Dear Beloved Community,
This Sunday, August 11, we will gather for worship with a special time of blessing for our students and educators. This annual tradition has become a beautiful expression of our faith community. Two of our core values as a church is cultivating the wellbeing of children and to be a teaching and learning church. We lean into these values in many ways and one way we do that together is this act of worship to bless and commission those who are teaching and those who are learning – realizing that perhaps all of them are teaching no matter their age and all of them are learning no matter their role. We will invite our pastoral staff to offer a special word of blessing, followed by the parents, siblings, and spouses, and lastly with words of blessing by all of you, our beloved congregation.
In addition to the blessing, we will also do a special bible presentation for our rising 2nd graders and any new children who have joined our congregation over the last year. We value the stories of our faith and make a commitment as a faith community to teach those stories and guide our children in the ways of Jesus. In the words of the Shema found in Deuteronomy 6, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.”
The Blessing of the Backpacks has easily become one of the most meaningful moments of the year for me as I watch so many of our children, youth, and young adults stand side-by-side with all of our educators in the front of the sanctuary. Please join us Sunday as we join our voices together to support, encourage, bless, and love our students and educators in this exciting time of starting the new school year.
Amy McClure