An Icon Written by Your Parish's Children
I am a Greek Orthodox iconographer with a special ministry: I work alongside your Sunday School and youth groups so that every child adds their hand to a real icon — then I master their work in the traditional Byzantine style and return a finished icon to your church.
A Ministry of Sacred Art, Made with Little Hands
Icons are not merely decoration — they are windows into heaven, and in the Orthodox tradition they are 'written' with prayer. In this project, the children of your parish become part of that writing. In guided workshop sessions built around your existing Sunday School, HOPE & JOY, or GOYA gatherings, each child contributes artwork to the icon: base layers, borders, gilding preparation, and painted elements suited to their age. I then take the work into my studio and complete it according to the canons of Byzantine iconography — unifying every child's contribution into a single, finished icon. When it returns to your parish, your children don't just see an icon on the wall. They see their own hands in it, for the rest of their lives.
How It Works
1. We plan together — I coordinate with your priest and youth director to choose the icon's subject, size, and schedule around your Sunday School calendar.
2. Children's workshop sessions — I guide your children through age-appropriate contributions in one or more sessions at your parish, with a short teaching on what icons are and why we make them.
3. Mastering in the studio — I unify and complete the children's work in the traditional Byzantine style: drawing, egg tempera, and gold leaf.
4. The icon comes home — the finished icon returns to your parish for blessing and installation, with photos documenting the children's part in its creation.
Choose Your Icon
Three collaborative icons are available for your parish — the Mother of God (Theotokos), Christ Pantocrator, and the Last Supper — each $777. Purchase begins the project; afterward you can schedule the children’s workshop session.
What Your Parish Receives
- A finished icon for your church, incorporating every participating child's contribution
- Guided icon workshops for your Sunday School, HOPE & JOY, GOYA, or Greek School groups
- All materials provided — panel, pigments, and child-safe supplies
- A short teaching for the children on the theology and tradition of Orthodox iconography
- Photo documentation of the process, from first brushstrokes to finished icon
- A project shaped around your parish calendar — a single festival day or a season of sessions
Rooted in Tradition, Completed by a Trained Hand
Every project honors the canons of Orthodox iconography. The children's contributions are woven into the icon's preparation and painting under my guidance, and the final writing — faces, hands, inscriptions, and gold — is completed in my studio according to the received Byzantine tradition. The result is a true icon, worthy of blessing and veneration in your church, that carries your children's hands within it.
Get in Touch
- Email: darrensperling@gmail.com
- Serving Orthodox parishes across the United States
- Projects are scheduled around your Sunday School year — reach out any time
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes.
We estimate up to 90–120 days once the icon has arrived at my studio. This accounts for gilding, painting, any embellishment work, and my tiny pack of homeschool wolf-cub children interrupting me.
Yes.
Ready to Create Something Sacred with Your Children?
Tell me about your parish and its youth ministries, and I will put together a project proposal for your community.