Remember when you were a young person at church and they would have the annual ‘youth’ Sunday? It was so exciting to plan the worship service and be one of the leaders. Do you remember? They would always position that Sunday as ‘celebrating the future of the church’, it was like we didn’t matter quite yet, but one of these days we would be the future, and then we would really contribute to the ministry of the church.
I am proud to serve at Lafayette Park, a church with a history of investing in their children and youth. I have heard countless stories… about the youth club ministry that was so very important to the church that only funerals had priority in scheduling… about the choir robes we have now are have because the youth club so that the children and youth choir would have matching robes with the adult choir. Or that our church has the privilege of supporting a huge number of Eagle Scouts!
I also celebrate the fact that on the last Sunday of each month for the last 3 ½ years we have been blessed by the leadership gifts of our children and youth on Youth Sundays. We have been blessed by their musicianship, their liturgy, their hospitality, their art work, and their creativity. It brings me great joy to see the pride on everyone’s face on the Sundays when they are leading in worship or when they do the Christmas pageant. I am thankful to serve a church that values the gifts of leadership of their children right now and not sometime in the future. We know that our children are truly a gift from God, and we gladly provide them the opportunity to lead us in worship. In many ways, we live out the verse about a child leading them.
This year has been exciting to see the youth group starting to form. It is great that we have a group that went to a conference youth experience called WOW! Our confirmation group is meeting already and having great discussions.
I periodically share my dreams and hopes with various people for our children and youth ministry so I thought I might just share them with you. One of my dreams is that we continue to grow our youth Sunday until we have the children and youth completely planning this worship service. Eventually, I hope that our youth would actually preach on a regular basis so that we might hear what God is speaking to us through them.
I also dream of Lafayette Park becoming a community youth center. Our building is uniquely equipped to offer great ministry opportunities. We have almost completed the renovation of our bowling alley. We have a wonderful gym, and a great fellowship hall. Maybe one of these days we would be set up so that on Friday nights or Saturday evenings the building would be open as a safe place for teenagers to come and hang out so that they can make new friendships and have a place to talk. Perhaps we could have an evening a week where we have a youth service with a praise band, and we fill our sanctuary with youth from our community worshipping God. I dream about a youth choir that can go touring in the summer. Or what about offering youth club again? Just think of the great ways we can serve our community by extending ourselves to the ministry of reaching out to the youth in our community.
On February 24th we will again celebrate youth Sunday. This month we will be presenting Bibles to our 3rd graders. We also celebrate the expansion of our children’s Sunday school classes and the people who every week prepares lessons to teach our children. We celebrate our children’s church leaders who lead our children in a closer walk with God through worship.
I invite you this month to take time to thank those who are working closely with our children and youth. I also invite you to pray about God’s call on your life. Could it possibly be that God would like your help in building dreams with our youth? You never know what blessings might be in store for you as you support the gifts that God has given us in our children and youth. Let’s work and pray together that the rich history and ministry of celebrating the gifts of our children and youth will continue and expand so that we might realize God’s dreams for our church.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Kathleen
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Time With Sharon…Our Neighbors' Kids
February 2008
I am worried about the kids.
I have heard from two area elementary school principals in the last week in differing contexts, and learned that there are a lot of boys and girls in our community who are falling behind…or never even getting close to getting started. Some come from area families, and their parents are overwhelmed in trying to pay for the roof over their heads. The reasons vary, but there is a shortage of time, means, or focus to assist their struggling kids with emerging reading and math skills. If these kids have learning disabilities or are just naturally a little behind the curve, they are in jeopardy of falling dramatically behind in just one year, and increase the risks of never catching up. Some are chronically absent because of transportation issues, family instability, health problems, or homelessness. These kids may miss out on large blocks of the presented material, which will remain simply lost to them through the rest of their educational experience.
Some youngsters have the complex burden of being freshly transplanted from another culture. St. Louis has become home to many refugee and immigrant families from Somalia, Bosnia, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mexico, China, and Thailand. One teacher I spoke with last night told me that some of her students in the second grade had never held a pencil before. These kids are bright, eager to learn, but are caught in the difficulty of trying to learn new skills in a new home, in a new culture, through a new language. They desperately need intensive one-on-one support to help them adapt to their new lives.
The gift of tutoring can give these boys and girls a chance to succeed. If you have an hour or two each week to share with some of these youngsters, your efforts can help to bridge the ever-widening gap that threatens to leave them behind forever. LPUMC has an awesome love for children, expressed through our many children and youth ministries. Here are two opportunities for folks from Lafayette Park United Methodist Church to jump in and get involved in a meaningful way to change the trajectory of the lives of our neighbors’ sons and daughters as well.
You can pick the hours that work for you. Sitting with children and helping them read through a story may be the gift that your soul longs to give. You have the power to offer encouragement, confidence, and ultimately increase their chances for educational success. I would be so happy to facilitate an opportunity to get you plugged into a tutoring program. Please join me in praying for them. And if you are able, offering the gifts of time, patience, and encouragement.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Sharon
I am worried about the kids.
I have heard from two area elementary school principals in the last week in differing contexts, and learned that there are a lot of boys and girls in our community who are falling behind…or never even getting close to getting started. Some come from area families, and their parents are overwhelmed in trying to pay for the roof over their heads. The reasons vary, but there is a shortage of time, means, or focus to assist their struggling kids with emerging reading and math skills. If these kids have learning disabilities or are just naturally a little behind the curve, they are in jeopardy of falling dramatically behind in just one year, and increase the risks of never catching up. Some are chronically absent because of transportation issues, family instability, health problems, or homelessness. These kids may miss out on large blocks of the presented material, which will remain simply lost to them through the rest of their educational experience.
Some youngsters have the complex burden of being freshly transplanted from another culture. St. Louis has become home to many refugee and immigrant families from Somalia, Bosnia, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mexico, China, and Thailand. One teacher I spoke with last night told me that some of her students in the second grade had never held a pencil before. These kids are bright, eager to learn, but are caught in the difficulty of trying to learn new skills in a new home, in a new culture, through a new language. They desperately need intensive one-on-one support to help them adapt to their new lives.
The gift of tutoring can give these boys and girls a chance to succeed. If you have an hour or two each week to share with some of these youngsters, your efforts can help to bridge the ever-widening gap that threatens to leave them behind forever. LPUMC has an awesome love for children, expressed through our many children and youth ministries. Here are two opportunities for folks from Lafayette Park United Methodist Church to jump in and get involved in a meaningful way to change the trajectory of the lives of our neighbors’ sons and daughters as well.
Sigel Elementary School- 2039 Russell Blvd.
Hodgen Elementary School- 1616 California
You can pick the hours that work for you. Sitting with children and helping them read through a story may be the gift that your soul longs to give. You have the power to offer encouragement, confidence, and ultimately increase their chances for educational success. I would be so happy to facilitate an opportunity to get you plugged into a tutoring program. Please join me in praying for them. And if you are able, offering the gifts of time, patience, and encouragement.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Sharon
The Wilder View…January 2008
On Saturday December 15th we hosted a potato drop. It was snowing as we moved 10 lbs. bags of potatoes into the backs of pick up trucks and vans. It seemed like a really crazy thing to do and then in a burst of craziness the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas starting going through my brain and I thought, “I wonder if we could write the 12 months of mission for Lafayette Park?” All of a sudden I could hear us singing ‘…and a pumpkin patch for our community…’ instead of a partridge in a pear tree.
It was pretty easy at first – “twelve shalom dinners, five Sunday dinners, four ice cream socials, three potato drops, two VIMS, and a pumpkin patch for our community.” The problem was with the numbers, 11, 10, and 9. (Ok I might be a little off on my numbers) Oh and there wasn’t a number in the song for our Matthew’s Brown Bag ministry, nor for our children’s ministry, not for the choir, nor for the boutique. I tried really hard to adapt the song so we could sing it together and celebrate all of the amazing things we were able to do in 2007 to live out our vision statement. The problem is that the song just couldn’t contain it all, and truth be told, the reality is that this article can’t either.
God has used us mightily in 2007. We have already accomplished several of our visions from our Vision Quest earlier this year. This is really great because we thought it would take us several years to accomplish just a small percentage of these exciting ideas. I know that God will provide even more opportunities to radically transform the city of St. Louis in 2008. God’s Spirit is alive and active in our congregation! God is opening doors for us to make a difference in our community. God is smiling on the work that Lafayette Park has accomplished. It almost feels like God is excited about what will happen in 2008. I must confess so am I! So I invite you, as we launch this New Year – 2008, to commit to asking God, “What do you want me to do this year? What do you want to do with our church?” Also please put February 23rd on your schedule for our next Vision Quest – Vision Quest 2008. We are planning on extending our understanding of God’s vision into the next decade. This kind of work begins with prayer, and seeking God’s direction.
I invite you into a great 2008! Truly, ‘God Is Doing Great and Amazing Things at Lafayette Park.’
To God Be the Glory!
Pastor Kathleen
It was pretty easy at first – “twelve shalom dinners, five Sunday dinners, four ice cream socials, three potato drops, two VIMS, and a pumpkin patch for our community.” The problem was with the numbers, 11, 10, and 9. (Ok I might be a little off on my numbers) Oh and there wasn’t a number in the song for our Matthew’s Brown Bag ministry, nor for our children’s ministry, not for the choir, nor for the boutique. I tried really hard to adapt the song so we could sing it together and celebrate all of the amazing things we were able to do in 2007 to live out our vision statement. The problem is that the song just couldn’t contain it all, and truth be told, the reality is that this article can’t either.
God has used us mightily in 2007. We have already accomplished several of our visions from our Vision Quest earlier this year. This is really great because we thought it would take us several years to accomplish just a small percentage of these exciting ideas. I know that God will provide even more opportunities to radically transform the city of St. Louis in 2008. God’s Spirit is alive and active in our congregation! God is opening doors for us to make a difference in our community. God is smiling on the work that Lafayette Park has accomplished. It almost feels like God is excited about what will happen in 2008. I must confess so am I! So I invite you, as we launch this New Year – 2008, to commit to asking God, “What do you want me to do this year? What do you want to do with our church?” Also please put February 23rd on your schedule for our next Vision Quest – Vision Quest 2008. We are planning on extending our understanding of God’s vision into the next decade. This kind of work begins with prayer, and seeking God’s direction.
I invite you into a great 2008! Truly, ‘God Is Doing Great and Amazing Things at Lafayette Park.’
To God Be the Glory!
Pastor Kathleen
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