The dinner table may be the only time that today's busy families sit down together and pray together. This book meets families where they are, offering prayers of thanks for macaroni and cheese, fast-food meals, and, yes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Includes rhyming prayers for little kids, dinner-table prayers for special family occasions, and prayers marking the movement of the church year.
Julie B. Sevig is editor of the congregations and community department of The Lutheran Magazine and the former director of resources for ELCA Youth Ministries. She has written Sunday school, vacation Bible school and confirmation curricula for Augsburg Fortress and an elementary peace and justice after-school program for the Youth and Family Institute, Minneapolis.
"This little book with a big heart is a feast of prayers—sung and spoken, new and familiar—for families and others who want to give thanks—at the table and on the go—to the God who feeds us and every living thing."—The Rev. Susan Briehl Associate, Valparaiso [Ind.] Project on Education and Formation of People in Faith
"Taking time to share meals is one of the key marks of a strong family in today’s fast-paced world. In Peanut Butter and Jelly Prayers, Julie B. Sevig turns everyday meals and celebrations throughout the year into creative and sacred moments of prayer, conversation, and connection. In the process, she gives Christian parents a tool for weaving faith into the fabric of everyday life." —Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Co-Director Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence Search Institute, Minneapolis, Minn.
"I love the rhyming prayers and the prayers associated with favourite foods, the prayers for special occasions, the seasons of the church year and daily life. I love the Table Talk questions and know they will help strengthen family relationships and relationships with God. I wish Peanut Butter and Jelly Prayers had been around when I was a kid, but I look forward to using them now as an adult!"—The Rev. Susan C. Johnson, National Bishop Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
"In 'Special Occasions,' readers will find prayers that express a profound sense of God’s presence at special times, both happy and sad, in family life. The prayers found in 'All Through the Year' and 'Ordinary Time' offer a deeply thoughtful entry into the feast days and seasons of the church year. Table talk suggestions invite and extend further conversation and interaction between parents and children making meal times truly sacred opportunities. Sevig’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Prayers is a lovely tribute to the joy and privilege of meals shared and shaped by family prayers."—Julie K. Aageson, Coordinator, ELCA Resource Centers, Fargo, N.D.
"This resource, filled with table graces—and so much more—for families with young children, teaches all the generations to pray together. Find favorite prayers that parents and grandparents grew up praying around their childhood dinner tables. Learn prayers from around the world."—Marilyn Sharpe, Director of Christian Parenting and Cross+generational Ministry The Youth Family Institute, Minneapolis, Minn.
"The dinner table may be the only time that today's busy families sit down together and pray together. Julie Sevig's book meets families where they are, offering table graces for macaroni and cheese, fast-food meals, and yes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. There are prayers for holidays and family celebrations- from birthdays to back-to-school!"—The Kansas City Parent
