National Children's Day
From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
National Children's Day March 6th 2011 8.00 & 10.00am
The Revd. Alison Camplin
- Psalm 46:1-7
- Genesis 6:9-22;7:24,8:14-19
- Romans 1:16-17;3:22-28
- Matthew 7:21-29
http://wellingtoncathedral.org.nz/index.php/Sermons
Today is National Children’s day. It is a day when we celebrate and give thanks for our children. Children are our greatest treasure and it is a privilege to be able to work alongside them and minister to them and their families. Today I would like to share with you the importance of children’s ministry and the exciting things that are happening in the Children’s ministry. Children’s ministry at the Cathedral is a bit like an iceberg we can see the top section on a Sunday but so much happens underneath in the weekdays that is not seen.
Children are our life blood. They are our present and our future As John Westerhoff wrote “If our children are to have faith, we need to make sure that the church becomes a significant community of faith” Having faith, understanding faith, exploring faith and questioning faith are not solo activities. It is meant to be done with others of all ages.
In our Gospel reading we heard about the wise man building his home on rock. It is the same with children’s life. As we share God's love, as we model our lives, as we share our stories, as we pray for them, we are helping to ensure they have a firm foundation. As we all know, having firm foundations does not mean that life will be easy. What it means is that there is an anchor, and strength to help us get through the storms and the earthquakes that life gives us all. Children learn that they are not alone. They learn that they can talk to Jesus all the time, they will know that God is with them, and that other people care for them. They will see that life enfolds beauty, sorrow and love.
Children have incredible insights and flashes of understanding. They can see things clearly because they don’t try to over analyse or have their vision blurred by being over-familiar with the story. One of the wonderful opportunities we have as we provide children’s ministry is to remember that children are spiritual beings and have been since they were born. They have gifts and as we give them opportunities they will use them.
At the Cathedral we have a wonderful mix of children who use their gifts in so many ways each week. We have the choristers here with us today singing. Not only do they practise extremely hard twice a week to give us wonderful music, at the summer choir school recently, they were decorating and selling purple cup cakes to raise money for Haiti.
We have children who are servers. We can all see what they do in the service but they also have to arrive early to set up and then tidy and clean up after the service.
In the Worship Centre it is wonderful to see the older children look after and help the younger children.
You would be amazed at the amount of food that our small 11-14 year old youth group devour as they meet together once a month for food, games, talking and sharing with one another.
‘Tots’ N’ Tunes, which is our preschool music group, provides a wonderful opportunity to welcome parents/caregivers and their children into the heart of the Cathedral community. On Tuesday I will be sharing with them about Shrove Tuesday and Lent and providing pancakes. This group is providing a great space to talk, to share experiences and to offer encouragement and support to one another.
The Cathedral has recently become a Loved 4 Life Chapter. This means that we will provide a quilt and meal to families with a new-born baby through Tots’ N’ Tunes, the local playgroup and baptism families. At a baptism recently we gave the family a Loved 4 Life quilt. They were delighted with the quilt and the words on the back remind them that they are part of the Cathedral family. This quilt is a symbol to them, that as a Cathedral family, we have promised to pray for them, to support and help them on their journey as we are pilgrims together.
The Children’s Worship Centre is led by a wonderful team of leaders at the 10.00am Sunday morning service. The Centre provides a space where children learn through story, activities, ritual and relationships. As one child recently said, “We are having lots of fun learning about God. Another said, ”I really enjoy playing with the question ball.”
I would like to share with you part of Maddie’s Chorister Christian training talk that she gave last year as she worked towards her red ribbon. “Singing for me means that I can get in touch with God in a more easier way. I'm doing something that I love, singing, and for me to appreciate God while singing is a really good feeling. Like you’re serving him with the wonderful words and beautiful melodies.
I think that being young and inexperienced, praying through singing is a fantastic idea. It opens up our minds. It gets us prepared for adulthood, where everything isn't placed out in front of us, all neat and tidy. We have wonderful people in the church family that help us understand what we are singing. They also tell us about God and his works and that we should appreciate what he does for us.
Do you ever worry, do you get stressed easily? We all do. It's a fact of life. Singing at the Cathedral may help your worries and stresses. There are caring staff at the Cathedral, whom you can talk to about your problems. And if you find it difficult to discuss your feeling with someone, release them through song. With singing, you can be yourself, everybody accepts you for who you are. And especially God. Singing is a good way to express your emotions. You don't just have to sing at the Cathedral. Go to the library and get out some prayer books, photocopy some hymns and sing at home, sing in the shower. Just sing.“
I believe that Maddie sums up children ministry. Children’s ministry is about providing opportunities for them to question, to experience a caring, loving environment. It is about providing a space where children feel safe to talk; a space where they know there are adults who care for them, an opportunity for children to use their gifts and a place where children know that they belong to a wider community.
It is a ministry we can all help with. We can all pray for the children, families and leaders. If you are interested in cooking, you could provide a plate of home baking every now and then on a Tuesday morning for Tots ’N’ Tunes. If you are interested in making quilts we will gladly accept them. It would be great if a group could meet monthly and make quilts or some other crafts together. If you are interested in helping at youth group or the Worship Centre please come and talk to me.
On the National Children’s web site there is this reflection from author Joyce Maynard, on the power of example. She said: "It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself."
As the Cathedral community we need to role model for our children as we reach for the sun and show them our love.
