Children are our Present: A word to the people of St. Paul's

A major reason that Lori and I feel called to St. Paul’s Memorial Church is that this parish is truly multi-generational. We have been deeply impressed by the level of commitment to serving all of God’s children of every age. We especially marveled at the energy of the children at the Shrine Mont weekend in July, and I was amazed at seeing four generations standing at the baptismal font at our recent Sunday baptisms.

Yet there is much more that we can be doing to centrally involve children and young adults in every aspect of our worship and spiritual life at St. Paul’s. This fall we will launch several new programs for young people, and we will make several exciting additions to our 10 a.m. service to more fully involve children and young adults in our worship experience.

 To learn more, please come to one of two informational meetings following the 10 a.m. service on Aug. 24 and Aug. 31. Here are a few highlights:

·      We are launching the “Godly Play” education program for K-5 children. Godly Play is hugely successful and popular throughout the Episcopal Church, and works well in every size parish, both large and small. The goal of Godly Play is to teach children the art of entering into religious language and sacred scriptural story so that they become more fully aware of God’s presence in their life. And it is fun for children and their adult leaders. We need adult commitment and involvement to make this work. If you are interested please contact Iris Potter. 

·      Our teenage youth group will have its regular meetings after the 10 a.m. service each Sunday, with lunch provided. This will allow our young adults to more fully explore the themes they have experienced in our worship service, and to be more directly involved in the service itself. For more information, please contact Janet Legro.

·      We are looking for teenage and young adult readers on Sunday mornings. We will have an Old Testament and an Epistle reading each Sunday and we would love to have at least one young person every Sunday read a Scripture lesson for the congregation. Please contact David Nelson or the church office to become a reader.

·      The Youth Choir will be regularly featured singing an offertory anthem. To join the choir, contact Albrecht von Gaudecker.

·      And stay tuned for the children’s procession and blessing on Sunday morning! More on that later!