Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

Parents’ Gathering: Our Hopes for the Future
Thank you to the following parents and facilitators who were able to attend the Parents’ Gathering: Meredith Trahan, Brad Carl, J and Jeanne McLellan, Amy Fewel, Colin Olson and Gretchen Olson, Deb Josephs, Gail Ansheles, Jennifer Jaqua, Julie Luecke, Megan Piper, Barbara Stretchberry, Gretchen Forbes, Steve Schumacher, Helene Nelson. We had some really good discussion over the following questions:
1. What was a positive spiritually significant experience for you growing up?
2. What are your hopes for your child/children’s moral and spiritual development?
3. How can Orchard Ridge UCC help in your child/children’s faith formation?
4. How can you partner with the Church to help in the faith formation of the children and youth of Orchard Ridge?
5. What are one or two specific things the church can do to help fulfill some of these hopes?

Thank you for your wonderful conversation and the sharing of the things you hope for your children and youth. Let’s keep the conversations going and let’s continue to seek God’s guidance as we plan for the future. We will gather up those ideas and make them available to the church and see where we go from here.

Some of the resources used for this discussion

Spiritual Beliefs about the Spiritual Nature of Children
From The Way of the Child by Wynn McGregor

1. Children have an innate connection to God.
2. Children have a natural openness to mystery.
3. Children have an amazing capacity for awe.
4. Children are receivers.
5. Children love what is real.
6. Children are wonderfully humble.

Six Themes Related to Children’s Spirituality
From Real Kids Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children’s Spiritual Lives by Karen Marie Yust

1. Belonging. Being embraced by God and a community of faith as beloved and accepted.
2. Thanksgiving. Living with a sense of gratitude for the gift of faith and God’s provision of one’s daily needs.
3. Giftedness. Knowing that each person is wondrously and uniquely made, with gifts and abilities to contribute to the community.
4. Hospitality. Sharing one’s gifts and welcoming the gifts of others so that God’s vision of a just and peaceful world can be realized.
5. Understanding. Reflecting on one’s spiritual experiences in order to become aware of how they shape one’s life and commitments.
6. Hope. Expecting that there is something more to human existence than what we presently see or know.

Dreams to Ponder about our Spiritual Formation Program for Children and Youth:
Can we dream that

1. Our children not only discover a safe place to belong but a community that challenges them to discern their purpose and vocation in life as children of God.
2. Our children will learn how to resist those aspects of our American culture that have already disappointed us with their empty promises and stress-inducing effects.
3. We, alongside our children, might work together toward understanding how we are to live our lives as spiritual beings. (from Karen Marie Yust)

And that

1. Our children/youth will develop an inner self connected to God that is understood in relationship to their daily lives and the wider world.
2. Our children/youth will make decisions and commitments that help them feel harmonious with God, their inner selves, and the world around them.
(from Wynn McGregor)