The River Church Community

Hello River parents,

Happy 2010! 

There are a number of things that I have tried to work on in my role as the Kids’ Community Director, and one is doing some thinking about faith markers for the children.  Because our church has an ”independent” church history, we have not inherited much ritual in terms of celebrating and noting steps of faith for children.  In fact, The River is diverse and many of us have had different kinds of faith experiences as children and adults. 

We have stepped up our commitment to baby/young child dedications.  We are also now exploring baptism for children as an expression of a faith commitment.  Thena Gee taught a lesson on baptism for the K-3^rd graders this past Sunday, explaining some of what it means.  There was no pressure there and many children expressed a desire to learn more.  I sense that there are children who may be ready to express a commitment to following Jesus or at least talk on a deeper level about faith questions (especially our 4^th-5^th graders) and that we would be negligent to not offer opportunities to do so.

Our next parent vision seminar, on Sunday, Feb. 28, will be an opportunity for us to discuss the kinds of faith markers that we would like to offer our children at The River.  I will share more specific thoughts then and welcome a robust dialogue because I believe that most faith development happens in our families.  We need to explore our beliefs and feelings about children and faith together.

Thanks for trying to save the date and feel free to contact me to talk about these matters even sooner.  Jill