Sunday School Report

Happy New Year!

I hope anyone reading this that is not involved in a study group will plan to make a commitment, even a short term commitment, to joining a class as part of their resolution for 2012. This could be on Sunday morning or a study group meeting during the week. Maybe you have a special interest and would like to be a part of a group studying this topic. Whatever the case may be, please let me encourage to you to participate, as it will be a life changing event for this year!

One such group I have been participating in is the Sunday evening Advent study, discussing Adam Hamilton’s book “The Journey”. As part of the study, a week ago we talked about Mary’s stay with Elizabeth when she first found out she was going to be pregnant with Jesus, and Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant with John. One of the ideas coming out of this discussion is the idea of mentors.

Elizabeth was a mentor to Mary, and helped her understand and come to grips with what was happening to her. It wasn’t until Elizabeth greeted her as being a blessed woman that Mary could understand, and proceed with the beautiful song praising God. We then discussed how we have benefited from a mentor, and in turn, been a mentor to someone else.

While most of us are probably mentors to others without even being aware of this, we do have a program in place here at LUMC that is a known mentoring program. We call this our Pen-Pal program between adult and children Sunday school classes. In some cases, an entire class is paired with another class, and in other instances the two classes match someone person to person.

This has been a great way for our adults to mentor our children. The kids get to know another adult not in their immediate family that will be on their side and someone to talk to and share their concerns or joys. The kids love visiting with and having that special connection either with the individual paired to them, or the whole class in general. They have fun getting mail from their pen-pal. Some of the bonds between the kids and adults have really become tight, and hopefully will continue as the kids get older and need extra Christian guidance.

Hopefully the adults are getting something out of the relationship as well. Besides the good feeling that comes with helping to guide another in God’s way, they get to see a child’s faith in action. I hope that all of you in the Disciples, Open Door and Seekers class know what a vital role you play in encouraging our children to continue to seek God, to know Him better and to stay faithful as they grow in a culture not necessarily conducive to this. I know that my three children all have special people in the classes, and even my super shy kids love writing to and seeing their pen-pals at church. It makes them feel special to have someone that cares about them at church, and makes them feel more a part of our church family.

Thank you, and once again, Happy New Year!
Rebecca Miller