Nurturing Our Children & Family Ministry
Another whirl of a year has passed in our children’s ministry, and I am pleased to announce that there are now more small, smiling faces than ever before — our little class is growing. Among our population are currently an increasing number of storytellers, dancers, biologists, joke-makers, mathematicians, scholars, and a general assortment of fool-arounders. It’s very entertaining these days down in the undercroft! But all of this bounty would be less spectacular without the presence of my new volunteer, the amazing Miss Jennifer, who every week brings a wildly creative and splendidly entertaining presence and keeps us all laughing and engaged, and for whom I am immensely thankful.
Every Sunday, we endeavour to bring the Gospel to our youngest, wiggliest parishioners, using a variety of songs and stories, art and participatory activities, and just a little bit of that old saw: an example. Is this successful? I wonder about this every week.
In my preparations, I tend to find myself considering: Will the children understand this? Is this going to be engaging? Did I forget something? How can I explain this better? Is anyone even going to pay attention? There can be a lot of fretting on my part (as is the way with any kind of teaching, I suppose).
But then gradually over time, I realize that this growth in knowledge of the Gospel has almost nothing to do with me. It’s God’s work. He does the growing. All I have to do is put the seed in the ground and then remember to water it on Sundays. All of those garden metaphors in the Bible suddenly come, lushly and abundantly, to life.
Sometimes if you ask one of the children if they remember what we learned last week, they will unexpectedly put a sticker on your arm and then laugh and run away. But other times they do remember, or a parent will mention to me that the sticker-wielding child actually talked about the Bible story at home that week. It’s astonishing and very encouraging when that happens.
The truth of the matter is that we just do not remember all of the things we learn at church. How could we? There is such a depth and historical richness here that we couldn’t hope to contain it all in our own faulty, sleepy, little snack-seeking bodies. But we are inextricably a part of it, and it of us, so the liturgy and all of its accompanying wordless experiences are quietly knit into our bones, outside of our conscious assent altogether. It’s important to reason and think through these matters, of course, but there are parts of being here that defy our attempts at understanding and somehow filter their way in through no will of our own. This includes the will of the Sunday school teacher, trying with all her might to implant these holy stories in the minds of these shortest and bounciest congregants.
But often these stories, or parts of them, are absorbed without my intervention at all. Of course, this sometimes happens with accuracy, and sometimes not. For example, one small person believes that Jesus came out of a rock and was wearing a purple shirt when on the road to Emmaus (for some reason). But when I later contemplated how this belief had come to be, it occurred to me that from a symbolic standpoint, there was some unquestionable richness happening in this child’s personal interpretation of the Emmaus story — from the surprise liturgical colour to the symbolism of the rock. I certainly did not weave this into the lesson myself! In my estimation, this kind of thing has the calling card of the Holy Spirit written all over it. God is weaving his way in and all around us, sticker-covered arms or no.
For the rest of this year, and with the steadfast and gentle-hearted guidance of Fr. Micah, we will be undertaking plenty of community-building activities and trying to prepare this aforementioned ground for further growth — furrowing the earth, planting the seeds, carrying water. Maybe you are interested in some of these aspects and would like to become involved too!
As last year’s Christmas pageant was a sleeper hit, we will be reprising it this year — this time with a more intricate script and, I am hoping, some more complex staging. There are already some significant improvements that have been made to the costuming, thanks to the hard work of one brilliant Christine Cover. Do you have dramatic inclinations combined with a jolly and festive Christmas spirit? I would love to hear from you — even if you have only suggestions or ideas!
We’ll also be hosting a few festive breakfasts from time to time, to celebrate the work of the children’s choir and/or other events that include our younger parishioners. If you can assist with these sorts of mornings, by supplying some treats or preventing me from cremating the pancakes, I would be very appreciative.
And, as ever, if you have ideas about how to improve and expand on the welcoming of our very youngest congregants and their parents (a.k.a. the babes in arms and accompanying weary but besotted-looking parents), I would love to hear your ideas. Under Fr. Micah’s direction, the children’s table in the narthex has been greatly improved, but we are always looking for ways to make this space more hospitable. If you have thoughts about this, we would very much like to hear about them! Please feel free to write to me at any time at the email below, or just speak to me after High Mass in the parish hall, where you can readily find me hovering around the cookie table.
Alison Juurinen
Children & Family Ministry Coordinator
ajuurinen@stthomas.on.ca