The first time that I went to church
I was baptized, you know,
A tiny baby--brought to God
To learn how I should grow.
They made me God's own child that day,
And marked me with His cross,
To carry it through all my life
(It does not show, of course).

I don't remember that day now,
But mother does, you see;
'Twas then she chose my Godparents
Who stood up there with me
And held me in their arms that time;
They promised for me too
The things the Church is asking me
To try my best to do.

LIKE THE BIRDS

I hear the robins singing
Before my dreams are done,
They wake up very early
And sing songs every one;

Their voices are so happy
They sound like hymns of prayer
To thank God every morning
For all His loving care.

They sing to Him all through the day
Until the shadows fall:
I'll thank Him like the little birds
For caring for us all.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

For air and sunshine pure and sweet,
For grass that grows beneath our feet,
I thank Thee, heavenly Father.

For flowers that all around us bloom,
For birds that sing in joyful tune,
I thank Thee, heavenly Father.

For daily blessings full and free,
For all the care Thou givest me,
I thank Thee, heavenly Father.

WHAT TO DO

BEFORE PRAYER

We fold our hands and close our eyes,
And kneel down, when we pray,
So we can keep our minds and thoughts
Upon the words we say.

AFTERWARD

And then our eyes we open wide
To see what we can do;
Unfold our hands so we can help,
They can be useful too;
Rise to our feet, so they will run
On errands through the day:
We like to feel that we can help,
Each in our special way.

AT TIMES

But there are times we cannot kneel
Upon our knees to pray:
When we may wish to speak to God
At any time of day.

And then it means the same to Him
As if we knelt, I know,
If our hearts feel as though they kneel
In praying to Him so.

MORNING PRAYERS

Now I wake and see the light;
Thou, Lord, hast kept me through the night;
To Thee I lift my voice and pray
That Thou wilt keep me through the day.--Amen

The morning bright with rosy light
Has waked me from my sleep;
Father, I know with loving care
Thy children Thou wilt keep.
All through the day, I humbly pray,
Be Thou my guard and guide,
My sins forgive, and let me live
Forever by Thy side.--Amen

(For mother and baby to use together, pointing to eyes, etc.)

Two little eyes to look to God,
Two little ears to hear His word,
Two little feet to walk His ways,
Hands to serve Him all my days.

One little tongue to speak His truth,
One little heart for Him in youth,--
Take them, O Jesus, let them be
Always willing and true to Thee.

A MORNING HYMN

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
We gather every day.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

WHICH ARE YOU?

In the woods close by our house
Live two little birds,
Each one sings its song to me,
But what different words!

One sings all day happily
In all kinds of weather,
One complains the whole day through--
Both right there together.

In the nearby bushes
One bird seems to say:
"Happy, happy, happy,
Happy all the day."

On a sunny tree-top
Sits the other one,
"Oh, dear me," it's sighing,
(Not a bit of fun.)

Happy heart or sad heart?
Whisper now to me
Which of these you'll copy;
I know which I'll be!

REMEMBERING

After I say my morning prayer
I wash myself and comb my hair,
And then I think I'll try my best
To be a good child--then I'm dressed.

And every time at school or play
When things go wrong, I try to say
Low to myself: "Be good today".

But sometimes quicker than a wink
I'm cross before there's time to think;
Then I'm as sorry as can be
And tell God I'm ashamed of me.

But with His help I hope I may
Remember it when next I play.

"THANK YOU"

I have the dearest little dog,
As clever as can be,
Before he has his bone to eat
He looks right up at me
And says "I thank you" ("bow-wow-wow!" )
Before he eats at all,
And then he takes his bone away
Down by the garden wall.

I cannot let our 'Frisky' dog
Be more polite than I
Remembering 'thank you' every time--
And so I really try.

BEFORE WE EAT

Before each meal we fold our hands,
Each standing at his place,
And say our "Thank You" then to God
In one short prayer of grace.

GRACE

"For all we eat and all we wear,
For daily bread and nightly care,
We thank Thee, heavenly Father.

"Lord Jesus, be our Guest today,
And bless this food for us we pray,
That we may grow in Thine own way.

We thank Thee for the flowers so sweet,
We thank Thee for the food we eat,
We thank Thee for the birds that sing,
We thank Thee, Lord, for everything.

Father of all, in Heaven above,
We thank Thee for Thy love;
Our food, our homes, and all we wear
Tell of Thy loving care.

TREASURES AND PLEASURES

When Jesus was a child, I know
He shared His favorite toys--
I wish I were as generous
With little girls and boys.

There are some things I like to share
And even give away
And other things I'd rather have
Myself when I'm at play.

But mother says it's selfishness
Unless I share them all;
I can spare many other things,
But I do love my ball.

And when we have a chance to go
To ride or anywhere--
A place I'd like to go myself--
My pleasures I should share,

And really try to be more glad
To have another go,
When there are seats for only three
And I make four, you know.

READY TO GO

Before we go a-visiting
We bathe and dress so clean,
That mother may be pleased with us
And glad to have us seen;
And when we go to church each week
We make our hearts clean too,
And brush away all naughty things
That sometimes creep in through;
Till we are clean enough to go--
It will please God to see us so.

At least one day in every week
We call at church this way,
Returning visits God makes us
At our house every day.

In Thy house, Lord, and our house too,
Make us clean in all we do,
In all we think and all we say,
And more like Jesus every day.--Amen

AT CHURCH

When we walk through the door we go
To seats called pews, set row on row,
And then we kneel and say a prayer
To God, to make us holy there.

PRAYERS TO USE BEFORE THE SERVICE

Help me to please Thee, Lord, I pray, And love Thee better every day.--Amen

Heavenly Father, help us listen
To Thy words, that we may know
How to please Thee in this service;
Then, Lord, bless us as we go.--Amen

Please help me, Lord, to pray and sing,
And teach my heart its love to bring.--Amen

THE CHOIR

Then sometimes a procession comes
Of many choir boys,
To help us sing our hymns of praise
And thankfully rejoice.
They wear white robes like angels bright
And sing God's praises with delight.

THE MINISTER

After the choir walks the priest
In long white surplice dressed,
He comes to say the prayers and talk
To us and all the rest;
And while he prays we listen hard,
All kneeling there, and then
We make that prayer our very own
By adding our "Amen ".

THE BIBLE LESSONS

And someone reads the Bible then,
Upon the lectern stand;
I like to hear the stories read
About the Holy Land,
And all the things that happened there
I like to hear him tell,--
Sometimes I know the stories too,
The ones that I love well.

THE ORGAN

The organ music helps us sing,
And to the Lord our praises bring.

The sound comes through big pipes, you know,
Like giant pencils in a row.

THE LITANY

Sometimes a prayer-desk is placed
Down near us in the aisle,
And there the minister will kneel
And pray with us awhile.
We say the litany in turn
(The minister and we);
In olden times 'twas different,
They sang the litany,
All marching in processions then
As I should love to do;
I saw some pictures in a book
And that is how I knew.

IN THE PULPIT

At sermon time our minister
Steps up the pulpit stair,
And standing there he bows his head
And says a little prayer.

And then he talks to us awhile
And tells us many things
About the teachings of our Lord,
Whose messages he brings.

And then, because he is our friend,
He tries to help us see
How we can help our Father's work--
How useful we can be.

THE OFFERTORY

I earned two pennies yesterday,
And brought them safely all the way;

They're for the offertory plate--
I keep them in my hand and wait

Until the man stands at the pew,
And then I know just what to do:

I drop the pennies with great care
Into the alms plate waiting there.

For our Lord's work those pennies go--
And I am helping Him, you know.

THE ALTAR

The Altar is all sweet with flowers
And pleasing in God's sight,
And in the center stands the cross--
So shining and so bright
To point the way to heaven above,
And tell us always of God's love.
The candles, gleaming, seem to say
They light God's message on its way.

The Table of our Lord is spread
Where lighted candles shine,
And here the people come and kneel
For holy Bread and Wine;
And so shall I when I'm confirmed,
Holy Communion take,
And kneel there at the Altar too
For our Lord Jesus' sake.

WHEN THE BISHOP COMES

Once in a while our Bishop comes;
He sits in his own chair
That's just inside the altar rail
All ready for him there.
He wears a robe with large white sleeves
And talks to us and prays,
Because our Church is in his care
And he's our friend always.

When there's a class to be confirmed
The congregation stands,
The class kneels at the altar rail,
Our Bishop lays his hands
Upon the head of each in turn,
And says a little prayer
Some day I'll be confirmed myself,
Then I'll be kneeling there.

A PRAYER

(At the end of the service)

Now from Thy house we go our way,
Thy love be with us, Lord, we pray,
And bring us here another day.--Amen

AFTER THE SERVICE

After we've said our prayers and sung,
And heard our Lord's own words,
We go again outside His church
And hear His chirping birds.

We're sure the Lord is glad we came
Into His house to pray,
And know that He walks home with us
And helps us every day.

OUR CORNER

At one end of our living room
We've found a little nook
Where we can squeeze behind the chairs
And take a picture-book;
We have that corner for our own,
Where we can slip away
And be all quiet with a book
At any time of day.

Our church which is so very large
Has now a corner there,
Where we can look at picture-books
And say a little prayer;
For everything is just our size,
And we can reach and see
The pretty pictures and the books--
All there for you and me.

We need not wait till Sunday comes,
But go there any day
To our own corner in the church--
(If mother says we may).

THE SUNBEAM

Today our baby tried to climb
The stairs alone,--I came in time
To see the little toddler there,
A golden sunbeam on his hair
And by his side,--I wondered why
The baby did not fall and cry.

Too frightened to know what to say
I stood and gazed there in dismay
And then it was explained to me,
I saw how it must surely be:--

What looked like rays of clear sunlight
Were really angels' wings so bright,
Enfolding him with tender care
Upon the steep and dangerous stair.

WON'T THEY BE HAPPY!

We love our little friends, the birds,
And when the ground's all snow
We'll give them crumbs and bits of food--
They're hungry then, I know.

And to the children who are sick,
Or cannot run and play,
We'll give some toys we like ourselves,
To make a happy day.

AT SUPPER

I like to see our table spread
In shining candle-light,
With all the flowers we have brought
It is a lovely sight.

And when I watch the candles shine
Upon the flowers that way,
It makes me think about our church,
When people go to pray
At our Lord's Altar Table fair,
With all the lights and flowers there.

A LITANY FOR CHILDREN

Jesus, from Thy throne on high,
Far above the bright blue sky,
Look on us with loving eye:
Hear us, Holy Jesus.

Be Thou with us every day,
In our work and in our play
When we learn and when we pray:
Hear us, Holy Jesus.

When we lie asleep at night,
Ever may Thy angels bright
Keep us safe till morning light:
Hear us, Holy Jesus.--Amen

EVENING PRAYERS

Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me;
Bless Thy little lamb tonight:
Through the darkness be Thou near me,
Keep me safe till morning light.

All this day Thy hand has led me,
And I thank Thee for Thy care;
Thou hast warmed me, clothed and fed me;
Listen to my evening prayer.

Let my sins be all forgiven;
Bless the friends I love so well:
Take us all at last to heaven,
Happy there with Thee to dwell. Amen

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep,
Thy love go with me all the night,
And wake me with the morning light.--Amen

EVENING HYMN

Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh,
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.

Jesus, give the weary
Calm and sweet repose;
With Thy tenderest blessing
May our eyelids close.

Grant to little children
Visions bright of Thee;
Guard the sailors tossing
On the deep blue sea.

Through the long night watches
May Thine angels spread
Their white wings above me
Watching 'round my bed.

When the morning wakens,
Then may I arise
Pure and fresh and sinless
In Thy holy eyes.--Amen

THE STARS

After we sing our evening hymn,
And when our prayers are said,
We like to wish the stars "good night"
Before we hop in bed.

And father tells us stories, too,
Real truly ones, you know,
About the wonderful bright star
That shone so long ago,

That showed the Wise Men where to come,
And led them all the way,
Shining above the manger bed
Where Baby Jesus lay.

I know these stars mean something now--
That He is here tonight,
In all the houses, out-doors too,
Under the stars so bright.

THE BEST GIFT

We children sat, on Christmas Eve,
Around our father's chair;
"Now tell me, children," questioned he,
(Stroking the baby's hair),
"The finest and most precious gift
That God gave Christmas Day".
Then brother John said, "Santa Claus,
It's Santa Claus, I say."
I thought a while and then I saw
The baby's curly head;
"I think it's babies, just like ours,
The finest gift," I said.
"That's very nearly right, my dear,"
And father's eyes were bright;
Said Dicky-boy, "The Christ Child,"
And he had guessed it right.

BIRTHDAYS

Upon the birthday of our Lord
(And that is Christmas Day)
We like to give all kinds of things,
New books and games to play.
Then when our birthdays come around
And every year we grow,
We can give other kinds of gifts--
The kind that do not show.
By helping more and more each year
I'll give myself, you see,
And every year there's more to give
Because there's more of me!

OUR COUNTRY'S BIRTHDAY

Our Country has a birthday too,
The fourth day of July,
And when we see our starry flag
Up high against the sky
We stand and make a fine salute
The flag's our Country's sign;
Our Country is God's Country too
As well as yours and mine,
And we must try to keep things right,
To help it every way,
That God may be so proud of it
And prouder every day.

A PRAYER FOR OUR COUNTRY

Father, who made our native land,
Oh, help and guide it with Thy hand,
And lead it ever in Thy way,
To help Thy kingdom come, we pray.--Amen

AT EASTER

The Easter church bells seem so glad!
Such wondrous news they bring!
They tell us all our Lord is risen,
As joyously they ring;
And that our Lord still lives with us
And blesses us today,
In every country in the world
Both near and far away.

And God loves all these countries too,
So we must be their friend,
And every year when Easter comes
An offering we'll send.

THANKSGIVING

God shows that He remembers us,
In all our work and play
There is so much to thank Him for,
We have Thanksgiving Day.

"FORGET ME NOT"

I like to think the Christ Child played--
When He was small like me--
Out in the fields of that far land
Away across the sea.

And best of all the lovely flowers
(If there it ever grew)
I know He loved that blossom pure,
The color of heaven's blue.

And when the gentle mother called
The Christ Child from His play,
He, whispering to the little flower,
"Forget me not" would say.

And when He says that in my ear
I hope that I may always hear.

Project Canterbury