On Sunday, August 13, we will celebrate Promotion Sunday and the beginning of another school year! We will gather at 9:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall for our annual Pancake Breakfast. We will enjoy time around the table with one another and then we will disperse to Sunday School, where our children and youth will go to their new classes!
In worship, we will celebrate with our first graders by giving them a Bible and with our youth, who are starting the sixth grade. The school year is a wonderful new beginning, where we prepare for another year of learning in Sunday School and as a community of faith. These milestones are important to our children and youth, so they are important to all of us.
During the worship service, we will also participate in the Blessing of Our Backpacks. This includes backpacks for school as well as anyone who wants to bring a bag they use for work. We will offer our support, affirmation, and blessing on those who will carry these backpacks during the year, so they will know they are never alone. It is a beautiful act of solidarity at the beginning of the school year!
We are thankful for these days of celebration, remembering what is good around us and leaning on the community of faith during the transitions of life. These transitions offer new possibilities as well as new concerns. As our children and youth navigate these transitions, we want them to feel the encouragement of their family of faith.
New beginnings give us an opportunity to engage in new possibilities! We can engage a new practice or make a new commitment. These opportunities are a gift, so we give thanks for them as we ponder how we might use them. This newsletter includes many opportunities for fellowship, study, and service. As a congregation, we begin again this school year by celebrating milestones and giving thanks for new commitments.
– Tripp Martin