Initial Prayer
Although Spiritists have no special place or form of worship, Spiritist Groups, Centers or Societies are places at which we gather to study the Spiritist Doctrine and discuss how we can morally apply our knowledge and experiences to improve ourselves and contribute to the betterment of the world around us. It is no surprise then that these institutions undoubtedly play a major role within the Spiritist Doctrine and in the lives of those seeking to further understand the world around us (through serious studies). It is important for the children to understand what the Spiritist Institution actually does. Even if this is not at the Spiritist Education curriculum, it could be a good idea to be included so they can understand how it words and which activities are parts of the centre. This could be a great opportunity to make the children grow to become conscious spiritists who are aware of the Spiritist Doctrine and its objectives.
It could be interesting to invite another worker from the group to talk about the spiritist centre. This person would be seen as a ‘special guest’ who is coming to the youth spiritist education class to talk about the spiritist centre. The explanations and level of knowledge shared with the children will vary in accordance with the age and interest from the class. It is important to highlight the importance of the Spiritist Education Department for the spiritist centre as well.
Here below are some topics which were developed based on activities established at Grupo Espírita Seara do Mestre: www.searadomestre.com.br.
1 – What are the Spiritist Groups, Centers, or Societies?
Nucleuses of study, fraternity, prayer, and activities practiced within the Spiritist principles;
* Schools of spiritual and moral education, operating according to the Spiritist Doctrine;
* Posts of fraternal assistance open to everyone in search for guidance, enlightenment, help, or consolation;
* Workshops which provide participants opportunities to exercise their inner growth through the practice of the Gospel in their activities;
* Places where the children, the youth, the adults, and the elderly have the opportunity to socialize, study, and perform activities together to unite the family under the guidance of Spiritism;
* Retreats of peace which offers participants opportunities for spiritual renewal and fraternal union through the practice of the maxim “Love one another”;
* Nucleuses characterized by the simplicity typical of the first congregations of the nascent Christianity; by the practice of charity; and by the total absence of images, symbols, rituals, or other exterior manifestations; and
* Institutions that represent the fundamental units of the Spiritist Movement.
2 – The origin and the meaning of the name ‘Spiritist Group’ (we are referring to the name of the Spiritist Group Seara do Mestre).
Group: group of people with a common objective;
Spiritist: the study, dissemination, and practice of the Spiritist Doctrine;
Seara: field sown with corn; a place to work; to harvest;
Mestre: master, teacher, instructor; our Master is Jesus.
Summary: Group of people who study and believe in the Spiritist Doctrine. They get together to work, learn and disseminate Spiritism and Master Jesus’ teachings.
3 – How does a Spiritist Group work?
The spiritist group offers the Study of the Spiritist Doctrine, Public Meetings with Talks and laying-on of hands, Fraternal Counselling & Spiritual Treatment, Mediumship, Spiritist Education for Children and Youth, Bookstore and Library.
If you feel it’s necessary, please explain briefly what happens in each activity. For example, in laying-on of hands the spiritual benefactors together with the medium transmit positive energy to the ones who come for healing.
4 – Who manages the Spiritist Group?
With the objective of maintaining the unit of work, the Spiritist Group should be carried out under the direction of a General Coordinator that will guide and supervise the planning of activities and their execution.
5 – Who works at the Spiritist Group?
The spiritist workers are volunteers who study the Spiritist Doctrine. It’s an unpaid job; no one gets paid for it. The spiritist teachers are also volunteers. Children and youth can volunteer at the spiritist centre, if the parents authorise it.
6 – The Importance of a systematized study of the spiritist doctrine
The Spiritist Education for Children and youth is a systematized study group. It should be elaborated, having as its basis, the books of the Spiritist Codification and other complementary books. The Spiritist Doctrine has three interrelated aspects, which convey the essence of Spiritism: Philosophy, Science and Religion.
7 – Please talk about the Spiritist Education for Children and Youth:
Here are some suggested activities:
Closing Prayer
The Group, Center, or Spiritist Society offers meetings of Spiritist Education for Children and Youth to assist, enlighten, and guide them according to the teachings of Spiritism, thereby contributing to their educational process, while also preparing them to assume, in the future, great responsibilities in the Spiritist Movement. It is an extremely important activity at the spiritist groups.
The word Evangelization comes from the Gospel. It is the process which seeks to spread the Gospel and the knowledge of Jesus’ teachings throughout the world. Pease ask the children what the word sowing means. You can explain it is the place where grains are sowed under special conditions (light, fertilizers, water, etc). It will need protection and nutrition until it germinates and becomes strong enough to be transplanted into the soil. The spiritist teacher could now make an analogy by saying the children, who are taking part at Spiritist Education for Children and Youth, are the seeds; the future spiritist workers. They are now being prepared, since early age, to work side by side with Jesus to make the word a better place to live. Jesus is the greatest moral example for humankind.
You could ask, depending on the class, if they know some of the principles of the Spiritist Doctrine: belief in God, belief in the existence of spirits (immortality of the soul), reincarnation, law of cause and effect, the plurality of habited worlds, and the communication between spirits and living people through mediumship.
Activity 1:
Give each child a large white heart or paper from which to cut a large heart. Please ask them to draw the spiritist centre and the people that are part of it into the heart. In the front part of the heart it should be written the phrase: "The spiritist centre is a school; a place of love ".
Click here to find an example
Activity 2:
please ask the children to draw what the spiritist centre means to them.
Click here to find some of the drawings made by the children.
