It is with regret that I share the news that Wendy Shurey has resigned from our Ministry Team. Due to personal reasons Wendy has needed to find full time work and has been successful in finding a position at a Child Care Centre. Wendy will finish in her role as Children’s and Young Families Pastor on Sunday 17 February.
Wendy has served our congregation for the past 3 ½ years and has made significant contributions to our children’s ministries. I personally thank her for what she has done and as a congregation I know that she has helped lead us to be stronger in what we offer to the children and families of our congregation and community. Through her involvement in our outreach ministries she has developed stronger connections with the church and our local community. After the 9:30 service on Sunday 17 February we will have the opportunity to thank Wendy formally. Please plan to come and share morning tea with us and bring a plate to share.
At its February meeting the Church Council will start making decisions regarding a replacement for Wendy.
However, whilst Emmanuel offers many high quality programmes for youth and children, we must remember that these only are designed to support the work of parents in growing faith in their children in their homes. The family unit is always the primary vehicle through which values, beliefs, lifestyles and attitudes are nurtured, modelled and passed on. No matter how good a church’s programmes are, they have little effect on children if they do not see an alive and growing faith being demonstrated by their parents. This means that the primary focus of children’s and families ministry in our congregation must be on resourcing parents and children to live and discover their faith during the week.
Our church programmes can introduce children to the bible, prayer and Christian living. However, if these practices do not become a part of the child’s everyday living the work of the church has little impact. Think about ways that you can pray with your children, share bible readings with them. Consider your everyday actions, what do they say about your discipleship, your call to serve others, your generosity and grace. Are you encouraging your children to worship by preparing them before hand, making it a regular commitment each Sunday and by reflecting on it afterwards? Are you modelling for your children attitudes of grace and forgiveness? Proverbs 22:6 says, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
A key element of growing children and youth in the faith is therefore that their parents are growing in their faith. Simply put, if the parents do not value their faith and live their discipleship, it is highly unlikely that the children will do so. Our love for our children and their eternal salvation, is another reason why we should always ensure that we ourselves are growing in our faith in Jesus Christ and seeking to be transformed to his kingdom.
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