Friends, I’ve got an idea to share with you. I can’t really say how this idea started or who planted the first seeds of its growth – it seems to have come from many directions simultaneously – but I keep getting those spiritual nudges that seem to indicate its time has come. The idea is to add another weekly gathering into our rich mix of activities here at MPC: an opportunity for fellowship and food, intergenerational relationship-building, and learning with and from one another.
Here is my vision of it so far. On Wednesday nights we would gather in the Family Room for dinner. We would take turns preparing a simple dinner so that most of the participants could just show up, blessedly empty-handed, ready to be fed. Families with children would share tables with teenagers and adults, like we do at Family Hour, mixing amongst one another for the meal. Then after the meal we would separate by age into groups for an informal Bible study. There would be a play group for the littlest ones in the children’s corner, a children’s bible study group at a table in another corner, one table for teens, and one for adults. Each table’s Bible Study would be led by rotating volunteers and could include simple discussion, Q&A quiz games, art projects or prayer responses, text-inspired poetry, or any number of ways to interact with the text. On the third Wednesday of the month we have Taizé, so on those days we would have dinner beforehand and join in the Taizé service.
There are plenty of details and what-ifs we could stress out about, but right now I am in the excitement phase and I hope you can join me there. To me it seems like a great opportunity to increase our fellowship and friendship, to get to know one another more, and to support our learning and faith exploration. What is more, two children and one youth have told me specifically that they want MORE help in learning how to read the Bible, and heaven help us if we do not try to answer that call!
It seems that a trial period would be a good idea, so I am aiming for 6-8 weeks of Wednesday nights in the fall. We will want “critical mass” of enough people committing to it, so while we will save the actual sign-ups for later, please do reach out to me and let me know if you are interested. Or, come to the open meeting of Children & Youth Education Committee (see below – this week before church), where this will be one of the items we discuss.
Every Blessing,
Talitha