Dear Friends,

It is Day School Sunday this week! Hopefully, we’ll get a few families to join us on Sunday morning from the Day School to celebrate our shared community together. I have loved my time at St. Luke’s since I arrived last January, and the Day School has been an exceptionally bright spot, so I thought I would walk you through a typical Wednesday morning.

At 8:30, I put a hat on my pit-mix dog named Vanilla Bean, I put my son, Andrew, on my shoulders, and we walked down the trail to Wellington. Andrew gets excited when we make that turn because we always see a School Bus picking up older children on that street. Since we have Chapel with the younger children on Wednesdays, Andrew spends the first half-hour of school with me in my office playing with Legos that Cathy Lewis gave us when we arrived.

At 9:15, another Andrew arrives. Andrew Manous is our Nave-Sexton, and he helps with Chapel as well. He gets the linens, children’s Bible, and other knick-knacks from my office and carries them into the Church. Still in her hat, Vanilla Bean coaxes him to play a bit before we hear little footsteps come down the secret stairwell between the school and the Church.

Before we know it, a small hoard of little people flows into the Church and excitedly greets Vanilla Bean, who gives them kisses on the cheek as they pass by. Andrew won’t sit with his class because his dad is too distracting, so he stays on my shoulders. After the teachers choose a special student to light the candles, the service begins.

Mrs. Kendra leads us in a song while we go around and carefully light the candles, and our special time begins. I review with the tiny congregation our special things. Our special time is called Chapel. Our special table is an altar, and that is where we put our prayers when we send them to God. Our special book is called the Bible, and it teaches us about God’s love. When the candles are lit, we know it’s our special time to listen and pray.

When we sing, we pray twice, once with our lips and once with our hearts, so we go into our story after our song. For six weeks, we read about Moses, who was a baby saved by a princess and led God’s people to freedom, but this week we read about Mary and Joseph. After each page, Andrew Manous goes around with the Bible to ensure everyone can see the pictures. After the story, we think hard about what we are thankful for then we turn into a prayer to put on the altar. We do the same thing for someone we should pray for. On the count of three, we shout our prayers onto the altar before praying them up to heaven!

Another student puts out the candles while we sing our last song, and we end our prayer with the “Shouting Prayer” from Shrinemont, which goes, “God loves the world! God loves us! God loves you! I love you! God loves me! I love me! Thanks be to God! Amen!”

Then our worship ends, and with one more visit to Vanilla Bean, everyone goes back to the class.

This sacred time for me forces me to prepare myself to be around children twice a week. When that hoard storms into the Church, you have no choice to be the best version of yourself, not only because you want the experience to be good for them, but also because their joy and enthusiasm are contagious. Everyone slowly learns how to be still in Church and see that it is a sacred place, but they also learn how to shout prayers to God passionately. Both are good lessons for everyone present.

Church exists in many different ways. What we do on Sunday morning is Church, but so are the Monday night meetings and the classes that happen Monday through Friday in the North Wing of the Church.

Blessings,

Nick