Happy Reformation Day!

Last night was our annual Reformation Celebration at Clifton Baptist Church -- this year celebrating the lives of John Knox and the Scottish Covenantors. Well over 100 children and adults crowded onto the 4th Floor of our church building (I'm just glad it held us) to play, sing, learn and of course EAT together for this exciting party. I never take enough pictures of things WHILE they're happening, because I'm too excited running around and enjoying it while it's going on. Plus, it's always so PACKED OUT that some photo ops are not possible. Here are a few fun ones that show a bit of what the night was like:

Just a FEW of our amazingly dressed volunteers! This is not even a third of the willing brothers and sisters that helped out to make it a special night. Unfortunately, this is the ONLY picture I have that shows part of the painting we made. I forgot to take a picture of it completed! Sorry! you can see just a tiny portion of the elaborate puppet stage one of our moms labored long and hard to build and paint this week. She and her team put on a puppet show about John Knox's call to preach in "St Andrew's Puppet Theatre". I bet you've never watched a puppet show like that before!

One ongoing activity is kids getting arrested and put in jail. It happens throughout the night while the kids are going around playing games. This year we made it so their clans had to come and pay the price on their heads to free them (I got the idea from reading Danger on the Hill in which Margaret Wilson's 13 year old sister was freed from jail because her father paid the ransom). Everyone basically really wants to get put in jail so they can thrash around and get attention (I guess!). One of my junior high girls, Chrissy, paid the guards to arrest me! This year I made sure to capture that moment on camera. I should be honored to be jailed for standing up for my beliefs, I suppose. I don't look too happy about it here, though! I love the way Bethan is posing with me here!



Look at this precious child in jail! This sad face is so believable, I was beginning to think he was truly sad. I think he might have been missing out on collecting candy or something.



We don't give prizes for costumes, but I'm always amazed with what people pull out! The Wright family (one of our Elders' families) are big history buffs and descendants of the Campbell clan, so they pulled out all the stops last night (as evidenced by this ADORABLE picture of their youngest child in the wig and kilt).
















I also like this picture of 2 of the boys in the youth group chatting by the "fireplace" in the Knox home. Ignore the modern looking trash can! Ha ha!












I better stop with just a few more -- so here are some pictures of a couple booths I really liked. The first one is called Gedes versus Laud and you were supposed to throw the bean bag "stool" at the liturgy book the dean is holding. This booth is in commemoration of Jenny Gedes standing up for what she believed in St. Giles' church. Marilyn and Virginia donned the garb of the common folk to run the booth.





In this one, "Barricading the Priests", you were trying to throw the "priests" (made from socks -- so cute!) through the windows of the "church building". Britney and Courtney sat inside the church, trying to deflect the flying priests and toss them back out. It was really funny to watch the kids hurl them back at them!











One last picture -- this is Caitlin and me having a sip of water in the Knox home. I just love this girl AND all the other great friends that came out for the party! I learned so much about the heritage of my faith this year!
Tomorrow I'm doing a (mini) Reformation Party for story hour at the bookstore. What will I do without all the help?