Dear Faith Des Peres Family,
This Sunday we have seven 3rd-5th graders who will receive their first Bible during worship. Giving Bibles to these young people is really a rite of passage in the Presbyterian church. I still have the Bible I received from my church when I was that age. In many ways it serves as the precursor to confirmation and is one more step in their journey of faith. I hope you’ll be here Sunday to support them.
Coincidentally, this Sunday we’ll hear the story from Luke about Jesus returning to the synagogue where he grew up to preach a sermon there. Spoiler alert: it didn’t go so well. Can you imagine one of the young people here coming back in 20 years and preaching for you? What if they said something you didn’t like? How would you react? On Sunday we’ll explore that story and how to listen with open ears to messages we’d rather not hear.
Next week I’m headed to Chicago for the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators Conference. This is the mecca of conferences for educators, and I’m excited to see what’s new in faith formation, especially as we live into our Vision 20/20 goal of “bringing generations together in learning, caring, praying, celebrating, serving faithfully and inspiring the passion to make Christ known.”
See you Sunday,
Annie