Let the Little Children Come to Me

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Memories are gifts we hold onto for our whole lives. My very first memory of Sunday School is a black clergy robe. I don't know how old I was, little enough to be in the lower Christian Education building hallway. Rev. McGowan would visit classrooms and when he left, his robe would flow behind him like a Super Man cape. Another memory is with Rev. Frantz. I had gone through confirmation class the year before but my friend Jennifer was a year younger than me. She didn't want to be in the class without a friend so I asked Rev. Frantz if I could join her. He presented me with a devotional I still have called Just For Today. It has carried me through many many times in my life. 

My girls have grown up in our church. Sunday School has always been a part of our family. They can recite lines from Christmas pageants past. They remember their class singing in the old choir loft. They remember when it moved from lessons from the "papers" to lessons on life and how to use your bible and faith to carry you through life's ups and downs. They made friends who grew in their faith beside them. As a parent, I am forever grateful for the faith, church family and memories our Sunday School program gave my daughters as well as their friends. 

Moving to my years teaching Sunday School, I started out in the 3 year old class. From there, I moved to 4th grade. So many memories of the children, who are now adults, I watched grow in their faith with our church family. My most favorite memory from teaching Sunday School so far was our yearly "Turkey Shoot". We had 12 inch turkeys hanging from the ceiling in a row. Each student had a straw and colored paper. The one with the most of their colored paper stuck on the turkeys won. There happened to be one particular pastor we were blessed to have, who was laying on the ground, clergy robe covering his whole body, shooting spit balls towards the hanging turkeys. Pastor Brian didn't win the turkey shoot that Thanksgiving BUT he won the hearts of my students who named him Coolest Pastor Ever. 

When I flip through my bible, which I received on June 3, 1979, I still have slips of paper with Sunday School teachers handwriting. Bible passages I was reading that day (Isaiah 55:6-9, Luke 1: 41-45, Luke 9:23) are etched forever in my mind. 

I have always believed Sunday School should be a place to learn and grow for a child. It should be a place to create and hold memories to carry them through their lives. It should be a fun and safe place for them to know no matter what, they are loved and will always have a friend beside them. 

Covid has taken a year and a half of memories from our students. We are so excited to have our students back in the building, so excited for Reverend Dave to meet our church families. We look forward to welcoming new church families who want to be a part of our program with/and volunteering to help grow our Young Disciples. We look forward to our annual Christmas pageant. We look forward to VBS again. We look forward to Bible Sunday with our 2nd graders and those who missed this special time. We look forward to Bibles filled with pieces of paper, underlined scripture and the names of Sunday School friends. 

Welcome Back!  We love you all and have missed you immensely!