.
Joy leaps from John to Elizabeth to Mary in Luke's account of the Visitation. Elizabeth's greeting and Mary's Magnificat seem to put into words John's leap of joy when he recognizes the presence of the Lord. Young children also recognize the presence of God and respond with joy. We sense it in their quiet work in the atrium, in their artwork and in their voices raised in song or prayer. And we see it in a quiet pose before a model of the Good Shepherd, or the altar, or the Nativity. (adapted from "Faces of Joy," by Catherine Maresca, ECHOES, vol.1, no. 3, Spring 1997)
What JOY have you observed this week?

Share a gift that celebrates the light - from our prophecy prayer cards, free downloadable verses about light, or our beautiful book "From Light to More Light." Follow this link for our colelction...

light Archives - CCTHEO View:1224All Materials for ChildrenProphecies for Advent at Home or in the Atrium $10.00These four Messianic prophecies are presented in the atrium to children beginning at age three, giving them beautiful names and images for Jesus, the Messiah. At home or in the atrium, you can use these with an A...

Find beautiful, meaningful gifts on our website. This detailed recycled glass Earth marble fits perfectly into the palm of the hand. It reminds us to hold the earth and all its people in our hands and heart as we pass it around for our intercessory prayers.
https://cctheo.org/shop/earth-marble/

New to the CCTheo website, order this Advent devotional on sale now! All Creation Waits has beautiful illustrations and text for each of the days of December, reflecting on the ancient wisdom of Advent: The dark is not an end but the way a new beginning comes.

All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings - CCTHEO By Gayle Boss Illustrated by David G. Klein SALE! Enjoy a special sale price from now through Advent, to Christmas. Open a window each day of Advent onto the natural world. Here are twenty-five images of the foundational truth that lies beneath and within the Christ story, with a short reflection fo...

Children's artwork has so much to tell us. What do you notice in this colorful shepherd drawing?

Tonight on zoom! Free! A conversation about how to incorporate children who join the atrium at later ages. Join CCTheo Director Catherine Maresca for this conversation. Sofia Cavalletti said “There is no such thing as remedial catechesis.” True, but where do we begin? How is this working out in your atrium? How are you working with children who missed a year or more during the covid pandemic? Join us as we share in a conversation! Email to register.

CCTheo Conversations · "No Such Thing as Remedial Catechesis." - Sofia Cavalletti - CCTHEO In every course I attended with Sofia Cavalletti she was asked, “What if a child starts CGS as a 6-year-old?” (Or any age older than three.) Sofia always answered, “There […]

Join CCTheo Director Catherine Maresca for a discussion on zoom on Wednesday evening about where to begin when new, older children join an atrium environment. In courses Catherine took with Sofia Cavalletti, Sofia always answered, “There is no such thing as remedial catechesis.” True, but where do we begin? How is this working out in your atrium? How are you working with children who missed a year or more during the covid pandemic? Join us as we share in a conversation!

CCTheo Conversations · "No Such Thing as Remedial Catechesis." - Sofia Cavalletti - CCTHEO In every course I attended with Sofia Cavalletti she was asked, “What if a child starts CGS as a 6-year-old?” (Or any age older than three.) Sofia always answered, “There […]

Do you long for a group that can help you walk through decisions in the atrium and in your life? Our group spiritual companionship seeks to help you better embody the presence of Christ in your life, your home, your atrium, your world. It meets monthly (virtually) and starts next week! Read more and sign up :

Group Spiritual Companionship - CCTHEO Deepen your spiritual walk with monthly group spiritual companionship. Ponder and explore with others the questions, challenges, doubts, joys, and decisions of the mystery of your own life in Christ in and out of the atrium, to better embody the presence of Christ in your life, your home, your atriu...