Dance Like a Pharoah

Evan recently started Church School at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Holden. Some readers may remember that both Brothers YZ were baptized at congregational (UCC) churches. While it was difficult for me to be a Catholic for ideological reasons, it has also been difficult not to be a Catholic for spiritual reasons. Enter the compromise of the Episcopal church which is very similiar to the Catholic Church in its liturgy but much more reflective of my beliefs theologically. I haven't converted officially, but I think it will be the church in which the Brothers YZ grow up.

St. Francis has a wonderful system of Church School that balances the best of both Catholic and Protestant religious education. Unlike in the Catholic Church, the children do not attend CCD on a weekday night and torture their parents and other adults for the entire Mass. Unlike most Protestant churches, children are not excluded from the church service entirely to attend Sunday school. Instead Church School begins 15 minutes before both the Saturday and Sunday Masses, and the children join their parents before Communion.

So far Evan seems to enjoy Church School, and his ability to be quiet and attentive during the Mass is improving weekly. The current focus of Church School is Moses. When Evan joined us at Mass this week, he whispered excitedly to me, "Moses found the burning bush in a cave! And, the Pharoah is both a person and a dance. " He said that he would show me the dance later, and as you can see in the video, he did. I'm not sure exactly in what context the dance was taught, but Evan's interest in the Bible, already high, is growing even more.