The summer has flown by and for many across the state, the end of August means that class is back in session. For students of all ages, school can be an occasion for great excitement as well as anxiety.
This is where the Church can come in. We have a unique opportunity to make the children and youth in our state feel loved and supported. Congregations all across the Synod already have plans to help kids gear up for school and make incoming college students feel welcome in the community.
For St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Culpeper, one way for the congregation to show students support is with their annual backpack blessing. On a designated Sunday in August, students of all ages are called up front where Pastor Kate Costa offers a few wise words and prays over the group.
This year, as can be seen in photo below, the students ranged from preschool to graduate school.
“We talked about how Martin Luther talked about vocation as not just a thing that adults have,” said Pastor Costa. “It isn’t about your job, it is about your everyday call and the kids’ call is to learn.”
After that simple truth that can fill anyone with a sense of purpose, Pastor Costa handed each of them something to commemorate the day.
“We also give them a luggage tag that has a place to put their name and it has a verse of scripture so that they have something tangible to take with them to school that will remind them that the church is praying for them,” she said.
While St. Luke’s backpack blessing is focused on sending students out, Christ Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg has a Wacky Waffle event to welcome kids back into church for a new year of Sunday School.
The concept is simple and delicious. Church members all bring their waffle makers down to fellowship hall, along with some fun and wacky toppings. Parents and their children are invited in for waffles and during the meal all the Sunday school teachers at the church are introduced.
After everyone is done eating, the kids can meet their teachers and see where their new Sunday school classrooms will be for the year.
Christ Lutheran is also involved with the campus ministry at Mary Washington University. Soon the students will be back on campus and Pastor Anne Jones will be there with other Lutherans to welcome new freshmen at their kickoff cookout outside the campus ministry house.
“For the new students, we want to be visible and out front so we can make connections early,” said Pastor Jones. “We want to welcome them so that they feel like they have a home away from home from the beginning of the semester so that when all the papers come due or if things go bad, they already have a community.”
While the beginning of the year is a vital time for students, both of these churches realize that this is just the beginning. Students need love and support all year round: emotionally, spiritually, and, for some, physically.
“A lot of kids in our area are on free and reduced lunch so they get help during the week, but when the weekend comes they don’t necessarily have access to the same food that they do Monday through Friday,” Pastor Kate Costa said.
Pastor Jones and Pastor Costa both mentioned that food packing events for local backpack ministries is also on the agenda as school starts back up again.
“We see it as a way to literally obey the command of Jesus to go and feed my sheep,” said Pastor Costa. “Our people never see the kids that are in need, but they realize that these families are their neighbors.”
How are you loving the students in your community? There are thousands of ways to show students that they are loved. Bethel Lutheran in Winchester took their recent high school graduates out to lunch and used the social media post below to gather advice from other church members:
They posted this on their Facebook Page this week:
They posted this on their Facebook Page this week:
Posted by Bethel Lutheran Church Winchester on Wednesday, August 19, 2015
