This is Our Church: a Guide for Children

Explains through words and pictures the different parts of a Catholic church, such as the altar, ambo, music center, and confessional.

Why are the doors to the church special? What is the gathering space for? Where is the worship space, and what do we do in it? Such questions are common among children whose knowledge of the terms and places in a church are limited. In This Is Our Church Monsignor Comiskey teaches children about sacred space and how to appreciate each of the areas or objects in a church. This Is Our Church follows three groups of children through a church as they discuss the significant structures of the building and the places and objects used for worship (the doors, atrium, statues, baptistry, sanctuary and nave, altar, presider's chair, ambo, music center, stations of the cross, reconciliation rooms, sacristy, and the ambry). Each chapter concludes with questions about the subject that may be readily answered by children. Through engaging text and artful computer illustrations, This Is Our Church helps children to apply what they have learned in the book to what they actually see and experience in their own parish church. Children, parents, teachers, and pastoral ministers will find it perfect for home study or use at Mass. Chapters include "Our Church," "The Doors," "The Atrium," "The Baptistry," "The Worship Space," "The Altar," "The Presider's Chair," "The Ambo," "The Music Center," "The Ambry," "The Stations of the Cross," "The Reconciliation Rooms," "Statues and Images," "The Sacristy," and "The Blessed Sacrament Chapel.""Remarkable, delightful . . ." Crux of the News