Prayer – March 6th, 2022, 11:00AM

Prayer is part of a healthy spiritual life. It is the power that knits together the relationships with our Lord and with the family of God. It is the foundation of a life centered in Christ.

This intergenerational Milestones event will help children, youth, and adults explore their experience with prayer and how they might expand their practice of prayer. It is appropriate for households of all shapes and sizes and individuals of all ages.

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Children & Worship

From the time we’re born to the day we die, worship is an important part of our faith journey. Children are not the “church of the future”, they’re the “church of today”, along with the rest of us. As a full member of our faith community, we welcome children to be a part of our worship life. We encourage families to worship together. We know that the best way for children to learn to worship and grow up to be active church participants is for them to worship on the laps of faithful parents and nurturing adults.

Parents and other adults sometimes wonder why children need to be in worship. Bringing children into the worship space is like allowing children to eat at the dinner table. Even though their manners are far from elegant, it’s done because our children are full members of the family–and they need to be fed!

Children giggle, they poke, and they swing their legs because they are children. They also pray, sing and give their offerings. Bringing a child into worship can be a real exercise of patience. But, the rewards are well worth the effort. While we do not want our children to be disruptive or hamper the worship experience, we also need to remind one another that children are members of the congregation and full members of God’s family. In addition, our children often can teach us a thing or two about worship if we let them.

Your Child and the Sacraments

Baptism
We believe that an individual can be baptized at any age. As an adult or older child, they make their own vows. As a child, a parent or guardian makes the vows on their behalf. Later in life a child will have an opportunity to affirm their baptism through Confirmation.

If you desire to have your child baptized, here are a few things to consider

  • Baptism is a commitment for the parents. You are saying that you want to raise the child in the church by bring them to worship and involving them in the life of the church. It is not necessary for you to have your child baptized for God to love them (God already does).
  • The first step in Baptism is trying out the congregation to see if this is the right place to raise your child. If you are not already a part of the congregation, visit and get involved. If you don’t think you’re going to be involved in the congregation beyond the day of your child’s baptism, then now is not the right time to pursue baptism.
  • During the baptism, parents make a pledge to God to do the following things. Reflect on if you are ready to make these promises.
    • live among God’s faithful people – bring your child to worship and other activities in the church.
    • hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper – read the Bible together and bring them up for Holy Communion
    • proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed – teach your child about God and how to live faithfully.
    • serve all people following the example of Jesus – provide opportunities for your child to help others through service projects and activities.
    • strive for justice and peace in all the earth – model for your child an attitude of justice for all people that does not discriminate, judge, or exclude others.
  • The second step is to talk with our pastor about baptism and when it might be scheduled. Because in Baptism, your child becomes part of the congregation, we always schedule them as part of a corporate worship where the whole congregation has the opportunity to celebrate. We also typically try to schedule them on a day that baptism is emphasized in the worship.
  • Following the actual baptism, it is important to remember that Baptism is not a single event, but a way of life. Use the resources the church provides you to celebrate baptismal anniversaries. Continue to participate in the life of the congregation and guide your child in the way of Christ.
  • Periodically we offer the special intergenerational milestone, Baptism. Be sure to participate in the next one offered to help you and your child explore Baptism more deeply

Holy Communion
Holy Communion is open to all. Typically we wait to serve children until they have done First Communion. We do not have a set age for First Communion, rather it is up to parents/guardians of the child to decided with the pastor when they think it is time. A good rule of thumb is, if the child is reaching for the communion elements, asking about it, or putting out their hands at communion, they may be ready to receive.

It is important to remember that being ready for communion is not about understand (none of us fully understand Communion, that’s why the Church calls it a mystery). Rather it is about experiencing that we are part of the family of God, loved by God and expressing our love for God.

  • If your child hasn’t received First Communion, bring them forward at Communion so that the pastor can give them a special blessing. If you’re a visitor, it’s alright to tell the pastor as you come forward if your child is receiving communion or a blessing.
  • If you think your child is ready for First Communion, talk to the pastor about what to do next.
  • Periodically we offer the special intergenerational milestone, Communion. Be sure to participate in the next one offered to help you and your child explore Holy Communion more deeply

Ideas for helping Children worship

  • Periodically, we offer the special intergenerational event, Welcoming Children in Worship. Whether you have done it before or not, be sure to bring your children to this event. If you don’t have children, come and show your support for our children.
  • Be supportive of families with children. Some days are hard with small children. Speak encouraging words to them and remind them that we are excited that they are here, even when the children are noisy.
  • If you don’t have children yourself, offer to sit with a family and worship with them, helping the parents or guardians with some of the ideas below. 
  • Choose to sit some where that the children with you can see the action. Often times families want to sit in the back where they can be less conspicuous, but try sitting in the front where your children can be engaged.
  • Don’t punish your children for being loud. The goal is to make them want to come to worship, not make them dread it. Instead, remind them that right now we’re worshipping God and we want to be quite so that others can worship too.
  • Incorporate hand gestures for each action in worship. The same gestures can be used at home to reinforce them.
    • Confession & Forgiveness, make the sign of the cross on your body (with your finger touch your forehead, heart, left shoulder, right shoulder, heart).
    • Prayer, swing your arms around till your hands are clasped.
    • Scripture reading, hold your hands out as if receiving a gift.
    • Gospel reading, reach a hand out toward the gospel book or the one reading it as a sign that you’re listening
    • Hymns, swaying to the music can help those who don’t read participate. If it’s a really happy song, doing a little dance is appropriate. 
    • “. . . be with you”, when you hear those words, the response is “And also with you“, bow gently toward the person saying it as a kind gesture.
    • The Peace, a hand shake is often the norm for passing the peace, but a wave, bow, or making the peace sign with your fingers can also be done.
    • The offering, provide something to put in the plate. It may be some money, but it could also be a picture that was colored, a note to God, or something else that the child wants to give.
    • Sermon, we often think that the sermon time is not for kids. But they are listening. Provide some paper and a pencil or crayons and ask them to draw what they hear.
    • Holy Communion, for young children that are not receiving communion yet, be sure to bring them forward with you so that they can receive a special blessing.
    • Final Blessing, The service always ends with “sharing God’s love and good news in Jesus Christ!” or “thanks be to God!”. Guide your children in shouting this line enthusiastically. 
    • As you come and as you leave, take time to dip a finger in the baptismal font and bless each child by making the cross on their forehead. Invite them to do it to you. Encourage them to bless Pastor and others in the same way.
  • Provide crayons and paper to help children interact with worship rather than as busywork. Invite them to draw what they hear. The children’s worship bulletins at the entrance provide another way for them to interact during worship.
  • Remember that Children benefit from routine. Try to make coming to worship a regular routine.
  • Keep the insert, Taking Faith Home, and use it during the week to extend the worship experience on Sunday into your home throughout the week. 

What is Milestones?

Milestones is a way of forming faith around the events in our lives. By drawing attention to those events, we remember how God is present in our life and find a deeper relationship with God. In short, Milestones is about creating disciples through deeper relationships. Peace partners with Milestones Ministry to offer our Milestones Faith Formation. In their own words, here is how Milestones Ministry describes how milestones work:

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Morning & Evening Prayer

Begun in 2020 as a way to provide connection during the pandemic, we have continued a tradition of prayer offered twice daily at 9:00AM and 7:00PM on our Facebook pages. You can join live on the Koinonia page or watch it later on the Peace page.

During Advent and Lent, a special prayer book is provided to guide our prayers. At other times, a variety of different scripture readings and prayer liturgies are used.

While nothing is required to participate in daily prayer (just watch and pray), we regularly use a couple of resources. Scripture readings and a simple liturgy for prayer are often drawn from the annual devotional from Augsburg Fortress.

Another regularly used resource is Common Prayer by Shane Clairborne. It provides a morning prayer for every day of the year and a general liturgy for noon and evening prayer.

How Milestones Work

Milestone faith formation is based on the idea of marking both small and significant events in a person’s life.  By acknowledging them and remembering them, we take note of how God is active in our lives. Some milestones are significant events in a person’s life. Some are smaller things that happen during our day. Some are occasions and events that happen in the Church year or within our congregation.

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