Emily’s Weekday Wonderings – A Congregation with and for Babies
Being a Congregation with and for Babies
There is all sorts of talk about babies, children, and youth as “the church of the future” but the fact is that they are all a part of the church, right now. Whether a few months, years, decades, or centuries, everyone has a right to be a participant in a community of faith. Having babies in our midst is a reminder of the cycle of life, and that we celebrate new life in all its forms.
It can also be a reminder not to idealize things. A crying baby can be the perfect corrective to the nonsense in Christmas carol lines such as “the little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.” Of course Jesus cried. He was a baby! That is a 100% guarantee. Every Christmas we celebrate a baby, so what is better than to celebrate the divine that exists within every baby, every time we gather?
Babies can also be a good reminder that faith is not all about us. When we are caring for a baby, or even in the presence of a baby, we are reminded how each of us depends on others so that our needs can be met. This is always the case, babies just make it obvious. At the same time, babies remind us of our faith calling to care for others, which we do in many ways in our lives. This is the outward-reaching movement that fuels our outreach work, our pastoral care work, and the shape of our life as a community. …
Emily’s Weekday Wonderings – A Congregation with and for BabiesRead More »
On Sunday, Leaside celebrated two years as an affirming congregation. We had the opportunity to think about the question “What does it mean for you to be a part of an affirming congregation?”
As of the end of 2017, there were 199 affirming ministries, with another 120 ministries in the affirming process. There are currently approximately 3000 ministries in the United Church of Canada. The number of new affirming ministries has been increasing year by year. In 2007, there were 39 affirming ministries total (31 of them congregations). 2016 – the year that Leaside United Church became an affirming ministry – saw 26 new ministries. 2017 had 35 new affirming ministries. According to the listof affirming ministries on the
You must be logged in to post a comment.