HELLO!

As many of you know, after Maggie left us last year, Bethe offered to support our children and youth ministry. It was not, is not, part of her job description, but Bethe being Bethe stepped up to offer this ministry. Bethe’s name is on virtually all the United Church documents related to children and youth ministry. When I went looking for a resource on Scouting Sunday and googled “United Church” and “Scouting” there was Bethe’s name and her work. Since assuming this role, you can see with your own eyes how many children have been attending our services, their attachment to Bethe. I asked Bethe if she would take the youth and children around the church to find “pieces of Creation” for our April 26^th Earth Sunday. Bethe sent me this photo of some of our children when they came inside. You can see in their faces how much they are having fun.

I don’t have much special training in children’s or youth ministry, apart from what I learned in seminary 35 years ago. I still have some books, notes from the lectures on the topic. I do understand the United Church approach to faith formation for children and youth. But as for specific lesson plans and curriculum, “not so much”. 13 years ago, I accepted a position that had three parts: to preach one Sunday a month, to offer pastoral care and to lead the Christian Education. The first two parts of this job description are, as they say, “in my wheelhouse”, the latter, not. I think the search committee understood this. I did not over-promise my efforts with children and youth. The church appreciated my preaching, and my visiting effort was extensive. I was the first minister to visit all the households in the church. But what about the children and youth? The first problem was, no one would teach Sunday School, my colleague was such a great preacher no one wanted to miss his sermons. I started with 10 children, ages 4-12. This age range is NOT how you teach Sunday School. But soon we grew to 22 children. I invited people I met in my visits who had a passion, like yoga, art, and animals, to take turns coming to the Sunday School and sharing their gift with the children. My part was to connect this passion to Christian faith. The yoga member taught the children to move their bodies like the animals named in the Genesis story. The congregation loved being asked to share their passion, the children found me “fun”, they invited their friends to come to church with them.  

Bethe is a “dual threat” as we say in the sports world. She “knows her brief” and people really like her and want to be around her. When Lucian was a teen, they asked me if I had any advice to impart in terms of employment. I replied, “when I was young, I thought the best asset was to know things, but the older I get the more I realize it is to be able to get along with people”. Bethe has many credentials. And best of all, people/youth/children want to be around her. What could be better?

Peace, Kevin

PS Bethe’s “baby”, the dinner theatre she wrote and directed, was a big hit tonight. The Dress Rehearsal received a standing ovation from many. My highlight was this hug from Chelsea. She had a wonderful evening.