vision for family worship service
Projecting Christ To All Generations.
This is our mission as a congregation, to project Christ so others may see Christ in us.
Projecting has a deeper faith formation element than just showing others Christ. You see, you can’t project something that you don’t have. So before we can show others Christ, we first must have Christ in us. Children grasp this concept wonderfully in ways that my developed cortex now struggles with. You see, children learn most by watching and imitating us adults. Then they take what they have witnessed and project it into a wonderful world of imagination. In this new world children learn how to apply the skills they saw us adults do.
Enter our new worship service this summer.
During the summer months the Board of Worship and Music decided to offer a new worship service that engages the imagination of children. It will be held on Sunday mornings at 10:15am to 11:00am in the lower level of the church. This service is focused intently on not just inviting or even welcoming children. Rather this service will be engaging children and involving them as we gather to worship our Lord. Why? Because children are fellow-worshipers, not intruders that need to figure out how to properly sit still and worship. Children are naturally prone to two things: noise and movement. So why not create a worship space where parents do not feel the need to be anxious in keeping their children quiet? Why not create a space where children can be engaged AND the adults can be too? This is about offering a worship service with movement and symbolic actions that would be interesting to both children and adults alike. Why? Because every generation has a gift to share.
One thing is certain. This will not be a quiet service. There will be a lot of noise, a lot of movement, and yes a whole lot of praising our Lord.
~Pastor Ron Mathews
Written for our May 2016 Newsletter article
This is our mission as a congregation, to project Christ so others may see Christ in us.
Projecting has a deeper faith formation element than just showing others Christ. You see, you can’t project something that you don’t have. So before we can show others Christ, we first must have Christ in us. Children grasp this concept wonderfully in ways that my developed cortex now struggles with. You see, children learn most by watching and imitating us adults. Then they take what they have witnessed and project it into a wonderful world of imagination. In this new world children learn how to apply the skills they saw us adults do.
Enter our new worship service this summer.
During the summer months the Board of Worship and Music decided to offer a new worship service that engages the imagination of children. It will be held on Sunday mornings at 10:15am to 11:00am in the lower level of the church. This service is focused intently on not just inviting or even welcoming children. Rather this service will be engaging children and involving them as we gather to worship our Lord. Why? Because children are fellow-worshipers, not intruders that need to figure out how to properly sit still and worship. Children are naturally prone to two things: noise and movement. So why not create a worship space where parents do not feel the need to be anxious in keeping their children quiet? Why not create a space where children can be engaged AND the adults can be too? This is about offering a worship service with movement and symbolic actions that would be interesting to both children and adults alike. Why? Because every generation has a gift to share.
One thing is certain. This will not be a quiet service. There will be a lot of noise, a lot of movement, and yes a whole lot of praising our Lord.
~Pastor Ron Mathews
Written for our May 2016 Newsletter article