We are working at MPC to make more space for our children to learn and grow. From the actual space we’ve made in the back row, to giving children the microphone to share their prayers, we are doing everything we can to make child-sized openings in our grownup-sized church. We know that not all openings appeal to all children, of course. Some love singing and performing for everyone, while others run screaming from the spotlight… which is why we keep trying different ways to include them, hoping eventually to have a large range of ways in which our children can participate. One new idea came forward this Advent when the children did such good jobs with the candle-lighting and the liturgy of the wreath. Those who participated felt proud and important, and those who watched were delighted to see, as the prophet foretold, “a little child shall lead them.”
We do the candle-lighting every Advent, but there is no need to wait eleven months to provide children with the chance to light a candle and read a prayer. Most children are not ready to be “lay leader” and be up front for the entire Celebration service, but they can do a little bit. So we are going to begin offering a similar opportunity throughout the year. We will invite children to light a candle and lead the Call to Celebration each Sunday, the first prayerful words of our worship. Then the lay leader for that Sunday will continue with the Scripture reading and the rest of the service.
Would you like to participate? Cheryl Geckeler, who manages the sign-ups for lay leaders, will also take care of this. So if you are a child (or the parent of a child) who would like to read and light, contact Cheryl at gecke1ers@gmail.com. An enthusiastic reader could take a few weeks in a row, or sign up multiple times.
Thank you all, MPC, for your openness to these little changes, here and there, as we seek to build a strong community of faith with and for our children!
Every Blessing,
Talitha