Asa hung up his screen call with
Josiah and breathed a sigh of relief. The storms had not been so bad and it
would mean his humble village of Show Low would have grain for the following
year. He knew how important the network of priests and villages was but he was
grateful for the evening’s coming respite. He grinned and rubbed his eyes,
stood and stretched. He was excited, the children would be singing tonight at
the Lenten service. Such a somber time would be joyous with the young souls
singing.
He began to whistle the ancient
canticle of Blessed Assurance as he wiped his bald head of sweat and adjusted
his glasses. He swung the door open and headed out into the dessert, whistling
his song. A small child spotted
him and ran to him at full speed jumping into his arms. Asa laughed,
momentarily stopped whistling to pat the girls head.
“Rebekah, you’re getting too big
for that you know” he said disapprovingly all while smiling and walking
along.
A trail of children soon followed
him, singing the words of the canticle he whistled as they went into the
village center.
Isaac, the village provost joined
the parade. “Abbot, have your heard from Josiah?” the man was over worried and
nervous. Asa grinned with Rebekah on one hip, he put his right arm around the
provost’s shoulders. “Never fear, faithful goodfellow. Grain will be here
before the winter winds settle in. Texarkana is safe in the hands of God.” The
provost smiled wide as well, reached down and held the hand of another child
and walked merrily with the old priest.
The large domed sanctuary was an
exact replica of Asa’s home but much larger. A cranky loud air conditioner in
the back offered little relief from the heat of the ending day but it was
turned off so that the audience could hear. Asa stood, blessed the crowd,
acknowledged prayers were answered over Texarkana, chuckled when a child’s sneezed
in interruption and then sat to listen to the wonders of the children he so
adored.
don't you wish we paid more attention to the kids in service. when i started doing children''s sermons, i was told don't ask kids questions because we don't know what they will say but I think i wish we would give the kids to ask more and just be kids more. to me that is worship :)
ReplyDeleteI agree. Letting kids be kids is so important. I'm enjoying the contrast between Asa's and Tamar's ministries. Asa's is all about the children and network of other priests. Tamar's is all about those that doubt and are financially insecure.
ReplyDeleteAs I read your blog I am reminded of the importance of children and youth ministry. How do we allow children and youth to lead us as we think about ministry in the virtual world? How would you include them in leadership and training?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how we allow them too beyond just giving them the freedom to show us what they can do. It is the younger generation that will lead us into a more integrated church experience. I would post a young group member as the virtual community developer- or even bring in the youth group on meetings on how a church might develop that program.
DeleteFirst of all, being from Oklahoma and not necessarily having any fondness for Arkansas or Texas, I have to ask why you chose Texarkana. Is Rosanna down in Texarkana? (Sorry, George Strait humor). But for my real comment: Reading this post I wondered where the virtual was in it. Maybe I passed over it. In reply to Dr. Watkins' question, in my experience, you have to have a particular group that is open to being leaders for that sort of thing. The youth I've always worked with have seen technology (mainly social media) as an escape from their parents world and the church world. It's where they feel they can be themselves, which is sad that don't feel that way in church.
ReplyDeleteThe story as a whole is important- in this blog post I am contrasting Asa's ministry (with a lack of virtual) with Tamar's (almost completely virtual). Asa realizes the necessity of network and connections with other priests but his focus is on the people in his village.
DeleteGrowing up in Oklahoma and those awful summer storms I decided Texarkana would be the perfect local for futuristic atrocities in weather.
Wow the importance of children in ministry. I am learning that right now in the context I am serving at. They bring an powerful element to the table that should never be ignored. I wonder what the church would be like if we took advantage of what they have to offer and as Dr. Watkins said include them in leadership and training church would go to another level.
ReplyDeleteI see that point. I wonder though, did you see any other themes in this piece beyond the children? Asa's focus was there but what other ideas are present? He is joyful, he communicates with another priest, he relays that information physically to another leader, etc.
DeleteI think this is an important point to evaluate. How do we create virtual youth ministry today? What does it look like from your ministry context?
ReplyDeleteDo we need to create anything? It seems that young people have a way of creating their own community online- maybe we're asking the wrong question. How do we tap into the community that youth already have in order to create ministry?
DeleteAs a future minister, I believe , How we think of the children and youth effects how they will get to know God. young souls can be introduced to the Gospel and they can confess the Lord Jesus on their own. lead them to be a true worshiper .
ReplyDelete