Childlike Vulnerability

How many of us have day-dreamed about being great? Imagined that at the end of our lives- or preferably during it- someone might say “that Fiona Jenkinson, she was great”. Greatness means different things to different people I guess, so what might that mean to you?

It might be lifting the FA cup as the captain of your beloved football team, taking the chequered flag at Silverstone and being crowned F1 world champion, could be winning an Olympic gold medal or a Nobel prize in your chosen field. It might mean being Prime Minister or Archbishop of Canterbury. It could be heading up a charity that’s able to support a huge number of people in need. 

This kind of greatness is all to do with achievement and it’s usually something you can see reflected through other people’s eyes, that external validation boosts our own ego and helps us to confirm to ourselves, yes I am pretty great. 

It’s probably the case that as Christians we believe greatness to be something very different from these achievement based factors, that it might be something closer to the teaching in the reading from James this morning, that to be truly great we might possess the wisdom of God, first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 

This makes me curious as to how the disciples were defining greatness in our gospel reading, and what led them to be having that discussion is the first place.

We find them with Jesus on the road, on a long and lonely journey. Jesus thinks this might be the right time to try and explain to them something that’s going to be really hard for them to hear- they’re soon going to be leaderless. He tries to explain to them that he’s going to die, that it has to happen, and that most importantly he’ll rise again. 

Sadly they’re not ready to hear it, they don’t understand and are scared by what Jesus is telling them, but rather than ask questions or ask for more explanation they stick their heads in the sand and fall into the kind of petty squabble we’ve seen them have before- who’s the best.

Maybe something of what Jesus has said has sunk in, maybe their banter about which of them is greatest is in part due to the fact that one of them will soon need to step into the leadership role that opens up when Jesus is arrested and killed.

I’m sure Jesus could hear what was going on behind him because when they reach Capernaum he gathers them together and asks “right lads, what was all that chat on the road about”. They fall silent, he’s talked to them about this kind of thing before and they probably know he’s got a few opinions to share.

He tells them what we’ve heard him say before- if you want to be lead, first you have to serve and serve everyone- be last of all and servant of all. Then he takes a child and tells them if you welcome a child like this you welcome him, and even more than that you welcome God.

Jesus completely flips the idea of greatness on it’s head and places the most vulnerable in society into the conversation.

But to truly understand this teaching I think it’s important to have an understanding of what children meant in this society because Jesus isn’t necessarily talking about welcoming the innocent and sinless, or children as we understand them now. The idea of children as angelic and innocent started in around the 18th century. Children weren’t revered as a symbol of innocence as they are now. 

When we’re talking about children in 1st century Palestine we’re talking about someone with no place and little value to the wider system. Infant mortality is estimated to have been around 30%, and although it’s difficult to know it’s thought that a further 30% died by the age of 9. If a child lived long enough to be useful the boys would be replacing the workforce and the girls married off to make more children to keep the cycle going.

Now we know children were loved by their families, of course they were, we see this in the story of Jairus’ daughter, but to society it was a different matter. How many children had Jairus and his wife already lost before the age of 9? Was that why their daughter was so precious? Yet with limited birth control how many families were welcoming children that were unwanted and seen as a burden until they were old enough to work or be married- if they lived that long.

There was no sentimentality about childhood. It was scary and it was messy. By telling the disciples the most important act of leadership is service, and the most important act of service is to welcome a child, Jesus is telling them that greatness is to be hospitable to a worthless, financially unviable human who has a high chance of dying on them. In short to serve those who can offer them nothing in return and might actually end up costing them something, financially and emotionally.

Now the easiest place to see ourselves in this gospel story is in the disciples, the community of Jesus followers trying to figure out how to serve, live and lead with Christ’s teachings, but something struck me after our church planning day last Saturday when Huw remined us of our need to be open with each other in our broken stories and vulnerabilities.

What if we’re the child? Hiding our broken stories and vulnerabilities is something we learn as we grow, we see the world’s response to them and the need to have an outward show of being OK, when we’re far from OK. What if our call as a community, our way to engender the gentleness born from the wisdom from above as James puts it, is to present ourselves childlike before each other, without those acquired ways of hiding our true selves. 

To be here, fully ourselves, vulnerable in whatever way we’re vulnerable, but knowing 100% that we’ll be fully loved, fully accepted and served by each other? Not scared of the cost of that service to our sisters and brothers? If we’re to serve the most vulnerable as if we’re serving Jesus himself surely it’s also part of our Christian calling when we’re the one who’s most vulnerable, to let our community care for us as if were letting Jesus himself care for us?

What if someone thought we were great because we were able to open ourselves up to them, present our truly authentic and vulnerable self, and by doing so gave them permission to do the same? And how might a community look who joined together without masks, without affectation, to be a place of welcome and service? Pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 

I feel this is the community we’re evolving into and from our planning day, having been apprehensive about the path ahead, I’m now excited about what might be possible and about what we can do as a people called to serve the world round them.

Based on James 3.13-4.3,7-8a 

And Mark 9.30-37

Day 37

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and the daughters of Life's
longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And thought they are with you
yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Maronite Christianity, an ancient sect, emerged in the fifth century when the early Christians of Syria pledged their allegiance to a hermit, Marun, whose gifts and virtues brought him many disciples. Using a ritual alive with the Aramaic tongue of Jesus and a liturgy that is among the oldest and most moving in the Christian Church, the Maronites were able to protect their traditions due to the physical remoteness of the mountain region [of Lebanon]. The spiritual nature of Gibran's mother and the impressions that the child received from the mystical ceremonies of the Maronites remained with him all his life (The New York Times).

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

Use this poem by Kahlil Gibran as a prayer throughout the day.  It is often easier to remember a long text like this if it is set to music.  An African-American a capella group called Sweet Honey in the Rock has recorded this poem under the title "On Children".  It's a great way to meditate. 
Pastor Patty Fox 40 Days with 40 Christian Mystics

Oddly enough I had a conversation with my daughter earlier about something Rob Bell had said in his latest podcast. The comment was (paraphrasing) that our children are not empty buckets for us to fill up with our unrealized dreams and anxieties.
Our children are not ours, they are their own and we should let them become themselves, not try to recreaye or make better versions of ourselves.
I've always encouraged by children's uniqueness, whilst trying to foster a spirit of our community life within them. I must admit I've never had much interest in trying to get them to confirm or fit in.
My daughter is 13 now  and has a really well-developed sense of self. She's unique and quirky- and happy to be so, and yet she understands that her place in the world is part of something much bigger than her own unique self.
My son is a little younger at 10. We get complimented a lot of what a lovely boy he is, and we're both amazed that he's so cute and sweet. We often joke that we don't know how he turned out so well, but I guess letting him be himself is a big part if it.
We've never felt the need to confirm to gender stereotypes or push either into any sort if mould. It's by chance that she's artistic and he likes nerf and gaming (actually so does she).
They belong not to us, but God I'm so lucky to be walking alongside them.

On the sixth day of Christmas...

...I hung out with my kids

I was still studying today but also had wonderful time with my kids- swimming, cooking and just hanging out. Today I thank God for my awesome kids.

When is Faith Not Enough?

I delivered this sermon on the 6th Sept at our main morning service. I was a little concerned as we had a surprise baptism but it was really well received by the family.

The readings it's based upon are Isaiah 35:4-7a, Psalm 146, James 2:1-10, 14-17 and Mark 7:24-end

Thursday morning was a pretty emotional one for several reasons. For many of our local children, including my son Jacob, it meant a return to school. For several of our St Michael’s family- George, Amelia, Sarah-Jane and Amber- it was their first day at secondary school.

When I clicked on to Facebook, as I often do first thing in the morning, my timeline was filled with photos of my friend’s children in smart, clean, new uniforms all ready for the school run. I always find this emotional- seeing children I’ve known since being babies starting school, moving on to the next year group and moving on to new schools. It’s particularly poignant this year as my daughter Faith starts high school tomorrow.

There were however two things which contrasted with the flurry of new term activity. The first was from my friend whose son started reception this week. He has an as yet undiagnosed developmental delay and my friend’s one wish for her son’s first year at school is for him to be able to say his first words.

For me this put into context all the worry we go through over which school our children will be going to, where they’ll get the best opportunities, what their SAT results will be, when all my friend wishes is to hear her son speak.

It’s a reminder that every child is beautiful, unique and to be valued and loved. They each grow and develop in their own unique way and all that perhaps really matters is that they know they are loved and valued and that we enable them to love and value others in return.

But there was another picture of a child that filled my computer and TV screen on Thursday. It was of a three year old boy called Aylan Kurdi whose body had washed up upon a Turkish beach after he, along with his five year old brother Galip and mother Rihan, drowned when the dingy they were fleeing the Syrian town of Kobane in capsized.

I’m sure many of you have seen these pictures- and there’s an argument to be had about whether they should have been shared. If you haven’t seen the pictures you may have read or listened to this family’s story and felt the same emotions I felt- dis-ease, dis-comfort, sadness, helplessness and some guilt as well.

Every child should be valued and loved. As I was expressing my love for my children by readying them for the new school term, Rihan Al-Kurdi was expressing hers by fleeing from Syria. That decision cost their lives but as I’ve heard repeated so many times this week- you would only put your child in the boat if it was safer than staying on the land.

These pictures have given a name and a face to the continuing refugee crisis in Europe which has often been portrayed in a very different way by the mainstream media.

If anything even remotely positive can be taken from such a devastating loss of young lives it will hopefully be a shift in our national perspective to see these families in a different way- not as migrants moving west in search of jobs, affluence and a better standard of living but as people forced to flee or face horrors in their daily lives that we can only imagine.

In our church we’ve prayed many times for the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. We’ve prayed for those who are trying to live with it daily and for those who, like Aylan and his family, have died trying to escape from it.

Our reading from James today outlines a key theme of his epistle, one which has caused a lot of friction over the centuries in its apparent contradiction of the writings of Paul. When is faith not enough? Paul writes that faith alone marks us out as belonging to Christ, but James is passionate in his belief that if faith is genuine it will outwardly change us and our behaviour, leading us to perform good or charitable works. He asks us what’s the point of our blessing someone when what they really need is food because they’re starving to death. He goes as far as calling it sinful to bless a starving person instead of feeding them. It’s strong stuff.

James writes to a congregation showing favouritism to the rich, clean and healthy yet God does not show favouritism- a belief shared by the woman who approaches Jesus in the gospel reading. Jesus is quite alarming – even rude- in his first response, comparing gentiles to dogs, evoking the superiority of Israel’s claim to God’s blessing, but I can’t help but feel he’s trying to get a response from her, which he does. She has faith that God’s blessing is for her too.

In the passage just before this Jesus has been teaching about pulling down the barriers between Jews and gentiles, and here he puts it into practice. This is Jesus not just talking but acting- doing the thing he’s previously preached about.

A gentile is blessed by Jesus’ action- given equality with God’s chosen people. Jesus goes on to heal a deaf man. We’re not told if he’s a Jew or a gentile but the area he’s in is mainly non-Jewish.

Isaiah tells us what God has in store for those he blesses- eyes opened, ears unstopped, lame leaping and speechless singing. Whether these are physical or spiritual disabilities what’s promised is the restoration of wholeness to those deprived of the fullness of humanity- both physically and spiritually.

This restoration to wholeness is developed further in the psalm- Our God executes justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, sets the prisoners free, opens the eyes of the blind, lifts up those who are bowed down, loves the righteous and watches over the strangers.

In the Gospel Jesus in fulfilling this by his actions and God’s blessings are poured down upon all equally. We’re all equal and we all deserve God’s blessings and to be able to enjoy the beauty and diversity of His creation, whether we’ve been born into a comfortable and peaceful life in England or a dangerous and war damaged one in Syria.

My dilemma this week has been is MY faith enough, are my prayers enough? And if not what can I do? What action is in my power that reflects the weight upon my conscience as I look at the pictures Aylan? What can I do for the refugees who ARE the oppressed, the hungry, the bowed low and the strangers whom God blesses?

There are practical things that can be done such as supporting charities who work to help refugees, donating money and supplies and asking questions of those in power as to how we as a nation can realistically respond to the crisis.

Politically this is very complex – but I’ve been reminded many times this week of our national response to the post second would war refugee crisis, where richer countries came to an agreement on supporting the refugees the war had created. We acted out of compassion, we acted because it was the right thing to do. 

A chaplain once told me that James was the epistle of chaplains, which might be why today’s reading really resonates with me. James urges his congregation to treat the poor, dirty and sick with equity to the rich, clean and healthy. He urges them to meet the bodily needs of those who are suffering before their spiritual ones.

Is this how we should think about the refugee crisis? Are there times when we’re called to offer more than our prayers?

Prayer is important, it connects us to God. It develops our relationship with God. Intercessory prayer connects us to the world around us. Sometimes it’s the only way we can respond to the painful things we see in the world. We pray because we have faith that God responds. But faith is more than prayer, it’s more than what we do here on a Sunday. Being here refreshes and sustains us but what our faith does is take us out of here into the world to respond to what we find there.

When we see people deprived of the fullness of humanity, like Jesus we must back up what we pray for by our actions, remembering God’s blessing is for each one of us equally.

When God’s blessing is at work in the world, through us, we’ll see justice for the oppressed, the hungry fed, prisoners freed, eyes opened, the bowed down lifted up, and the strangers watched over.

Be More Loving

Today's task seems so simple but I nearly missed the opportunity. Working back to back 12 hour shifts I miss my kids and wanted to Skype them from work to tell them I loved them in case they were asleep when I got home. My daughter wasn't answering so I tried the phone. No answer. I tried again walking to my car and got hold of my her - she was really happy to hear from me, as were my son and husband. My hubby allowed the children to stay up until I got home so we had hugs and exchanged more "I love yous".
It's easy to tell my kids I love them, so what about the other people I encounter every day? I spend so much time at work but don't spend enough time telling the people I share my working life with that they're loved and appreciated. They might not think I'm very loving when I'm tired and frustrated and unable to help them, but I aim each day to see people as God sees them, and love them as God loves them. Although I'm not always very good at this!!

Ruth 1.16
But Ruth said,
‘Do not press me to leave you
   or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
   where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
   and your God my God.

Time

In our family, as with so many others, the thing we lack most is time. With working full time, training for the priesthood, two children still in primary school and one curmudgeonly beagle I often feel like I'm pulled in all directions and don't give enough time to any of it.
The people who seem to get the worst end of the deal are the five who love me most- my husband, children and parents. Times when I feel I should be with then I'm often in work or doing homework. If I could give them anything this Christmas it would be more time.
The way my shifts fall this year I will have more time with them Christmas week then I have for many years and I intend to savour each moment as much as I can. I also need to take the time to thank my parents for all they do to ensure my children are in the correct place, clothed and fed when I'm working 12 hour shifts!
I'm so blessed to be so loved but I'm not good at taking time to tell them I feel that way.
Today's task was to think who has been important to you this year and thank them in a Christmas card. I'll be writing my cards this Sunday, but what I need to express far exceeds what I could manage with words.

Listen more carefully

I was at home this evening- quite a rare thing- so it was lovely just spending time with my family. My daughter was upset when I got home. She'd been in trouble at school, a very rare thing, and was completely mortified at her punishment. She was worried at how her dad would react and really sad about the things she'd missed out on. She just wanted her mum to sit and listen and hug her, which I of course did.
Once she'd had tea and cheered up she wanted to tell me everything she'd learnt in her puberty classes today...quite frankly I'm not ready for my baby girl to be talking about periods or know what an erection is but I have no choice in this one! I again listened, and told her I'm her to chat about whatever she needs to.
I would, of course, have listened to her troubles whether it was today's task or not, but I was particularly mindful today of really trying to see how she's feeling and let her know I understand.
My son was just merrily going about his own business whilst this was going on. I suggested he might go and ask his Nana how she was for his task, but he turned to me and said "but mummy, I want to know how YOU are!" I don't suppose he really listened to my answer, but it was lovely to be asked!!

Be More Giving

Today has been so full- there's been so much to do and so much to think about.
Today's action was to set aside a jar for loose change to donate to charity and the kids decided they want to give the money to cancer research. As I work in oncology I was really pleased with their choice.

The Bible passage on today's LLLL page is all about the wedding at Cana and the overwhelming generosity God displayed. It's a reminder that there's ways I can be generous that don't involve money. A phrase I've heard, don't particularly like, but feel applies to me is "time poor". With my work, family and ordination training I have to choose really carefully how I'm going to spend my time and something always gets neglected.
On Sunday, whilst working a 13 1/2 hour shift at work, I found out my children had been asked to dress up for World Book Day- which is today. I had a mild panic knowing that between Sunday and today I was only not in work on Monday morning, but needed to shop then. How on earth was I going to sort costumes?! Things like this happen all the time and I can often feel that I'm not giving my children enough of my time. They did, thankfully, mainly sort their own costumes (with a bit of help from dad) and I sent a panda and Emmet the Lego guy happily to school.

Later on years 3, 4, 5 and 6 from the school joined us in church for a teaching Eucharist service where I preached about LLLL and each child was given a prayer card based on it's principles.
Tonight I was back in college after the half term break, where I was reminded that I'm not the only one struggling with time.

So how on earth do I give more of the thing I haven't got? I want to give more time to my family and my friends but I don't have it to offer them. I don't have an answer to this but as part of my challenge I can think about how I'm spending my time and what my priorities are.

John 2.9-10: When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’

Bless all the dear children

There doesn't seem to have been much time this Christmas just to hang out with my kids and do whatever they want to do, so this evening I made sure they each had time with me to do whatever they wanted.
My son was first- we built a wooden fort together. We did a fantastic job as we had no instructions and no clue where to start! We were finished within 30 minutes and he was soon racing his knight around it- first riding a unicorn, and later a puffin.
My daughter wanted to bake- I let her choose and she decided upon mini choc cupcakes. They were delicious!
It's such a special time- it won't be long before they no longer want my help, or think they know better. It's important to give them my time when they want it, and celebrate the fact they still need their mum.

All is calm

" Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright"

I'd be lying if I said there hadn't been a few wobbles in the last few days- tiredness, busyness and a bit of childcare stress has all weighed a little heavy on me...and yet, relatively, all is calm.
The first Christingle went well yesterday, then there was the joy of watching my daughter sing with the choir.
The 9 Lessons and Carols service was deeply moving, I was a little teary during the final gospel reading and prayers.
Today I got quite emotional whilst reading this to my husband:
http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/12/23/love-at-christmas-by-sharon-jaynes/
- knowing I do sometimes send the kids away because I'm cooking, or stress that my house or, basically, I myself am not good enough. Good enough for what I don't know, because all that matters is that we have love, room in our hearts for each other and room in our hearts for Jesus.
I'm almost ready for him.

In the day of my distress I will call upon you

"In the day of my distress I will call upon you, for you will answer me".
Psalm 86:7

So this time yesterday I thought I was headed straight into my pre-Christmas wobble, but it seems not. Today I spent quality time with my husband- a rare treat, and one that I think has done both of us good. With work, the kids, my training, Mike soon to start ALM training and then Christmas preparations it's incredibly easy to neglect each other. Spending time together, away from the children and away from home is important, as is family time.
I've been willing to give up so much of myself to God, and to my job, that the family can sometimes feel like they're third best. Balance can be hard to find. I'm so lucky that my family understand why I'm doing what I'm doing, and incredibly blessed to have their love and support.

Like treasure hidden in a field

It's been a lovely day of Christmas fairs and shopping for presents, then our first Christmas party with my husband's colleagues- our first Christmas party in 2 years as we couldn't make any last year!
We queued for an extraordinarily long time with Faith at the local garden centre to meet Father Christmas- and what a Father Christmas he was! We all agreed he had to be the real one.
It's so lovely that at nearly 10 she still believes- to see the wonder in her eyes as she chatted with him. What a precious memory. I want to approach Christmas with the same wide eyed innocence- to cast off my cynicism and fully embrace the joy and wonderment- to come to Jesus with a child like faith and discover the treasure of his kingdom.

Off to the BAP I go...

As my head is full of all sorts and everything with my BAP next week I thought I'd share my presentation with you:

I’ve chosen to talk about children’s spirituality in relation to the ministry of Wholeness and Healing and how my feelings about this have changed over the years.

Over the last 10 years we’ve developed a very strong Wholeness and Healing ministry in my parish. I joined the team as a new parent, mostly involved in children’s worship so it was lovely to do something ‘for the grown ups’. The services were quiet, prayerful and poorly attended. I would never have taken one of my children the service- they may disturb someone, and they were too little to understand. We decided to take the ministry to the heart of the congregation- Sunday Morning Holy Communion. It was slow to start but over the years the number of people who come forward to receive prayer, with laying on of hands, and anointing with oil has grown and grown, as has the understanding and acceptance of the ministry.

So where did the children fit into this? When I joined the team I had a baby daughter, my son followed 2 years later. When my daughter joined Sunday school she would go up for her blessing and then if it was a healing service she would come and stand with me where I was praying and laying on hands. After a while she wanted the prayer and anointing herself. Next time she brought a friend. Over time, we were getting more and more Sunday school children coming up. It felt very natural, and an indication of how well integrated the ministry is.
This seemed fine for a service where we’d usually expect children, but I didn’t take my children to other healing events or services.

I rethought my ideas after attending a healing Eucharist at Manchester Cathedral last year. I think that week we may have used up all our babysitting points with my parents, so after speaking with my friend, who’s a priest and was taking her own daughters with her, I decided, rather nervously, to take the children with me. There is after all the children’s corner at the cathedral. There was quite a number of children there, which made me more relaxed...but there was no children’s corner- everything was tidied away- the cathedral seemed to share my earlier view that this was just for the grown ups!

I started thinking- why had I, and clearly others, felt this ministry wasn’t for children? Jesus told the disciples: "Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons." He never said “just the adults”, but he
did say “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them” (Matthew 19:14, Luke 18:16). Jesus chose to perform one of his most amazing miracles- the raising from the dead of Jairus’ daughter- on a child.
Do we think it’s too complex? Or do we worry what their expectations may be- miraculous physical healings are, as we all know, rare.

My work as an oncology nurse reveals not only that children themselves are in need of physical healing but also how strongly they wish to intercede for sick loved ones. As a parent I have observed my children’s need to feel “whole”- I’ve often been through heart breaking sadness of holding a tearful child who just “feels sad for no reason”.
Dr Rebecca Nye (“Children’s Spirituality”) has written how our unintentional ‘dumbing down’ of practices may "unintentionally betray a lack of trust in God, in the Christian faith or in the children themselves. This damages the children’s trust, harming the future of our mission.

Is it simply my old worry that noisy children may upset or disturb adults? Giving and receiving the ministry is a very intimate experience and can raise powerful emotions.Those of us who’ve attended services with our children know the tutts and looks given when they are being less than angelic- and the embarrassment. God forbid they might disturb anyone suffering real emotional or physical pain.

If I go back to Jesus’ words from Luke “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Jesus himself tells us we have much to learn from our children. Also we read in Mark 9.47 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Re-reading the “A Time to Heal” handbook children are briefly mentioned, but where they are it is in a
spirit of inclusivity. It’s taken as read that children are part of this ministry. Yes- quiet, contemplative services may not always be the best place to expose them to it, but we all need the Wholeness and Healing of an intimate and personal relationship with Jesus. When this ministry is part of the ‘norm’ of parish worship children will come, be a part of it and this will in turn, I hope, be part of their worship as they grow and have children of their own.

At the end of this month I’m going to talk to our new youth group and the ministry. I want them to know it’s
a ministry for them. It’s about praying for themselves, intercessing for others, and hoping that we can all achieve that wholeness of being that only comes from knowing God as a father, Jesus as a friend, and The Spirit as a constant companion.

How do you think children relate to this ministry and do you think there are other areas we, however unconsciously, feel are ‘adult only'?

All feedback, criticism and words of encouragement are welcome!