Greetings from Faith Formation! As we move through this transition time in our youth programming, we are grateful to everyone who attended our information/brainstorming sessions in the first week of November. Family members, caretakers, and Faith Formation team members had two engaging conversations with absolutely amazing attendance.
We shared some of the joys of our youth programs and some of the challenges. Overall, there was a feeling that our youth feel loved and welcomed in our church. We reviewed the current Sunday morning schedule and agreed that we would continue to have: Intergenerational Communion on the first Sunday; Myrna teaching Church School on the second Sunday when she is able; the youth in the tent in the sanctuary on the third Sunday; and Pastor Debbie teaching Church School on the fourth Sunday. With this schedule, families shared some other ideas to make Sunday mornings accessible and fun for all. We will be moving forward with the following steps:
- We are experimenting with having a paid college student attend on Sundays as a flexible resource who can help with small children or help in the tent as needed. Maya Alvarado has spent one Sunday with us. She will be back with us on December 8. We believe this will provide a nice lift for parents during the hour of worship.
- We are also asking adults in the church to be a Second Adult each Sunday. We hope to have enough volunteers so that each person can volunteer once every three months. You can sign up as the Second Adult at this link: Second Adult Signup
- We have simplified our email communications to families and have used text to follow up on requests.
- We will plan a youth service project each month. Our first youth service project was putting together the Hurricane Buckets for CWS. Our next one will be December 8. The youth will support several tables at the Alternative Gift Fair during coffee hour.
- This Sunday, December 1, Rev. Debbie Gline-Allen, Minister of Faith Formation SNEUCC, will be joining us for worship. Debbie will be preaching and staying after church for conversations about faith formation strategies and programs.
- We are planning a youth mission trip in the spring. We have finalized the date of March 21-23 for an Incredible Days mission trip hosted in Providence, RI.
- We would like to implement a Youth Forum gathering during the worship service for our teenage youth. We have adults and young adults who are interested in supporting this opportunity for teenagers to have community and conversations once per month. This opportunity will take a bit more time to plan out. We will try to move forward with our other steps and work to forward this exciting idea forward.
Edwards Church has an amazing history in Faith Formation. We also have a warm and welcoming environment that shares God’s love with our youth and families. We are grateful for this wonderful community, and we praise God in the talents and wisdom that we share with each other.
Fran Graveson
Consulting Associate Pastor