Our youth at St Andrew’s Episcopal Church are growing in knowledge and understanding of the Holy Scriptures as they study together and take time to ask many valuable questions. We did an 8 minute youtube romp through all the books of the Bible, spoke of the timeline, origins, the different languages.
Their pre-class work was to take a virtual tour of the Bible Museum in Washington DC prior to class. We discovered that there are many Bible translations. Stay tuned to our next updates to see how our youth are learning and growing together spiritually which will strengthen them both now and through to adulthood.
Today, with the temperature only 41 degrees, we gathered and hiked, in the midst of the beauty of God’s creation and in friendship. Our youth were tasked with finding the right place to share communion. And they found the perfect spot.
Our young people read the lessons, led the prayers, led us in the Holy Eucharist service. Mother Barbara consecrated the elements but the young people did everything else. We listened to a story which spoke about tolerance and hearing all peoples’ perspectives and tied that into the scripture passage from Isaiah where God is building something new for the Israelites.
Theresa distributed the bread and Parker offered the wine and we shared some people moments in communion with Christ and each other.
It was a wonderful way to spend part of the afternoon.
Each month, our young people gather together to prepare their hearts and minds for the commitment of Confirmation– that Sacramental Rite when they affirm their baptismal vows and become adult members of our parish. Our curriculum this year is centered around the Episcopal Church’s The Way of Love, the seven spiritual practices that can help us to follow Jesus. This past month our young people learned about the spiritual practice of God. Their activity was drawing their image of God, for how we imagine and name God tells us actually a great deal of what we believe of God and/or what we have experienced of God. This class meets every 4th Sunday of the month from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All young people are welcome. They can bring friends too!
Every month our young people gather to ask remarkable questions and to learn about our Eucharistic service. We work our way through the Eucharistic service, this past Sunday learning about and creating our own Opening Acclamation and Collect (collecting prayer). Here’s an example of our young people’s great work:
Opening Acclamation —
Celebrant: Bow down and open your arms to the Lord; Let your soul be open to God; and thank the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.
People: We open our souls and feel happy. The forgiveness of sins is glorious!
The most important part of the class is when they are encouraged to ask any questions on their hearts. Their hands shoot into the air, with their minds racing, and their hearts wanting to know more about God than ever. They ask questions such as “Who created God?” or “Did those miracles really happen?”
This is an alive and energized group of young people who want to know God and know about God. How blessed we are!
Our young people are amazing and have the ability to see the holy around, among, and within them. We wanted them to have an opportunity to share all this with their bishop, Audrey Scanlan, during her visit with us on Sunday.
Using a format that involved sharing, silence, meditative chanting, and the ringing of a singing bowl, children and adults gathered together to share the sacred in their lives and in their church experience. Themes of finding God in comfort, love, peace, wholeness, and in nature came from our hearts. It was clear that the children find God often and in many places, including in our church, through their offering of their musical talents, through the people near them, through the support others have given them, through the safety of the community, through the proximity to the altar, through their service as acolytes, and through the hearts of others. One young person said that when she sings in front of the congregation, it is clear to her that God is looking back at her through all the people gathered.
How blessed we are that we have young people who are being formed well in their faith, with eyes opened to the presence of God within, around, and among them. Thank you to all who support our young people in their faith formation. I believe it’s making a big difference to them — and to us!
It seemed appropriate that the gospel text for the day of the Bishop’s visit was on Jesus’ mountaintop experience which transfigured him and transformed the disciples in their understanding of Jesus’ identity and their shared mission. That’s what happened yesterday when Bishop Audrey Scanlan led us in worship, confirmed those ready to commit anew to their faith, blessed a parish member and resident of The Episcopal Home who wanted to reaffirm her faith, engaged in the sharing of stories and experiences of the sacred, and met with our vestry. It was a mountaintop experience for us all! We left, coming down from the mountain, changed and clearer of who we have become as a parish and what God has placed on our hearts to do. We all offered the depth and breath and best of ourselves to God and each other — and the Holy Spirit gathered us all together to bring God’s glory into our world.
We are so grateful for our bishop’s pastoral guidance and leadership and her ability to enter fully into our life as a parish and to enhance it.
We offer our congratulations and blessings upon the people who were confirmed or who reaffirmed their faith yesterday:
Emma Eshleman
Cameron Gilbert
Bramley Hawkins
Della Hawkins
Shannon O’ Donnell
Zachary Rhodes
Laurel White
Dolly Koehler
One of the very meaningful parts of our bishop’s visit was the time she spent with our younger members. We gathered in a circle and shared an object that is special to us and why and then shared where we each find God at St. Andrew’s. After each person’s sharing, we entered into a time of silence, then chanting, which seemed to draw us ever closer to each other and with God. What was remarkable and stunning to me was that all of our young people seemed to speak so naturally about finding God at St. Andrew’s. It was as though this is the most natural thing in the world. For many of us, it is. But for some, those two things, spirituality and the institutional church, don’t always come together. I feel blessed that we at St. Andrew’s are forming our young people to expect to discover God in what they do here at church and in the people gathered. One of the most touching responses for me was when one of our young people mentioned that when they stand up in front of the congregation to sing, they are aware of God looking back at them through the people in the pews.
The bishop spent time getting to know the vestry members and exploring what the term missional means. This word takes the more familiar concept of outreach and expands and extends it to speak of experiences where all those involved are changed and transformed. There is a mutuality of growth that happens when we move from doing something FOR someone to doing something WITH someone in such a way we are all changed and our lives are enhanced.
I know the bishop’s visit is one day which is etched in my heart, now and through all eternity. This is what church is all about. Many blessings, Mother Barbara
This Sunday we had a special offering for our young people ages 9-12 year olds.
Once a month we engage the curriculum “Building Faith: Brick by Brick”. It’s a time when our young people listen to a story from our scripture and then reflect on how it connects to their life, and then they build with LEGOs something in response. It’s all about helping our young people hear something from God’s story and figure out how it’s a part of their story.
This past Saturday, our vergers, whose ministry is centered around hospitality and worship preparation, trained several young people to be crucifers. It is very important to us that our young people find their place within our worship leadership. Our Book of Common Prayer states that all baptized are full members of the Church and we honor that by involving our young people in as many roles as possible at St. Andrew’s.
Crucifers carry the cross and lead the procession into the church (symbolizing the awareness of Christ’s presence among us), carry the gospel book (symbolizing the proclamation of the good news of Christ among the people), bring the offering to the altar for blessing (symbolizing everyone’s offering of their whole self to God), help set the table (symbolizing the holy preparation of the Great Thanksgiving as being of and for the people of God) assist at the altar (ring the sanctus bells, symbolizing the especially holy moments of the Eucharist), fill the second chalice (symbolizing the distribution of the holy elements to the people), and carry the cross in the retiring processional (symbolizing our taking the cross of Christ into the world).
As you can see, crucifers do important and holy work!
