The year has started off with more action for the young at Swan Parish. Last Friday the Young Adults enjoyed a social barbecue with great food and company as a way of regrouping for the coming year. And today the St. Mary's crowd were treated to the first "Kids Take The Church" service of the year. During these services most of the leadership roles and rostered jobs during church are performed by the kids. Its very satisfying to see how confident they have become after several years of running these services. What a great way of engaging, training and discipling the kids as well as deepening their understanding of liturgy and worship. Thanks to Paula, Nicole and Doug and all the parents and others who support these services. Also, big thanks to the Swan Parish Youth (SPY) who chipped in at the last minute to provide an impressive morning tea.
A new worship initiative in the parish, for all ages, is the monthly Taize service. On Saturday night a small group gathered for a friendly glass of wine and snacks before moving into the church for this peaceful and moving service involving reflective singing, readings, silence and prayer. I always leave the church after the Taize service feeling I have just been given a great gift. Lyn and Sharon are doing a great job coordinating these services and we all look forward to the crowd growing as word spreads.
I was very impressed with the way the children and youth lead the church service this morning. Their mature and calm handling of the many tasks involved is testament to this wodnerful process of training and development that we have had going for several years now. The children who have been involved in KTTC since the beginning handle their tasks competently, and have begun gently teaching younger children what to do. KTTC is always an uplifting service, and so well supported by the whole congregation.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a lovely evening at Taize last night. thank you Sharon and Lyn for your efforts. I floated on a peaceful cloud all evening!
Helena.
Coming from a background where children were seen and not heard in church how wonderful it is to be a part of a parish which encourages such involvement from the children. The kids are so willing and eager to step up for Kids take the church and they lay aside their fears to try new roles. They never cease to impress me.
ReplyDeletePaula
As babies, we do it for 16 + hours a day. As kids our parents can’t wait for us to do it. As teenagers our parents tell us to stop doing it quite so much and as adults we seem to find it harder and harder to achieve. Sleep is a natural process, just like breathing, but some people struggle to initiate or maintain this precious commodity. Others can sleep 10 hours and still wake feeling unrefreshed. Paula Bailey would like to offer a presentation on sleep, both normal and abnormal, and why it sometimes goes horribly wrong. This will take place in the Minchin Centre at 11am on Sunday 7th August. It costs nothing and all are welcome.
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