now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it?
I’m making a way in the desert,
paths in the wilderness.” Isaiah 43:19
This verse has been speaking to me this summer. God is speaking to the Israelites amidst their exile and, in previous verses, reminds them how beloved they are. They are caught in the wilderness, feeling forsaken, but God shines a light away from their confusion and misery and on the new and exciting things that are happening. “Look! I’m doing a new thing!” This verse has been my constant reminder during this Covid season that God is active and moving and trying new things! God may be never-changing, but God’s work changes to meet the needs of the time and place and people who seek God’s care. What new thing is God doing through us?
The Faith Formation Team met on Sunday, September 6th to plan our Fall programming. God is doing a new thing through us! We have decided on a hybrid model, incorporating in-person, online, and home-based activities. This model will allow us to observe our Covid group size protocols, to keep kids from being online too much, to encourage peer group interaction, and to build our families’ faith practices. We will be meeting in small groups, scheduled around families’ busy lives, and will rotate which age groups will be meeting in person at church or online, and which will be given time to learn and grow as families. We will be supporting families through all of this by providing content and modeling best practices for faith formation.
Our program year will begin with a kickoff meeting after Drive-in Worship on Sunday, October 4th (weather permitting-backup plans TBD.) We are excited to grow together and to partner with children, youth, and families in the new things that God is doing amongst us!