Candice's Comments

Change is in the air! Besides the cooler temperatures, our programing with children is changing, adapting, growing. And it is so exciting to see the energy this change is bringing!

Since October 14, 2007, Luci Collins has coordinated the Worship and Wonder Program during Sunday morning worship for 3-10 year olds. Luci and others who have given leadership to Worship and Wonder have helped children hear Bible stories in a way that allows them to enter into the stories and form

responses out of their own experiences.

Sounds pretty wonderful, doesn’t it? And it is! Why I’ve even heard adults say they wish they could respond and have conversation with me regarding the sermon. We help clarify our own thoughts and beliefs when we can converse with another, when all ideas are welcome and when openness is encouraged. It is a gift we give one another.

Yes, Worship and Wonder has been wonderful! We celebrate and give thanks for Luci’s insights and

leadership, for the children’s opportunity to express themselves in a safe and secure environment, and for the church’s commitment to the spiritual life of its children.

Now it is time for a new thing! Isaiah 43:19 says:

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

And that new thing is: Starting Sunday, September 6, children will remain in worship.

Worship is one of the basic ways people learn what it means to be Christian. Children learn to worship by worshiping with the congregation Sunday after Sunday.

¨ They learn they belong to Christ and are welcome in Christ’s church.

¨ They come to know the Lord’s Prayer and the Doxology by heart.

¨ They build a fund of memorable, shared experiences of Christian community from which they may draw when they are older.

¨ They are enriched by the beauty of the music and art as expressions of praise and as human

        responses to God.

¨ They hear stories from the Bible and begin to see Christian worship as one place where God may speak to them.

¨ They witness the drama of baptism and communion as signs of God’s grace and love.

¨ They discover that they are valued as persons by God and the people of the church.

And bringing children to worship may not always be easy, but it is an essential part of their growth in Christ. (See “Dear Parents with Young Children in Church” by Jamie Bruesehoff  on page 4)

A special creativity table in the sanctuary will encourage children to be involved not only with their ears but with their eyes and hands. It will provide supplies to feed their souls and help with the “wiggles” and need for movement that is a part of who they are. (Adults need this too sometimes and take it upon themselves to get up and move when they need to.)

Children in worship…Yes, it will be a change! Get ready to welcome it!

Blessings,

Pastor Candice