Snap Shots from Church School

Sometimes the prayers of children are so sincere and true, they touch the very core of my being. This past Sunday, I invited the children to prayer the same way I do every week. I told them that we can tell God all the things that we are thankful for, things that make us sad, things that we are happy about and things that we might be worried about. The children always offer up prayers of gratitude - "Thank you God for my friends," they pray, or "Thank you God for my family." Those are the two that are most often offered up to God. This week though, one little voice piped up and prayed, "Dear God, help us to end all the wars." And then shortly there after another voice prayed, "Please help all the people in Japan after the Tsunami." And that's exactly how I wanted to pray - please help us end all the wars, and help the people of Japan... Children know what's going on in the world, and there is nothing more true, or more sincere than a child offering up a prayer to God.

Notes from a pastor's life

Last week I officiated at two memorial services - which is highly unusual. At the first one there were several young children in attendance, grandchildren of the man who had passed away. After the service was over and the reception was winding down, I went into the sanctuary to put away all the AV equpment we had used. The little children were running around the sanctuary squealing with laughter, sliding under the pews, running up and down the long aisles. They were having a grand time. One of the adults was appalled at the behavior of the children and swooped them all up and told them to get out of the sanctuary. The sanctuary, in her mind, was not a place to play.

But I thought, after the sadness of a memorial service, God must have loved hearing the laughter and the squealing of the children. Although I understand the need for solemnity in the sanctuary, at times, I also think it is wonderul that children can feel free to be who they are in this space of worship.

Halloween Sunday

Last Sunday, on October 31st, I witnessed the power of community. It began with Prudence Smith, a member of our church who must be close to 90 years old. On Sunday as we were munching on "witches fingers" and "eyeballs" (gross, just gross!) I asked her to join me in going through the haunted house put on by the Middle School Youth. We walked through it together, hand in hand, watching out for creepy characters popping out of nowhere and hands reaching out for our feet. When we finally made it through the darkness and landed in the light, she looked at me wild-eyed and said, "How in the world did they do that?"
She was clearly impressed by the the youth's haunted house, and I was impresseed by her willingness to walk through it. There is something powerful about having people of different generations enjoying each other's presence. There are few places in our lives where that happens any more - but Halloween Sunday at this church was definitely an expereince of that. It was marvelous and wonderful. It was all the best of what a church community can be about. Now I just wish I had some pictures to go with it!

Snap Shots from Church School: Spiritual Accounts

The song came floating in from the back seat of the car on the drive home from soccer prqactice. "Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me," sang the little boy. This is the story one grandmother told me a few weeks ago.
Sometimes when I think of teaching children songs and stories, I think we are making deposits into their spiritual accounts. I know there are times in my life when a song, a saying or a scripture verse just comes floating into my mind - something I needed to remember at just the right moment; something I pulled out of my spiritual account that someone helped me deposit earlier in life.

We are trying to give children an account of spiritual tools to draw from through out their lives - in moments of celebration and in moments of struggle.

Snap Shots from Church School (October 10, 2010)

Selfless Giving:

This Sunday was the first time I didn't go into worship with the adults, but spent the entire time with the children moving from one classroom to another. ( I hope to be able to do that at least once a month). Each class had its own tone, some more reflective and quiet, others more exuberant. While I am immensely grateful for all our teachers, I was struck this week by the number of teachers we have who teach, even though they have no children or grandchildren in our church school program. They are models of selfless giving to me - of giving beyond themselves for the good of the larger community. They teach with joy, they teach out of a place of deep faith, they live out their baptismal coveanant - to love and accept every member of our community. To these teachers, I give thanks.

Amy

Snap Shots from Church School (October 3, 2010)

Feeding the Spirit...
This 4th grader admited that she didn't want to come to church that morning. Her family had gotten out of the habit of going to church over the summer, and getting back in the habit just seemed too hard. But mom and dad were going - so she would be going too.

She came into children's church and let the music of the morning wash over her. She later learned the Lord's Prayer in sign language and thought it was so beautiful. On the car ride home from Church School she told her parents, "I'm so glad we went to church today!"

It's true for me too - that even on the Sundays when I find it difficult to come to church, (yes, there are those days for me too), I find hidden treasures of love and joy when I come here, and my spirit is fed.

Each week the spiritual lives of about 30 children are treasured and fed through our Church School Program. I invite you to be a part of this amazing journey by volunteering your time and your presence to these children and I am sure that you will find your spirit fed at the same time.

Snapshots from Church School

This Sunday we baptized a little boy, only two months old. Whenever we baptize a child, the poeple of the church are always asked by the minsiter if we will love the child who is being baptized. In baptism we celebrate the love of God in the life of a child and we also make a pledge to that child to make God's love known to that child.

Clearly the children were learning that message these past few weeks in church school. Last Sunday I noticed a lot of the children were enthusiastically teaching thier parents how to say, "God loves you," and God loves me," in sign language. There is no other place in our lives where children will receive this important and significant statement of faith - that the love of God can be found and celebrated in everyone's life. In Church School we steep our children in that message of that love. And that is the very foundation from which faith begins to grow.

Thanks to all the volunteers of the church who make this happen every week!

Amy