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Cheryle R. C. Hanna
In 1999, the summer after her first year in seminary Reverend Cheryle R.C. Hanna gave her first Lesson for the Heart to the children at the Shiloh Baptist Church of Wilmington, Delaware. She didn't...view moreIn 1999, the summer after her first year in seminary Reverend Cheryle R.C. Hanna gave her first Lesson for the Heart to the children at the Shiloh Baptist Church of Wilmington, Delaware. She didn't know much about Children's Ministry, but was raising four young ones, kindergarten to eight grade and thought the hardest part was introducing one to the other. She trusted God would do the rest. Rev. Hanna gave what she would say a great deal of thought and planning to her idea but had never written a script. In the spring of 2016, the pastor of an emerging church community had to leave his small family and congregation to complete Doctoral research. During the absence, she met with his young sons each week sharing the Lesson for the Heart she had shared with the children of her own congregation. Her objective was to check on them, encourage them and their mother and pray with them. After their father's return, she thought she would be released from her duties, but not so. Each week the boys looked for Rev. Hanna and the 'lesson' for the day. She began writing Lessons so it could become a part of their service with members to bear the responsibility of sharing the Lessons for the Heart with the children each week. Her book was born.
Through the completion of work at Princeton Theological Seminary for her Master of Divinity and McCormick Theological Seminary for her Doctor of Ministry, the importance of the biblical text has been impressed upon Rev. Hanna. She drank deeply from the well on effective preaching, believing that preaching is at the heart of worship and that the preaching moment allows us to celebrate all God is doing, has done, and will do on behalf of both adults and children.
After years of volunteering with children through Girl Scouts of America and Junior
Achievement and while sharing God in Presbyterian, Lutheran and Baptist churches, Rev. Hanna appreciated children learn through everything. She believes that when children play, they learn. When they sing, they learn and when they move, they learn best. She breaks the rules, by giving the children cake on Church Anniversary Sunday and liquid bubbles blowers on Pentecost. She is not afraid to use her Mechanical Engineering degree to include math and science, and her love of cooking shows itself in wonderful ways. The custodial staff and the sainted mothers may give her the side-eye, but the children love it and remember.
Rev. Hanna's goal is introducing children to God. Her philosophy for the objects used in Lessons for the Heart may be best compared to a saying from the play 'Dirty Hands' by a French intellectual, Jean-Paul Sartre and made popular by Malcolm X, "By any means necessary." Rev. Hanna tells of a mom who reported that her daughter insisted on wearing Sunday's name tag to school, so she could tell her friends what she learned about God. Though it has been many years since her first assignment to speak to the children, and as a solo pastor Rev. Hanna could ask others to give these lessons, but she keeps this joy for herself. She loves the look in the children's faces when they understand and seeing God through their eyes builds and encourages her throughout the less exciting tasks of ministry.view less
Books by Cheryle R. C. Hanna
Solving the Love Puzzle: Break Free from Fear and Create Long-Lasting Intimacy