More Church - Youth Sunday 2008

Today the acolytes were very short, the lay readers stood on a platform to reach the microphone, the bulletins were handed out by more short people and the sermon was preached by two handsome young men who I remember clearly being short not too long ago! Youth Sunday had made its annual appearance.

The confirmation class is charged with writing the Prayers of the People. It takes me a long time to convince the kids that they can pray for just about anything. They keep trying to use the standard churchy words and I keep saying, "This needs to sound like YOU are talking, I want to hear YOUR voices, your concerns." It's a highlight of the annual church cycle for me.

So, for your reading pleasure...

Prayers of the People
written by
St. Anne's Confirmation Class of 2008

We pray for the Church in the world:
for our diocese, Shrine Mont and the people who help there, for Hope and Resurrection School in Sudan, for all St. Anne’s members and other church members, and for resolution of any big problems in the church.

We pray for our country and all in authority:
for our president, vice-president and the upcoming president and for all elections; for those who must make big decisions - that they make the right choices and not stupid decisions; for the troops and all people fighting for our safety.

We pray for the welfare of the world:
for conservation efforts that give us a better understanding of global warming and pollution in water like the Potomac and the Chesapeake, for an end to world hunger, AIDS, malaria and poverty and for the hope of world peace.

We pray for our local community:
especially for the animal shelter in Ashburn that’s having trouble getting money, for soup kitchens and other places that help the poor people of our community, especially the children; for the Embry Rucker Shelter and for all community members who help others.

We pray for all who suffer and for those in any trouble:
for the families of the troops, those who are homeless, those affected by the Virginia Tech shootings, for people who worry about sick friends and family members and for children in Africa.

We pray for our friends who have cancer including Amy B. and Allie, Paul and Ethan, Hailey and Emily, a musician friend and Ali C. whose cancer is in remission; and we pray for those who are disabled, sick, sad or just not feeling well and that they may feel better.

We pray for all who have died, including those who died in the Virginia Tech incident, soldiers who died in Iraq and Vietnam, Amy Schram, Alice Bond, Cecilia Gillen, Jeffrey V., Marla, David, grandparents, and people who died in the name of God; that they will all shine in Your presence and that their family members can be happy.

And we want to thank you, Lord, for birthdays and anniversaries, for a safe community, a strong future, healing, hope, graduation, the end of the school year, summer and pools opening, Relay for Life, love, and the opportunity to continue our faith journey.

Amen.

... I swear, these are their words. I took out references to specific political candidates but the rest of it is all kid. Congratulations to their parents. And, watch out world, these kids have plans! (To see last year's prayers - click.)

Off to the Weiner Dog Races!

I guess it's been about two years since I started reading a blog called The Roller Skate Jams. I clicked on the blog title because it was under a heading of "Fun People" and I was trying to figure out just what jam had to do with roller skates. (Yes, it's true!) The fun person is Rene Gutel and if you look closely at her little profile picture, you'll see a girl wearing pajamas with roller skates on them... oh, duh!!!

I returned to the blog because Rene's little dachshund puppy Rigatoni had broken her leg. Oh, the pain. I don't think Rigatoni hurt nearly as much as Rene did! And, like any good soap opera, the chapters kept coming and I kept reading. Rigatoni made a full recovery, so well-recovered in fact, that Rene entered her in the Phoenix area WeinerNational Dog Race.

If you were to ask me why "weiner dogs" are burdened with raising money for the Adopt-A-Greyhound organization, I might respond that weiner dogs were born to run... but that would be the greyhounds, wouldn't it? Or, I might respond that weiner dogs are philanthropists at heart. To give Rigatoni a chance to show off both her legs and her heart in the annual event to support her long-legged cousins, you can click and scroll past Milo D, Jessie, Squirt, Izzie, Mia, Roxie, Oliver, Max, Sprocket, The Dude, Twinky and Goofy to RIGATONI wearing her #6 jersey. Click on the link to get to the donations page and remember to specify Rigatoni. You'll get an email receipt for your tax-deductible donation and the pleasure of sending Rigatoni back to the WeinerNational!

Donate soon! The top 20 fundraisers will automatically be entered in the qualifying heats. The race to donate closes May 4. The dogs will race on May 17. Let's hope Rigatoni is one of them!

Gifts That Make Your Heart Sing

Here's one to get you thinking...
This is Administrative Professionals Week. (The rebellious side of me says just call it Secretary's Week!!) The office staff here at the school is being well-thanked with special food, chocolate, kid-made cards, you know the drill. But the heart song gift was a shopping bag FULL of LILACS, freshly cut, wet with dew and smelling of spring!

What about you? Has a gift made your heart sing recently?

The Best of Church

I do love my church. It's got its wild and wacky moments but that just highlights the prevalent sense of family at St. Anne's. Today was family at its best.

Each fall for the past ten years I've looked at the group of kids who come into the confirmation classroom and wondered if maybe this year we should have waited until they were older to prepare them for confirmation.

Here is what the Episcopal prayerbook says about confirmation:

Q. What is Confirmation?
A. Confirmation is the rite in which we express a mature commitment to Christ, and receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop.

Q. What is required of those to be confirmed?
A. It is required of those to be confirmed that they have been baptized, are sufficiently instructed in the Christian Faith, are penitent for their sins, and are ready to affirm their confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Each year for the past ten years, as one of the class teachers, I've been proud to present the group to a bishop for their confirmation. Today was the day for the class of 2008. I felt confident in presenting a sufficiently instructed group of confirmands to their bishop. What an exceptional day this was.

Bishop Jones met with the 26 young people before their confirmation. They were uncharacteristically quiet in front of him. The bishop wanted them to remember that Jesus is the friend that will always be waiting for them and will never let them down. He challenged them to spend just ten minutes a day with Jesus. (I needed that reminder, too.) They processed into the church and were very well behaved as they sat in a group for the service. They even paid attention during the sermon... well, mostly, anyway.

The service was infused with a sense of comfort; I think the bishop felt it, too. After he laid hands on and prayed for all 26 of the youth being confirmed, the kindergarten kids trouped into the sanctuary. Father Jim greeted them as usual. Then, the bishop grabbed the loaf of communion bread from the altar and said to the little kids, "Look what I found!" Bishop Jones gave an impromptu lesson on the eucharist and invited the kids to stand in front of the altar as the communion prayers were said. One of the hymns during communion was "Wade In the Water." We clapped and sang; the bishop gave the choir a thumbs-up sign! I've always been happy to have a bishop visit us at St. Anne's. This was the first time I've felt like the bishop was more than a visitor - he was one of the family.

Bishop Jones remarked, "This is the happiest confirmation class I've ever seen. They must be well loved." Isn't that really the very best of church?

See a compantion post at Progressive Pragmatist's Blog.

Candlelight

A year ago tonight we didn’t know who they were; we didn’t even know how many there were. We watched the news, called each other and waited. As bad as the news of the shooting at Virginia Tech was on the 16th, it got worse in the following days when we put names to the victims. Now we know that one man killed 32 people before he killed himself. The wounded are too numerous to count… the people with physical wounds, those who have lost family or friends, the people who love Virginia Tech. In the twelve months since there has been healing and forgiveness.

As I write this, I’m watching the candlelight vigil on the Drill Field. The only sounds are the voices reading 32 names and the crunch of gravel as 32 individual candles are being carried to, and lit from, one large candle (made of wax from last year’s candles) that has burned all day at the memorial. The light of those 32 flames is echoed across the Drill Field. It is stunning to listen to the silence.

And now, Taps is played.

A group sings this song by Eddie From Ohio:

Walk humbly, son, walk humbly, now,
and cherish every step.
For a life well spent, on this
earth we're lent, will be marked by the void you have left.

Walk humbly, son, and store your pride
When you need strength later on
For your life's worth will be judged if Earth
Is saddened when you are gone

Walk humbly, son, Walk humbly now
And forget not where you are from
May you go further than those before
And provide for those to come

Will you walk humbly, son?

And so, the program officially concluded.
Candles were held high.

Then the chant began: Let’s go… Hokies!

In the next twelve months I hope there will be more healing and more forgiveness.
Virginia Tech does prevail.

Who Is That Crazy Woman?

Funny how we look to each other, isn't it? Today a dear friend of mine forwarded me some photos taken less than two years ago. I remember noticing her as a new person in our church family and thinking that I'd like to get to know her. She spent a good part of the church retreat weekend taking photos with a digital SLR. (I don't have one of those and am a bit jealous of those who do!)

I wonder what she thought of me that day. Sunday morning at Shrine Mont, after church of course, generally sees the St. Anne's family participating in the Shrine Mont Olympics. I'm not much of an athlete, but I was persuaded to be a cheerleader that morning in Nov., 2006. Some of us lounged on the sidelines while many young and young-at-heart folks ran, skipped and tossed things in an effort to win. I remember screaming for whoever was not winning at the time!

I also remember it being very cold... see how many layers we have on? And in my lap is the blanket I was crocheting for the yet-to-be-born grandbaby Hannah.

I'm sure glad my friend decided I was worth getting to know! Thanks for the smile and the memories, T!

The Lighter Side of Religion?

Somewhere along the line I clicked on a Lark News story. Since then, I've read the newsletter almost every month. I skipped the last couple and have been catching up with Feb., March and April. Recently, Lark News and its creator Joel Kirkpatrick were featured in Time magazine.


As with all good satire, there are elements of truth in many of the "stories." Read about the Small Group who finally admitted they didn't like each other, or about the minister who blesses iPods. The whole page is surrounded by advertising links. Reserve your pew or parking space, get a Fast Pass for the nursery, try your luck with the beta-version Lot Caster. Order a "Jesus Loves You: But then again, He loves everybody" t-shirt. Read and laugh!