Children's and Family Ministries At St. Andrew's |
|
Dear Families,
If you participated in our worship last Sunday, you saw the Prayers of the People being read by some of St. Andrew’s youngest members. (If you didn’t, I encourage you to view it here). Prayer is like a language. Just like language, we learn some by immersion, some by instructions, but most of it we learn by practice.
Teaching our children to practice prayer is one thing a lot of us never really considered as we began this parenting journey. Sure, we probably figured we would teach them the Lord’s prayer and maybe, if we were Episcopalians at the time, how to use the Book of Common Prayer. But, the how and even the why never really made it into my conscious mind amidst the initial excitement and anxiety of early parenthood.
|
|
Jesus, we know you came to love us, to forgive us, and to make us new. We give you all of our troubles, large and small. Help us as we walk with you now in the wilderness. Amen |
|
The why is an ever-evolving question for me, but at its heart, we teach our children to pray so they can experience God. I once read prayer defined as the experience of nearness with God, through words, acts, or silence. This is what we give our children when we teach them to pray, this nearness and connection to God.
I love those prayers in the worship video because it shows both St. Andrew’s children learning and practicing and the adults in their life taking the time to support them. So, thank you to those parents and grandparents who allowed us to experience the early steps of their child’s prayer practice. And special thanks to the children who trusted us enough to allow us to join them in prayer.
Lent is a time to re-commit to our own prayer practice and, as parents and caregivers, to support our children in building their own. There isn’t one right way to do this. Blessing your child is a great start (read how on page 4 of your Lenten guide) and so are bedtime and mealtime prayers. But, like most things in parenting, there is a lot of trial and error involved. I will post more ideas as we move through lent. If you have something that has worked for you or your family, please share it with me. I wish you much success in this important work and I hope you know your St. Andrew’s family is here to support you on the journey.
With thanks to all the parents, grandparents, Godparents, and other adults who take the time to help our little ones grow in prayer so they can grow closer to God,
-Erin
|
|
During Lent we will be using the weekly meditations from the Lenten guide you received in your bag (or it can be found on our website here). Week 2 begins on page 9 where we are invited to reflect on Jesus' time in the wilderness. Click here for a quick video to watch and here for questions to discuss with your child. Here is a coloring page.
|
|
|
|
|
Worship in Community
Sundays, 10 am
Join Mother Brenda and other parishioners for worship via Zoom (or call: 669-900-6833 / meeting ID: 843 5755 6394 / passcode: 890). During the liturgy, we’ll all be muted; after worship, we’ll catch up a bit. If you can’t join us, the video and bulletin are available here.
|
|
|
|
How are you using your Lent-in-a-bag?
Here is a picture of the Carlin family on Ash Wednesday using their Lent-in-a-bag! We would love to know how you are using yours. Please send us a picture, or post one on our Facebook page.
|
|
St. Martin in the Fields' weekly Godly Play lessons
This week's video premiers Sunday at 9am. These lessons are one of the best ways to guide children through Lent, and I encourage you to watch them with your children. Enjoy!
|
|
|
|
|
Bless the Lord, O my soul. And bless God's holy name.
The prayer at the end of each station in your Stations of the Cross booklet is adapted from Psalm 103 in this Taize song. It is a lovely way to meditate with your children.
|
|
|
|
The eScrip online mall features your favorite retailers and donates a portion of your purchases back to St. Andrew's.
|
|
St. Andrew's earns up to 7% of your Amazon.com purchases when you shop via the link above or on our website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
