He explained to me that they DO ask/encourage the kids to bring their Bibles to church and if they don't, they have a bookshelf full of them to borrow from. I should have known!
I also mentioned to the pastor what a great idea the Valentines Luncheon was. He asked me if I was JA and BG's mom and I told him yes. He wanted to know more about our family as he had sat with the boys at the luncheon for a while and talked with them. He and I then went on to have a great talk about what his vision is for the youth. I explained to him that we are looking for a church that helps the kids LIVE out the Bible by providing opportunities for them to do that. He explained that this is also one of his goals. We talked about an upcoming weekend retreat where the kids will be going out in the community to do service projects and how their summer camp is all about reaching out into the community.
3 comments:
So glad ! Finding a new church home is not easy. Hope this works out for yall.
Joy
I just read your last few posts and I agree very much about what you said about turning everything to milk, which brings people down, rather than building them up. It's so hard to find a true professional these days, vs someone just doing their job. I see public schools watering down the curriculums to accommodate the "slower" children. At the same time, I see praise for the tiniest, most mundane things that kids do, which teaches them that when they do nothing, they still get praised, but where is the self esteem that comes from praise for doing a job that's difficult? I'm seeing fewer and fewer parents allow their children to struggle with anything at all, whether it's tying their own shoes or having to use manners in public with someone their don't know, like say, "thank you," if a stranger compliments them in a perfectly safe and reasonable way.
I'm so glad I'm not the only parent out there setting truly high standards for my child!
Wow, I'm so excited that you are beginning to find the right church for your family. (Hopefully this is your new long term church home!)
One project that my grandmother has instilled in me is to never let a Bible be disposed of. Her favorite hobby is going to garage sales and flea markets looking for various items. However, any time she ever sees a Bible for sale, she purchases it no matter how raggedy it may appear on the outside. Often times, unsold books and paper items are thrown away at the end of each sale and she just can't bear the thought of a bible in a landfill. Her mantra (which I now share) is "The message is in the pages, not on the cover."
Over the years she and I have collected hundreds of Bibles and never paying over 25 cents - I believe our entire investment is $30 and often they are given to us free of charge. We have filled the shelves of each Sunday school class in our church (Pre-K-Adult) and are now building a collection to donate to another church in the community.
As a Sunday school teacher, one thing is quite remarkable, teenagers would rather read from the used Bibles (some extremely well used) than a brand new crisp Bible. The read more intensely, careful not to rip each page, but all while knowing that they will not get in trouble if they do. They also take joy in reading the previous owner's notes and finding church flyers and other items pressed in between each page.
We still encourage each student to bring their Bibles from home, but will often catch them reading from two different copies (theirs and a vintage) comparing the translations and observing how another scholar takes notes.
I was going to suggest this as a project for your family, but it looks like the problem easily solved itself. By the way, it is not just your teenager, I was accused of the same thing a few months ago. I hand out a memory verse to each student on a notecard as they leave my class as their "homework." After a short visit by a disgruntled parent, she too realized that she was only hearing part of the story.
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