New post on Christ Church Children's Ministries from Rebecca Guzman
by Rebecca
Last Tuesday, I forgot my lunch. Then staff meeting went long (which is actually pretty unusual), and in the end, I had about 25 minutes to get lunch, get back to the church, and eat before I had to leave to tutor. I approached Wendy's (the Baja Salad is great!) and immediately started to park my car even though there was nobody at all in the Drive-Thru.
Why?
Well, there's a really good reason. I almost parked because I always park.
And I wish I could tell you that it's because I have some principle against drive-thrus. That I believe one should have to walk inside and slow down. Or that I think it's wasteful to use the gas to sit there (which it can be, if the line is long). But the truth is not either of those things.
I always park because I used to have a broken driver's side window motor.
It was fixed in July of last year after it failed inspection.
Now, I don't go to the drive-thru often. Probably not even once a month.
But still. That was 7 months ago. And I paid a solid $300 to be able to use that window.
Why am I telling you about my window? Because I think we get caught up in this pattern so easily in the church. The nature of congregational work means that it is passed down from one person to another.
And it means that they way we are doing things might not be the best way. It's just the way that we do them.
So this year, at Christ Church, we're looking to try things a new way. We are trying not to do things a certain way because we used to have a broken window. We're inspecting our structure to see if it works for who we are now and for who God is calling us to be. We're hoping to add some more staff to help us (all of us) live more faithful lives rooted in a deeper spirituality. We're going to break out of old patterns that don't fit and try on new ones that reflect our understanding of how we live into God's kingdom here and now.
But before we can do all of that, we really need to hear your voice. Yes, your voice. You, sitting behind that computer screen or holding that smartphone. Especially now, parents of nursery, preschool, and elementary aged kids are an important part of the conversation about where we're headed. There was a day in September when 30% of those gathered to worship were 10 years old or younger. On a normal Sunday, it's around 25%. Do you know what a rare and special gift that is? Come to a listening session so we can hear you.
And we need to hear from your children, too. No one has to convince me of the value of the dreams of children. Bring them to the listening sessions too. They'll see things that we've forgotten to see. They'll remind us of the possibilities that exist with our great, great God, and they won't be afraid to dream too big. They'll consider constructing an amusement park. They'll imagine an outdoor arena for Christian rock concerts on our property. They'll ask us to build a shelter for the homeless in our backyard.
Come on. Let's go!
Grace and Peace, Rebecca
P.S. Make sure to sign up: http://www.christchurchrichmond.com/christchurch21
P.P.S. I was not paid to advertise Wendy's Baja Salad. But maybe I should have been.
