Too often science and religion are put at odds with each other, even though they address different questions about the mysteries in the universe. This April communities of faith have a great opportunity to embrace the wonder of science with the solar eclipse that will occur across North America on April 8th between 11:07 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Mexico’s Pacific coast and 5:16 p.m. Newfoundland Daylight Time on Canada’s Atlantic coast.
For congregations in the path of the total eclipse, this is a great opportunity to practice hospitality by welcoming the community or even folks or other congregations from out of town to use your parking lot and restrooms. An eclipse-themed bake sale decorated with kids’ drawings of the sun and moon together would be a great hit.
Whether your congregation is in the path of totality or just anticipating a partial eclipse, there are a lot of options for what to do. For kids who will be in school during the eclipse, but may be checking it out during class, a Sunday school lesson on the eclipse, with a tie-in to Genesis 1’s creation account, where God creates light and dark, sun and moon, would be a great way to support their learning. Talking about important safety, like not looking directly at the sun, would also engage with them about science and support their families and schools in keeping them safe.
For a craft, you could have kids decorate a thick piece of cardstock or cardboard and then punch or poke a hole in it so that they’ll be able to watch the hole of light become a crescent during the eclipse. When you talk about the eclipse on Sunday, it’s also important to follow up with kids the next time you see them to ask about it, whether that is at midweek programming or the following Sunday.
For congregations not directly in the path of the total eclipse, talking about the eclipse can help kids connect where they are with where others are. If they get to experience the partial eclipse, they could also talk with extended family and friends who live in the path of the total eclipse. If you know someone who lives in the path of the total eclipse, you could also see if they are willing to talk to your kids about the eclipse the weekend after (April 14th) to share pictures and what it is like over zoom or recorded in a video.
Additionally, many science centers both in and outside the path of the eclipse are hosting special events and putting out information about the eclipse. Supporting them, using their resources, maybe even seeing if you can bring the staff baked goods for all the extra work they are doing, helps further your congregation’s connection to the community and reinforces the connections possible between science and religion.
