The Flat Project


February 06, 2019

Flat Can Be Fun!

In the Spring of 2018, the Sunday School children of the Shelburne United Methodist Church in Vermont launched their “Flat Project.” This was inspired by the “Flat Stanley” book in which a little boy is unfortunately flattened at home in an accident. However, as he was thin enough to fit in an envelope and be mailed to faraway places, he exclaimed, “Flat can be fun!”

Thus, the Sunday School children decorated flat, cardboard dolls to look like the apostles, Paul, Peter and Mary, who traveled to teach others the gospel of Christ. We shared good news from SUMC, included photos of our beautiful church and Pastor Greg with the kids, as well as our Flat Paul, Flat Peter, and Flat Mary dolls, and sent them to churches all over the world! 

We were thrilled to hear back from the folks of Asbury Crestwood United Methodist Church in Crestwood, New York, The New Garden United Methodist Church in Hanoverton, Ohio, the Union Street Methodist Church in Maidstone, England, and the First United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Reaching Dr. Belinda Forbes, our missionary, in Nicaragua was challenging. It took many, many months, but we were thrilled to read her recent newsletter which included a photo (above) of the children from San Antonio Banacruz smiling as they held up their flat dolls! 

How wonderful that we made a connection with these five Churches! We loved looking at the photos of their Churches and their Sunday School kids and were especially pleased to get treats of peaches and peanuts from our friends in Georgia! 

We are all one, big family!

The Shelburne UMC Sunday School