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BOOKS from THE SUNDAY PAPER Written and
illustrated by Gretchen Wolff Pritchard
CELEBRATION - LEARNING - DRAMA
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| GO, TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN Four Christmas Pageants for Church Schools By
Gretchen Wolff Pritchard Third Revised and Expanded edition, 2017
- “Good News of Great Joy,” a Nativity play with carols;
- “A Child of Might,” an adaptation in verse of medieval mystery plays;
- “People Look East,” a dramatized service of lessons and carols with Eucharist;
- “The Day of His Coming,” based on the readings for Advent IV, and customized for Year A, B, or C.
The scripts may be used alone or as part of a Sunday service. Full production notes are included.
Purchasers of the book receive permission
to copy the contents for use in their own congregation or ministry. Spiral bound, 8½ by 11” Order code: Books04 Price: $30.00
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| “Ms. Pritchard seems to have an amazing understanding
of the way music, drama and liturgy interact. Her plays are simple to mount and are much more than simply acceptable.
You’re really interested, even if it’s not your kid up there acting it out. Part of the reason is a subtle but
persistent theological sophistication that underlies all the scripts.”
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Music Commission Newsletter, Diocese of Massachusetts
“So many people commented on how moving,
different and really special the pageant was this year. In the words of one of our ‘more mature members’:
‘This was NO CHILDREN’S CIRCUS! This was THE SERMON!’ No small compliment! When our priest
did the announcements following the Peace, he was teary-eyed as he addressed the congregation.”
- E’Lane Rutherford, Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church, Pawleys Island, SC
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RISEN WITH CHRIST
Celebrating the Paschal Mystery with the Parish Family
by Gretchen Wolff Pritchard
RISEN WITH CHRIST offers a rich variety of resources for celebrating Holy Week and Easter with
all ages in the parish family. It includes suggestions for classroom and hands-on activities with children in preparation
for Holy Week; an essay on celebrating the liturgies of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil; and the full
script, production notes, and sheet music for “The Lord of Life,” a pageant for Eastertide incorporating Scripture,
movement and song.
Purchasers of the book receive permission to copy the scripts and sheet music for
use in their own congregation or ministry.
Spiral bound, 8½ by 11”
Order code:
books05
Price: $21.00 |
| “I was so taken by what I read in ‘Risen With
Christ’ that I adapted it to a Vacation Bible School format. We stretched out your one-day program into five, and
it was really one of the best we have ever experienced, and everyone who was involved in it is still glowing.”
- Harriet Claiborne, St. Michael’s, Barrington, IL
“We did ‘The
Lord of Life’ this weekend and I wanted to tell you what a wonderful experience it was for all of us—children
and adults—building community, reminding us of how sight and sound are important ways we experience God, breaking
down the child/grownup dichotomy in the way we think about worship.”
- Lydia Agnew Speller, Christ Church, Reading, PA |
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| I LOVE CHRISTMAS
A holiday book about family
and parish celebration!
by Gretchen Wolff Pritchard,
with Margaret Pritchard. 78 pages.
Illustrated with full-color photographs.
I LOVE CHRISTMAS is about celebrating God’s gift of a Savior as Christian families really celebrate it—in
the family and in the Christian community, each with its special wonders. Ten-year-old Margaret introduces us to her family
Christmas traditions—the home-made creche, the tree with real candles—and to equally well-loved traditions in
her racially mixed urban parish, including a food pantry, late-night Eucharist, and the wonderful Christmas pageant, “People
Look East.” |
| FROM “I LOVE CHRISTMAS”: “The Angel of the Lord wears priest’s vestments as a costume. Marsden plays the part in his
stocking feet and he likes to wear socks that are weird colors, like pale green or bright yellow. The way he plays the Angel
of the Lord makes you see how something can be fun and solemn at the same time.”
“The girl who plays Mary gets to bring a doll to be the baby. Myisha
doesn’t like dolls, so Tim, who played Joseph, brought his old Cabbage Patch doll.”
“When we were all clustered at the back, Marsden stood alone in front of the tree for the very last reading. ‘I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end ... I am the root and the offspring of David,
the bright morning star ... he who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon.’ And with a sweep of his
arm, he threw a huge handful of glitter over the congregation.” | Children will share her joy in yearly rituals, growing in depth as she grows in understanding year by year, and
her pleasure in Christian fellowship as young and old are drawn together in celebration and service, in song, story, and
prayer.
The description of the pageant incorporates quotations from Scripture and hymns, deepening the
book’s message as a Christmas story. Full color on every page gives this holiday book the appeal of a family photo
album.
For children 8 to 12, or for reading aloud with 5 and up.
Order code: Books03
Price: $16.50
“I just read through ‘I Love Christmas.’ What a sweet read! I absolutely loved the book
... it brought tears to my eyes.”
- Renée Hostetler, Licensed Kindermusik Educator
Saratoga Springs, NY
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