Weekly Clergy Letter From Mother Anne Turner

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

“Watching the generations pray together is pure joy.”

 

Someone wrote this sentence in response to our vision process.  The claim is true for me, and I suspect it is true for you, too.  I love handing out communion to toddlers and parents and grandparents all standing next to one another.

 

This coming Sunday, we commit to intergenerational formation.  I say intergenerational (not just children’s) because the work of formation is something which our whole community undertakes.

 

It happens deliberately, when parents bring their children to Sunday School to be taught by adult volunteers, or when teenagers come for Youth Nights and find a host of sponsors waiting to support them.

 

And it happens spontaneously, too.  I see it when a LEM shares a hymnal with an acolyte on the altar.  I see if when a parent seeks out someone else’s son or daughter at coffee hour to ask how school is going.  I see it when a small child runs up to a trusted adult for a hug.

 

We draw children back into formation with alpacas, rabbits, and ball pythons.  (Because “pure joy” is also getting to pet an alpaca.)  It’s a rewarding hour of connection.  But the real connection—and the real reward—is in our ongoing life together.

 

Whether you are coming to Llamapalooza or not, I hope you will come to this year of shared life in Christ.  We all need one another.

 

Yours in Christ,

Anne+