Last Sunday, I lied to the children at Caldwell during the children’s time. Please don’t tell them.
I made a promise that for the entire month of August there would be no learning, and we would only play during our Sunday school time. I absolutely plan to keep my promise to only play this month, but I have no intention to make this month devoid of learning.
When I took the kids off for fun after the children’s time, we played a game where we split into two teams of five. Each team wrote clues on sticky notes that led to places in and around the church. A good example is “A place that you can move without walking.” That clue led to the elevator. In the elevator they would leave another sticky note that would lead to the nursery and so on. Each team was tasked with leaving a trail of sticky note clues that the other team could follow to ten different places. After about fifteen minutes of clue hiding, the teams set off on their adventures following the other teams set of clues and generally running around while yelling. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and children aged 4 to 15 worked together to explore our spaces together and find all the clues.
This was not teaching in any traditional sense, but I hope quite a bit was learned. When they got their assignment to make all these clues, many of the kids were pretty overwhelmed by the work they saw in front of them, but they learned that they could do it. Not all of the kids knew each other or even felt comfortable with the group at all. By the end they were all running around together having learned to trust one another a bit. Not all of the kids had ever been to all the parts of the church, but they learned about how to navigate this place that is just as much theirs as anyone else’s.
I believe that you meet God when you feel connected, and that is what I’m aiming to accomplish this month for our children. I want them to feel connected to one another, to this church, and hopefully to the adults they see around them. I want them to know they belong here and know that they are loved here. Play is a big factor in connection. People who play together find it easier to connect. People who experience joy together find it easier to connect. You don’t have to even mention God to make God’s work happen.
Next month we will go back to something that looks more like Sunday school, but the focus on connection will continue. I want every child who walks into Caldwell to know that they are welcome and loved here. That will be the foundation on which everything they do with us is built.
I’ll give one quick example. Last month on our youth trip one of our adult chaperones was none other than Rosabella Etheridge. She is at school at NC State, and currently living in Raleigh. She knew that we needed a female chaperone, and even though she was working full time that week, spent each night with us at the church and helped out with our evening activities. That willingness to share of herself was born in her connection to us that started years ago when she was a small child here at Caldwell. Without the great people in this church who cared for her in elementary school, we would not have her caring for our teenagers now.
We have to work to make children feel connected here, not just so they know us, but so they can also feel that connection with God. We are helping to shape the spiritual lives of young people who will grow up to serve God in ways we could never imagine. So, if you have children and you haven’t seen us in a while, please bring them this month so they can have a blast with us. I promise this Sunday will be even more fun than last Sunday.
If you know someone who has kids, why not let them know that you know a place where their family is welcome and their kid will have a great time (and maybe learn something, too)?