Teach Your Children Well
It's been an exciting and busy summer as we have prepared all the elements of the new web site for our parish. The depth of information is awesome! And one of the new perquisites is that we can expand the information and materials as needed. Prior to this new site, our articles were restricted by the number of pages in the printed Dove and we did not have editing capabilities on the old web site as we do with this new resource.
Thinking about what it is that summarizes my responsibilities as Director of Children's and Youth Ministries, it is the opportunity to share best educational practices with parents and offer invitations for participation. As one principle of children's ministry states: to inform, form and transform: a worthy goal of Christian Formation.
Our parish theme of a Spiritual Journey this year lends itself to all sorts of metaphors of being "on the road". And with that image, there are some really wonderful "road" songs that are rich with life lessons. One in particular that came to mind is the Crosby Stills and Nash song Teach Your Children Well. The lyrics, in part, are: You who are on the road must have a code that you can live by - teach your children well. Teach your children what you believe in. Make a world that we can live in.
So the question is: what will we teach our children? What is the code that we will live by? In our Christian Formation Program, we will strive to teach the children and youth of this parish that they matter to us as a community. We want them to know God, not just facts about God. We want to teach them about the beautiful creation of God's world and the beauty in each other as God's own creations. Through parables and prayers, with puppet stories and singing, on walks to the beach or challenging team building retreats, the opportunities are here.
With these various articles, and in updated pages on our website, the hope is that your family will join us on this spiritual journey. I welcome your input and ideas to ensure that we are meeting the needs of your family. Please contact me at mrjohnson@holycomforter.org
