As Americans and people all over the world know very well, the months of November and December are chock full of holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Hanukkah, just to name a few, and some of these are religious holidays. Throughout the holidays the world asks for gratitude in many ways. This month, BMPC youth members were asked to respond to this prompt: During the holiday season, what family traditions are your favorite and how does your family express gratitude? What are the similarities and differences between how you express gratitude on Thanksgiving vs. how you express your gratitude to God all year? Here are their responses:

Hearing from other congregations or religious denominations is important to our own personal growth as religious people, and that is why we chose to publish a piece from a youth outside of BMPC for the month of March. For those unfamiliar with Church of the Saviour, it is a non-denominational church located in Wayne. I have visited this church several times, and I’ve found their youth programs to be very in depth and thought provoking. 

As we conclude one of the most important times of the year for Christians, I have been reflecting on faith and my part in it. To me, being a young person with faith is often strange. The two ideas seem almost incompatible, as faith is always taught to be something greater than us, perhaps something that humans, especially children, will never understand.

Two stories featured in the 2020 Advent Messenger by Katherine Hattersley and Vivian Hattersley.

For as long as I can remember, every Sunday morning I’ve gotten up, brushed my teeth, put my church clothes on and scrambled into the car with my family to go to Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. My experience with the church has changed as I’ve gotten older. When I was younger, church was more formal. We’d start in the “big church,” as we called it, have a Children’s Moment, and then process down the aisle and into the Education Building. Church as a youth is more informal. We’re in the gym, and we clap, eat donuts, play games and participate in small group sessions. Even though the two programs are different, they each hold a special place in my heart because of the people and experiences I've had in them.

These two articles written by BMPC youth and alumni highlight their experiences as they begin their freshman year in both high school and college amid the coronavirus pandemic. Read both to better understand the recent experiences of teenagers in transition, particularly during the pandemic.