Time to talk–how do we start?

“The liberal Protestant weakness has always been its inability to love the faith of the church fiercely enough to pass it on to one’s children and strangers.”

With my mind on the renewal of our Sunday School, I read this quote in a book review. It stuck. It can’t be true! I know it isn’t true! After all, here at Trinity we’ve worked hard for years, educating our children in faith. The evidence of our success can be seen in the dedication of youth members actively participating here. We have to be doing something right.

But that’s not the whole story, is it?

We are dedicated to our children’s religious upbringing, but we are dedicated to so many other things as well! Sports and other activities, family time, vacation time—we have lots of good things to do. Meanwhile, those who whittle the Gospel down to a hard shell of Heaven for a few and the fiery destination for most offer their opinions fiercely–billboards, websites, booths at the Escondido Street Faire. No question—we’re not doing all that.

Why our lack of scary billboards? Could it have to do with what we believe? When we baptize our children, we pray for the “gift of joy and wonder in all Your works.” This gift comes from the Holy Spirit, and it’s not just found in church. God’s works are in so many places—Trinity, the beach, Uganda—where would you not find God? We know that God’s gifts aren’t found only in church, so we don’t want to limit our children’s possibilities. It’s not just church—we need to introduce them to those thousands of places of life and joy, from nature to teamwork. Good stuff! But it’s not enough.

Our children are discovering the joys of the world they live in. Are they discovering joy’s source? We encourage them to experience the world; do we ever mention the One who created it? When the joys run out and fear and disappointment remain, what then? What about their sense of gratitude? Have we given them ambitions that are about more than riches and entertainment?

I think we mean to do all that, but this is one of those places where just showing up isn’t going to be enough. We’ve lost our voices, and we have something to say! To point to God’s presence and the mystery of life, to explain how we are called to be who we are–Sunday School is on my list of priorities, but it isn’t just about children. We’ve got Good News that needs sharing with everyone. Time to talk–how do we start?

Here’s a link to our Sunday School Survey:
Survey