We have a baptism this Sunday! Baptisms always make me happy. For those who are not Presbyterian we believe that God reaches out to us in love and grace before we are even able to respond. Therefore, we baptize babies as a symbol of that unconditional love and we all promise to bring that child up to come to confess Christ as their Lord and Savior. We all make promises, not just the parents, to that child as it is adopted into God's family.
That is important because parents today need help. Kids face temptation and danger every day. Most families need both parents working to make ends meet. Parents need all the help they can get! So in the church when we make that promise we become foster Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents. We PROMISE to help raise that child.
People complain that the children are absent from church, or when they are there they complain that they are disruptive. One proven statistic from my generation (that is mostly missing from the church) is that those that stayed in the church to adulthood could ALL point to an adult friend in the church that helped with their faith journey. It is not all on the shoulders of their parents. We bear a responsibility too!
In every church I have served I have tried to start an adult/youth prayer partner program to connect the children and the adults. (Look out DeSoto... it is coming...) The kids need relationships with adults to help their faith mature. Try talking to the kids on Sunday morning and see what happens. I am not talking about, "Don't run in the church!" or "You need to be quiet in worship." Ask them about school or what they are doing for summer vacation. Take an interest in their lives. Invite them to sit with you in worship. If you want them to learn how to behave properly in worship, try modeling it for them! You should see the difference that the adults in the choir have made in Martin's life by just taking and interest!
What do you do if a friend of yours misses church several Sundays in a row? You call them to make sure everything is OK. Have you ever thought of doing that for a child. Call them to see why they aren't here. Tell them that you miss them when they are gone! Some of these kids have parents who have to work some Sunday mornings. You could offer to pick them up! Take them to breakfast.
They say it takes a village to raise a child. To raise a mature Christian Adult it takes a church. The whole church should be involved in the nurture of a child. They should think of the church as the place where they see their adult friends. They should think of the church as part of their family.
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