Sometimes you run across somethings that is too valuable to let go. This section of the website is dedicated to those ideas, items and thoughts that we found that do not fit into any other area and we want to hold onto because of its value.
Talking with children about prayer
Just as Jesus taught the disciples to pray, it is important that we teach our children
to pray and model for them how to pray. Some children (and adults too) can worry
about doing it “the right way,” so be sure to let them know that the thing that
matters is spending time with God.Establishing prayer routines can be very helpful. Mealtime prayers (both at home and when dining out), bedtime prayers, and prayers on special occasions help to create routines and patterns. Yet we can pray at all times and in all places.
Remind children that prayer is not the same as magic. When we pray, we share with God our thoughts, hopes, and dreams. However, we are not placing an order or presenting a wish list. We can talk with God about what we hope will happen, but we trust God to do what is best. This needs to be stressed for two important reasons:
First, of course, prayers are not always answered the way we think best. Children can often pray in very concrete terms – make Johnny like me; help Grandma get better – and the results are not always as anticipated.
Second, children can also have fleeting bad thoughts that they may then connect with events, such as “I got mad at Kari and now her family is moving away; it’s my fault” or “I was mean to Daddy because he didn’t play ball with me and now Mommy and Daddy are getting divorced; it’s my fault.”
A good way to start our prayers is by giving thanks, or by remembering how wonderful God is. Simple prayers can work wonders, such as: “God, your world is so big and beautiful. I’m glad I’m a part of it. Please take care of everybody. Amen.” Or, in specific situations, “God, we know you love every person. Please take good care of my friends who are sick, and help them to feel better. Amen.” Words like “feel better” or “help them to know that you love them” are prayers that we can be assured, in simple concrete terms, are being answered.
What do we say when prayers do not get answered the way we would like? This can be especially difficult when the results are particularly hard to accept, such as a death or the recurrence of an illness (keep in mind that for a child the death of a pet can be just as traumatic as the death of a person).
The words, “I don’t understand” can be part of an honest answer. None of us – not even skilled and educated theologians, or wise and wonderful parents and grandparents – understand all of the mysteries of God and the universe. Saying, “I wish I had an answer, but I don’t,” can be okay. Sometimes things happen that are hard to understand, that are painful, and that we wish had happened differently. One thing we do know, though, is that God is always with us, even when we do not understand.
Praying with our children is important. Let them know that prayer is not confined to church or Sunday or special occasions. Model for them that prayer – in many styles and forms – is a key part of a spiritual life.
Resources on children and prayer
• Teaching the Lord’s Prayer by Delia Halverson, Abingdon Press.
• How Do Our Children Grow? Introducing Children to God, Jesus, the Bible, Prayer, Church by Delia Halverson, Chalice Press.
• Children and Prayer: A Shared Pilgrimage by Betty Shannon Cloyd, Upper Room Books.
Everyday Evangelism
By Peter Nielsen
Susan asked, “Why do you want to coordinate Evangelism?” I said, “I’m not sure.” After thinking, I realized the following:
I’ve been asking - What does it means to be Episcopalian? What makes this form of Christianity right – at least right for me?
What makes it unique and different? Why would anyone be interested in being an Episcopalian?
I know that the cornerstones of our faith are scripture, tradition and reason. That is something unique that I do not hear
other faiths talk about. We have scripture as our foundation, tradition from which to learn, and reason to realize that lessons
of the Bible have to be explained anew with each generation in its language.
We have something special and wonderful at Good Shepherd. It is place of friendship, caring and growth.
It is a place where our children (and adults) can learn real life lessons and see how people should treat each other with kindness and unity.
It is where we come to worship and always leave more enriched than when we arrived.
It is where we are encouraged to give with no expectations of getting anything back, but like our worship, we always get more
back than we put in.
It is a second home where we share a bond and an experience that we can not adequately put into words. We “feel our faith”
and enact our faith with those around us.
Somebody had to do it.
Understanding our uniqueness leads to the desire to share our common experience with others. If everyone felt and acted
like the members of our parish, the world we be a much better place and each person would find the peace (that passes all
understanding) to get through life no matter what happens. It is a dream, but a very nice dream.
How do we get the Word out? How do we share the gifts that we have been given? How do we help open up someone’s
heart, mind and soul to make room for Christ’s words? The answer is to communicate the best we can - to plant seeds and
leave changing hearts in God’s hands.
For getting the Word out, I get great satisfaction in taking care of our parish’s website. It boggles my mind that someone
from anywhere on the planet could look at it and get a sense of the type of people of faith we are. This is one way we are communicating
the Good News.
Our need to communicate has three overlapping areas:
1) Visitor and newcomer welcoming. Shepherding them and integrating them into our church family.
2) Internal communications that reminds us of our gifts, giftedness and blessings from God as well as each other.
3) External communications that spread our faith to others. We never know who might be looking and how our words might
reach out to them.
We finally get back to that scary word – Evangelism. “Evangelism? I can’t go up to people and talk about my faith and
church.” I don’t think that is what most of us are called to do.
Everyday evangelism is how we live our lives each day. It is how
we are viewed by those around us. Am I known as a grump, a giver or just a nice person? Let’s be proud if we are “just nice
people”.
Everyday evangelism is how we treat other people. Are we more concerned about ourselves or others? Do we do our
best to treat people as we would like to be treated? Are we warm and welcoming to someone new? Do we work on trying to
make each other feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves – part of a family?
Everyday evangelism is reaching
out and doing the best we can. It is trying to make a connection. It is offering a hand of welcome.
What does all this mean to you and me and Good Shepherd? It means we are going to go on a journey together to take
more responsibility for ourselves and those around us. With Judy Kile’s retirement, we all have to take ownership for welcoming
those new to our church family, communicating with each other and sharing our identity with those who are not our church
family. You will see different people doing the tasks that Judy performed – one of them might be you!
One step will be to shepherd newcomers. Each of us should be prepared to shepherd a new person or new family. This just
means being yourself, being helpful, answering questions and guiding someone new - at their pace. Look for them each Sunday,
ask how they are doing. Ask if they need anything or if they have any questions. Help them realize that they are important
to us and help them feel at home. For some it takes months, for others it takes weeks. We are only asked to do the best we
can and hope for the best.
The journey of communicating who we are, what we believe, where we meet to share and expand our faith, when we gather
for worship and growth, why we walk with Christ, and understanding that how we walk takes many different paths will be presented
by the Evangelism and other parish ministries.
My dream is that everyone be Episcopalian – in their hearts and actions. In my dream, we practice Christ’s teachings no
matter what denomination or faith label we come from. I believe by being everyday evangelists we will improve our world
through the million little things that we do. A smile, a wave, whistling a song, or just a simple hello can positively affect those
around us. This is the evangelist we are called to be. This is how we change the world.
EVERYDAY
EVANGELISM
Picture This – Part I
by Peter Nielsen
What we see matters. Look at any advertisement. We are
a denomination that understands strong visual
symbols. The cross is one of the most powerful of
symbols. Our church’s own stained glass windows and the
Stations of the Cross are symbols that tell a story and
have important meaning.
There are two particular symbols that I hope we will see in
and out of church more often.
The first is the Episcopal Shield. The Episcopal shield has
a red cross on a white field which is the cross of St.
George and indicates our descent
from the Church of England.
The upper left quadrant depicts the
St. Andrew’s Cross (an X-shaped
cross on a blue field), which recalls
the consecration of our first Bishop,
Samuel Seabury, by the Scottish
Church in 1784. The nine small
crosses represent the original
Dioceses represented at the First General
Convention of 1789.
The second symbol portrays the Good Shepherd on our
church’s banner. In looking through the booklet of Artistic
Appointments that was published in
1991, there was no direct reference
to this banner. Hopefully, a parishioner
will contact me so we can provide
details on its creation. I have
asked Ellen Schmidt to create artistic
versions that we can use for outside
banners, apparel and advertisements.
The cross is our symbol as Christians,
the shield is our symbol as Episcopalians, the shepherd
can be our symbol as members of Good Shepherd. We
should display each symbol proudly as Christians, Episcopalians
and members of Good Shepherd.
To show our pride as Episcopalians – and to find a gift for
someone who says they don’t need anything - go to
www.episcopalonline.org. For us at Good Shepherd, the
Evangelism ministry will be working on some ideas that
you will see in a few months.
EVERYDAY
EVANGELISM
Dance Party
By Peter Nielsen
I was telling Susan that at work I feel “disconnected”. It is
a good job with nice, friendly people, but I do not feel
connected to the work or my coworkers. In one way it’s
bad because I don’t love (like, not love) the work I do, but I
spend so much of my waking hours there. On the other
hand, it is just my job. It pays the bills and provides for
everything we need and a lot of stuff we want. I shouldn’t
care about status, position, office gossip, who’s a slacker
and who’s not. I try to be the best person I can at work
and hopefully that’s enough. It is my life outside of work
that has the most meaning – family and friends.
So where do I feel connected? Susan has her “book
club”, neighborhood association, PTA, EFM, church
women’s outings and reunion group. For me, I am a part
of different church ministries and there are guys I call on
when something needs to be done. We don’t have
relatives nearby – the closest are in Wichita. So, I am
envious of those who do. We were talking to friends about
how their parents who live near irritate them and having
family near can be a pain. I was talking to my sister in
North Carolina and thought afterwards, “Gosh, it would be
nice to live near her family.”
All this led to a conversation about “family”. Who or what
is our family and is biological better than adopted? In this
case, adopted means the friends who become family or
adopt us into their family. Also, the saying, “You can pick
your friends, but you can’t pick your family.” comes to
mind.
With all these questions, Eli just had his 11th birthday. He
received a 70’s Disco CD. We started playing it and the
kids started dancing. I caught some if it on video. You
can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5COKJhiJw5k. Every time, I see it, I smile.
Like so many
things, I can learn from my children. I looked at the
children who were there and make up Eli’s “family” – his
sister, a friend from the neighborhood, a friend from
Church and a friend from north of St. Joe. They all had
fun, got along and enjoyed being together. They taught
me it is not just family or friends. It’s the best of both. But
it can only happen when I make the time to be with them
so we can have our own dance party.
Full Circle
Celebrating Christ’s birth had an unusual sense of beginning and end for me this year. A couple of Sunday’s ago, the cremains of Lawassa Jones were interned. I have not been able to attend a funeral service at Good Shepherd and I have heard Father Tom say the service is not about the sadness of death but about a celebration of life. That Sunday seemed like the right time to observe an internment. There was something saying to me to understand the celebration of birth, I also have to understand the celebration of death. Beginning again – rebirth – a new start – a chance for forgiveness - a second chance. These are all gifts for the living. Death – a new beginning with the Lord – a hope that we touched some people in a good way – the chance to be told, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
What amazed me was a letter that Lawassa left for her family that was read aloud. Father Tom asked to make a copy and hopefully we will all get to hear it in an upcoming homily or reflection. The part that struck me was the joy and giftedness that Lawassa felt. She gave her body to be used for medical purposes and in her note she wanted her family to know how good she felt that she could give one last gift – her body to be used to help others. I am saddened to say that I never knew Lawassa, but her words touched me and helped me have a better sense of the gift of renewal. If that is not Everyday Evangelism, I don’t know what is.
Peter Nielsen
