WARREN — In the hall of St. Jean Baptiste Church, students in the parish confirmation class raced each other to Rome, marching in sandals and picking up swords along the way — all in an effort to learn more about St. Paul.
The students were playing, “Following in the Footsteps of St. Paul,” a Trivial Pursuit-style game created by Father Peter Gower, pastor of St. Jean Baptiste Church and St. Mary of the Bay Church.
“All year we’ve been doing different things relating to St. Paul,” said Father Gower. “But this was the first time we’ve done something like this. It was a new way to teach about St. Paul and make it exciting for the kids.”
Father Gower is placing an emphasis on St. Paul in his teachings this year, in honor of the Year of St. Paul the Apostle, which began on June 29, 2008 and ends on June 28, 2009. It marks the 2,000th year since the birth of St. Paul, and has been declared a Jubilee Year of Celebration by Pope Benedict XVI.
In preparing for the game, each student had written papers and reported on various aspects of St. Paul’s letters, life and missionary work.
“Following in the Footsteps of St. Paul,” was played on a 10’x10’ specially-designed floor mat made by St. Mary of the Bay parishioner Charlie Francis, who had owned a banner and sign company before retiring. The mat had dotted “footsteps” leading around the square and to the finish line; a center dot marked “Rome.”
The students worked in teams, using sandals as markers as they advanced along the path of dots with each correctly-answered question about St. Paul. When the students finished a category, they collected a wooden sword, symbolic of the saint. After collecting a sword in each category of study, they advanced to the circle designated as “Rome” to win.
As each team grew closer to Rome, the game came down to a final question: “What was the only letter written by St. Paul in which he addresses a location he had yet to visit?”
The answer: Romans.
“It’s a good way to learn about St. Paul, because you get to work with your team the whole time,” said Tim Tarantelli, 14, who was part of the winning team. “You get to hear all their different points of view, and they can help explain things in a different way.”
Father Gower agreed, “I’ve never seen the kids so involved or engaged in their studies before. It was tremendous.”
