I’d like to take a small side-step from my normal Spire article to fill you in on some of the great things that are happening around Westminster, and to invite you to join in as the year progresses. First, I’ll need to give you some background. Several years ago, our youth commission made an important decision: if we want to minister to the young people of our community, we need to do a better job of ministering to families. We are convinced that families are one of the most effective and primary influences on the life of young people. Imagine if we could help to enable parents to support the faith and development of their children!
Shortly after we made that decision to support and equip families, we began to include parents in the confirmation process. Let’s call a spade a spade; in churches all around us confirmation had become a rite of passage. It had lost its namesake of existing as a time and season for young people to truly confirm (or not!) their faith and trust in Jesus. Instead, confirmation had become “what you do when you are in 9th grade.” It wasn’t a surprise to us that many students came to confirmation because of a parental mandate. We thought to ourselves, “Hey, if parents think it’s important for their kids, then it ought to be important to the parents as well!” So, from that moment forward, parents were included in their own confirmation class.
If your kid is in confirmation, so are you! As you might expect, we had the full range of responses: some families decided that confirmation wasn’t for them, some showed up begrudgingly, and some were excited to dive right in. In the end, however, I would venture to say that nearly every family and parent that has been included in “parent confirmation” has found value, purpose, connection, and community at some point through the process. You know what I think the “secret sauce” is? We invite honesty. Not all of us have a faith story full of roses and daisies. Not all of us are interested in “diving deeper.” Not all of us buy into every word that gets preached on a Sunday morning. Those are precisely the kinds of conversations we have. Real ones. Honest ones. It turns out that the church can be a pretty good place to explore what’s really going on in our faith.
It must have been around the time that parent confirmation began when we kicked off another new idea. A men’s discussion group based in two simple ideas: Scripture and our lives. Nearly every week we gather to read from Scripture and then ask the question, how has this played out (or not!) in our lives? Sin and grace, humility and arrogance, speaking and listening, leading and following. We’ve gotten into the habit of hitting on some difficult truths, challenging one another, supporting one another, and growing together. You know what I think the “secret sauce” is? We invite honesty. Bring “the good, the bad, and the ugly,” as I’ve found myself saying more and more. It turns out that the church can be a pretty good place to explore what’s really going on in our life.
A friend recently pointed out to me that I end nearly every Spire article with a line something like, “I’d love to hear your story.” I suppose that’s the point, isn’t it? I’d love to hear your story, not for my sake, but for the sake of all of us. When we share honestly with one another, we all grow. I’d love for Westminster to continue down the road of sharing with one another. Keep an eye out for more and more ways to learn and share in places of openness and honesty with one another. I’d love for your voice and your story to be included in our community.
Oh…and of course…I’d love to hear your story.
Be well, friends.
Ed Sutter