Pastors’ Column

How do we evaluate a year in educational ministry? Is it the 36 lessons covered in the three-year-old classroom? Is it found in the disciple projects presented by this year’s class of Confirmands? Is it in the artwork that hangs on the wall? Is it in the knowledge gained? Friendships formed?

Growing in faith is a complicated process. It requires a young person to gain new knowledge, but also insight. We hear the same sacred stories each year and find new meaning as our lives and contexts change. It asks for personal growth —children coming to know more about themselves and their own calls, but it also asks for the community to grow together. It asks a young person to master practical skills, like finding hymns in a hymnal, but also develop “eyes to see and ears to hear” God at work in the world. How do we know these things are happening? There isn’t a test we administer or a checklist of graduation requirements, so how do nurture faith?

We nurture faith by living it and modeling it for the youth and children we serve. Each week dedicated teachers journey with our students. They accompany each one — no matter how often they attend or how much they understand, or even how still they can sit during a lesson. These teachers seek out the students who are lost. They sprint to keep up with the students who have just discovered something new and beautiful about God. They struggle alongside those with heavy questions and deep sorrow. They teach children about God’s love and God’s faithfulness in the time, energy and compassion they devote to this task.

As a church we could not live into our baptismal vows without these dedicated individuals. Alongside wonderful substitutes and helpers, below is a list of volunteers who helped lead our Sunday morning programs throughout the year.

I hope you will take a moment and pray, giving thanks for them and their witness. I hope you will find at least one of these teachers and thank them personally for their work. I hope you will listen for the Spirit’s leading and join them as we continue to teach and nurture.

With thanksgiving!