Faith Stepping Stones
A Core Ministry of St. John's Lutheran Church
THE STONES:
Stone
1: Raising a Healthy Baby Three (3) sessions on physical,
emotional and spiritual needs of infants and their parents. Parents
are also taught how to do a nightly blessing as a family faith practice.
Baptism is prepared for. A physician, a psychologist and one of
our pastors lead this series. Parents are “cared for” by our
church as a fine meal is offered at each session.
Stone 2: Raising a Healthy
Preschooler Three sessions on physical, emotional
and spiritual needs of preschoolers and their parents. Parents are taught
to add prayer to the nightly blessing as a faith practice. Other
parents become the consultants. A Christian family counselor is
our guest.
Stone 3: Entry Into School Three
sessions on physical, emotional and spiritual needs of kindergarteners.
Parents are taught to share Highs & Lows with their children, and
add it to their nightly prayers and blessing.
Stone 4: My Bible
Four or five (4-5) sessions highlighting 120 key verses in young readers’
Bibles. Youth and parents commit to read a Bible verse nightly, and
continue with Highs & Lows, prayer and blessing nightly. Parents
in a prayerful ritual place the Bible in their child’s hands.
Stone 5: Livin’ Forgiven Three
(3) sessions from Passover to Lord’s Supper, with nightly confession
and absolution added to the faith practices of Bible reading, Highs
& Lows, prayer and blessing. Children and parents are prepared for
the child’s participation in Holy Communion. Parents lead this
stone with a pastor.
Stone 6: Surviving Adolescence Three
(3) sessions on "Surviving Adolescence" where youth and parents
learn and commit to the art of theological reflection (i.e. setting
the Bible verse and the Highs & Lows of the day together to ask
"What is God saying to us today?"), and adding this to the
previous faith practices of confession/absolution, Bible reading, Highs
& Lows, prayer and blessing continue. Head to Heart Confirmation
Ministry is meant to support and feed such parent-child relationship.
Stone 7: Confirmation
As Ordination Three
sessions
where
youth and parents look at their own expression of faith,
their
confirmation, and their call to serve Jesus in the future.
A retreat
for youth is lead by our Director of Youth and Family Ministry
Stone 8: Graduation Blessing For
youth & parents as they
approach graduation. A stone we have not developed yet.
Faith Stepping Stones
A Core Ministry of St. John's Lutheran Church
‘The First Church is the Family'
What is our Purpose?
Redesigning faith education from a once-a-week church program into a natural process that takes place within the home, on a daily basis, with parents equipped to be the faith mentors and guides for their own children, and with the church serving as reinforcement for – not replacement of – parents…. That is our GOAL!
Building Faith Practices
A faith practice is a simple way of bringing God into the nightly ritual at home. Most parents have a certain nightly routine to put their children to bed. We want to take advantage of that, inject the DNA of faith into it, and grow it over time into something that looks like a unique time of God-talk, and family-talk wrapped together in every home, with parents as the spiritual leaders. When children hit 13 in our society, the raw time spent in actual communication between parents and kids diminishes drastically. This is not smart or safe. We want to help families grow ‘faith-talk’ and family communication into something so normal and natural, that it kicks into high gear during adolescence, rather than bottoming out.
The Faith Practices we teach through “Faith Stepping Stones” and “Head
to Heart Confirmation” gradually grow the nightly rituals, the weekly
H2H outings, the Sunday worship and family events, the shared times of
service and prayer and blessing into something families just do
naturally,
always.
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For more information about Faith Stepping Stones or Head to Heart Confirmation Ministry talk to either Pastor Seltzer or Pastor Asplin or Trisha, or email us at office@stjohnssweetair.org
Or call the church: 410-592-6565