Atlanta Episcopal Bishop Helps Ensure Justice for Children

From Atlanta-

He was born in an inner-city Philadelphia orphanage. A combination of faith and perseverance propelled him to become bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. 

And Bishop Robert Wright is the only faith leader on the Georgia Supreme Court’s Committee on Justice for Children (J4C) committee. The 29-member committee’s goal: ensuring justice for children and families involved in Georgia’s juvenile courts.

Wright said he brings a unique perspective to J4C, because of his own life story. “Having been a ward of the state for a short time, when I see some of these kids and I see some of these cases, I see myself,” he said. “One of the best things we can do as Americans is to take in our children and give them better futures. A more just juvenile system is just one way to get that done.”

More here-

https://jjie.org/2019/10/23/atlanta-episcopal-bishop-helps-ensure-justice-for-children/

Raising Children Without the Concept of Sin

From The New York Times-

We were standing in line for meat pies at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair. The indoor arena south of San Francisco had been transformed into Victorian London; actors wearing top hats and crinolines roamed about wishing fairgoers “Happy Christmas.” As we contemplated the menu — haggis or shepherd’s pie? — a noisy band of temperance advocates marched by hoisting signs that stated, “Gin is Sin!”

As my 9-year-old daughter watched them pass, her forehead knitted, and then she looked up at me with solemn hazel eyes.

“Mama, what is sin?” she asked.

The merriment of the fair receded and I stared at her, my brain spinning with the magnitude of her question. By failing to teach my child the meaning of the word sin, had I somehow failed to give her a moral foundation?

Sin. That tiny word still makes me cringe with residual fear. Fear of being judged unworthy. Fear of the eternal torture of hell. Fear of my father’s belt. 

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/well/family/raising-children-without-the-concept-of-sin.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR2BlYk-nyaEegsSGA1uV4JH7IrQooNQbyNq-D0qsmzVZiqiVlkAX7ktfUw

Honest, direct, yet gentle: Raleigh Episcopal priest pens picture book to explain death, grief to kids

From North Carolina-

The subject of death, dying and grief has intrigued Mary Davila since she was at least an undergraduate student at the University of Richmond, willingly getting up to take an early morning class on the topic during her senior year.

The lessons from the class intrigued Davila – and have served her well in her current career. Davila has been an Episcopal priest for 13 years and served as a children‘s minister before she went to seminary. Today, she‘s assistant rector at Christ Church in Raleigh and the co-author of a new picture book called “Grandpa‘s Tent” about grief.

Davila lives in Raleigh with her husband and two girls, ages 8 and 5.

I checked in with Davila to learn more about her book, her work and her advice for parents about how to talk to their young children about death. Here‘s a Q&A …

More here-

https://essexcaller.com/honest-direct-yet-gentle-raleigh-episcopal-priest-pens-picture-book-to-explain-death-grief-to-kids/11672/

Honest, direct, yet gentle: Raleigh Episcopal priest pens picture book to explain death, grief to kids

From North Carolina-

The subject of death, dying and grief has intrigued Mary Davila since she was at least an undergraduate student at the University of Richmond, willingly getting up to take an early morning class on the topic during her senior year.

The lessons from the class intrigued Davila - and have served her well in her current career. Davila has been an Episcopal priest for 13 years and served as a children's minister before she went to seminary. Today, she's assistant rector at Christ Church in Raleigh and the co-author of a new picture book called "Grandpa's Tent" about grief.

More here-

 https://www.wral.com/honest-direct-yet-gentle-raleigh-episcopal-priest-pens-picture-book-to-explain-death-grief-to-kids/17826026/

Bishop Curry on taking children from parents: 'This is not America'

From Seattle-

Separation of immigrant children from their parents goes against American ideals and the traditions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other faiths, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Very Rev. Michael Curry, said in Seattle on Friday.

Bishop Curry made his remarks minutes after national news reports that the Trump Administration, under its "Zero Tolerance" policy, has seized 1,995 children from their parents at the Southern border.

"This is not America," Curry said at a meeting with diocesan leaders. "We do not separate families. We do not separate families from children. It is not American to separate children from parents. The American people must say that.

"It is going to take people in the pews . . .This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. It is a humanitarian issue. We need to be heard loud and clear on this one."

More here-

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Connelly-Bishop-Curry-on-taking-children-from-12998622.php

THE WONDER OF CHILDREN, THE EVANGELISM OF PARENTS

From The Living Church-

While living in Boston, I walked the Freedom Trail innumerable times with visitors. At first, visiting the historic sites of the early days of the American Revolution moved me. Yet after the 30th time standing in the shadow of Old North Church (one if by land, two if by sea), I found myself bored. I told the visitors, “You know what? You go ahead and look inside. I’ll be thinking about the delicious gnocchi we’ll be consuming in a moment.”

Our capacity for wonder is often limited by the drudgery of experience. We’ve been there, done that. This attitude is especially dangerous for those of us who belong to liturgical traditions. The Easter Vigil moved me — until the 30th time I participated in it. (I get it. This is the night.) A transcendent church, such as Westminster Abbey, captured my imagination until it became just another building that I passed while going somewhere in London. Christmas is the feast of the Word made flesh, the revelation that power is made perfect in weakness. But the 35th, 36th, and 37th Christmases tend to dull our wonder relative to the astonishing exchange of humanity and divinity in our Lord Jesus Christ.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2018/03/23/the-wonder-of-children-the-evangelism-of-parents/?platform=hootsuite

Primate promotes WCC child protection initiative

From Anglican Journal-

The primate of the Anglican Church of Canada is hoping Anglicans across the country will give a “strong endorsement” to the initiative of the World Council of Churches (WCC) aimed at promoting child protection.

In his New Year’s Day address at Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa, Archbishop Fred Hiltz said the WCC asks that each member church adopt the “Churches’ Commitments to Children” and make them their own. The Anglican Church of Canada has been a member of the WCC since 1948.

Launched in Geneva in March 2017, “Churches’ Commitments to Children” has been developed “to stimulate and strengthen action with and for children by WCC member churches and partners,” according to the WCC. “It is also a living resource which will be further developed over time through the WCC on the basis of member churches’ responses and experiences.”

More here-

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/articles/primate-promotes-wcc-child-protection-initiative/

Children in the Sanctuary

From Huffington-

I share these words in response to something disturbing that has taken place in my synagogue’s sanctuary twice over the last month.

In both cases, a child in the sanctuary made child-like sounds, and in both cases, someone asked the child’s parents to take the child out of the sanctuary. In one case, the person said to the parent, “perhaps your child doesn’t belong in synagogue.” Besides my sense of (and agreement with) the parents’ hurt, these words are also the least synagogue-ish I’ve ever heard. This sentiment has no place in our faith communities, and my response is one of outrage that they were said in the first place.

My response to these wrong reactions to the presence of children within holy space is simple and core to who we are called to be as faith communities: Our sanctuaries are not sanctuaries from children. They are sanctuaries for children.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-menachem-creditor/children-in-the-sanctuary_b_5283826.html?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003

Choosing to proclaim our faith to the next generation

From Atlanta-

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, together with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England. His literary works greatly influenced both English and American literature in the beginning of the 19th century.

The son of the well-respected Rev. John Coleridge, Samuel became known in the Victorian period as one of the most important apologists for the liberal Anglican point of view. Although Coleridge himself struggled with his faith throughout his life, he deemed religious heritage a crucial part of a child’s upbringing.

A story is told about Coleridge’s encounter with a man who argued that children should not be given any religious training, but rather, should be brought up free to choose their own faith. Instead of arguing against his friend’s point of view, Coleridge decided to express his opinion with a powerful visual.

He invited the man for a stroll around his garden.
More here-

http://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/religion/choosing-proclaim-our-faith-the-next-generation/6BGbV44bF4nro473vG6HiO/

Dear Parents With Young Children in Church

From Huffington-

You are doing something really, really important. I know it's not easy. I see you with your arms overflowing, and I know you came to church already tired. Parenting is tiring. Really tiring.

I watch you bounce and sway trying to keep the baby quiet, juggling the infant car seat and the diaper bag as you find a seat. I see you wince as your child cries. I see you anxiously pull things out of your bag of tricks to try to quiet them.

And I see you with your toddler and your preschooler. I watch you cringe when your little girl asks an innocent question in a voice that might not be an inside voice let alone a church whisper. I hear the exasperation in your voice as you beg your child to just sit, to be quiet as you feel everyone's eyes on you. Not everyone is looking, but I know it feels that way.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-bruesehoff/parents-kids-church_b_3909085.html

Author Anne Lamott talks about faith, politics, and her new grandson

From Tennessee-

Novelist Anne Lamott has built a career of writing hilariously and movingly about her own shortcomings: she's bossy, she's anxious, she often forgets important lessons she's already learned many times. Nevertheless, she has become a kind of patron saint to millions of readers, whole categories of readers, who welcome her advice on parenting, writing, faith, and recovery from addiction. Lamott's book of writing advice, "Bird by Bird," is a bestseller. Her books on faith — "Traveling Mercies," "Plan B," and "Grace (Eventually)" — are bestsellers. Her first parenting memoir, "Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year" is, yes, a mega-bestseller.

Now Lamott is back, this time with her first grandparenting memoir, "Some Assembly Required: A Diary of My Son's First Son" (Riverhead). Written with her son Sam Lamott, who was 19 and unmarried when he learned his girlfriend was pregnant, "Some Assembly Required" is an account of the year Sam learned to be a father and Lamott learned the difficult role of a grandmother: to love recklessly and keep her mouth shut as tightly as possible.

More here-

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/sep/14/author-anne-lamott-talks-about-faith-politics/

Archbishop of Canterbury's Statement for the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children

From ACNS-

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has released a statement in advance of the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, which is on Sunday 20^th November 2011.

“This Sunday, 20 November 2011, is the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children. This day has been promoted by UNICEF, Religions for Peace, Save the Children and other agencies to focus the world’s attention on the well-being of our children. In every faith community, our children are the treasure that we value beyond price. A child born into health and safety is a sign of hope in our common life. In children we recognise the preciousness and dignity of the human being as well as a vulnerability which calls for our care and protection.

The theme for this year is ‘stop violence against children’. Violence against children will take many forms in different contexts – all demanding our action and prayer. After visiting Eastern Congo earlier this year, I particularly hold in my prayers those children who are affected by armed conflict. I met children who had suffered unimaginable horror, attacked, abducted, forced into brutalizing ways of life - and yet, amidst the anguish, I also encountered precious flames of hope, where local churches and communities strove to protect and restore the lives of their children. I had the privilege of meeting a group of young people who are now involved in a peace initiative. They had been taken into the militia as children and forced to perpetrate terrible acts, and yet the Church continued to reach out to them and call them back. Many said to me: “The Church never gave up on us.” I know that UNICEF has supported faith communities doing similar work to rehabilitate child soldiers in other countries.

More here-

http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/11/18/ACNS4979

Summer camp helps homeless children learn life skills

From Montana-

The kids wanted to touch everything.

Bright orange Kevlar pants. A simple ax. Cut pieces of wood.

Most of them had never seen these things, at least not so close. Seeing and touching and experiencing new things outdoors was a goal for the Angel Camp campers — kids who are homeless, living in foster homes or overcoming major life trauma.

Yes, they could touch, retired firefighter Steve Irving told them. He gave them slices of a tree branch, called them “cookies” and told them to count the rings and feel the cuts and moist, freshly cut wood.

“We get to keep these?” they asked.


“They’re yours — forever and ever.”
Greta Hinderliter, the homeless coordinator for the Natrona County School District, searched for years for a summer activity for the kids she helped during the school year. She found a partnership with the Wyoming Wilderness Camp run by the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming.
“I’d say 99 percent of these kids have never been to camp,” Hinderliter said.

More here-

http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_1d945498-9c5c-11df-9cd0-001cc4c002e0.html

Camp of love — Children with special needs find safe haven at summer camp

From Southwest Florida-

Camp Able abounded with love and joy the week of July 19. The camp is described as Christmas morning, summer vacation and a family reunion all rolled into five fun packed days for people with special needs. It is a place where disabilities are worked around and gifts are celebrated. It’s a community of unconditional love, compassion and acceptance.

The camp is the brainchild of Fr. Kyle Bennett, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, who has worked extensively with children with disabilities and whose doctoral thesis was on the theological and social implications of people with disabilities.

The camp is held at the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida’s DaySpring Conference Center in Manatee County. The setting is serene with its acres of oak trees covered with Spanish moss, bromeliads, winding paths on a lakefront. The first Camp Able was held there in 2007.

Each day began with prayer. Campers were given their choice of activities for the day — canoeing, swimming, playing on a water slide, horseback riding, arts and crafts, ropes course challenge, zip-line, drum circle and working therapeutic dogs. For many the highlight of their experience was the exhilaration of the zip-line and the affirmation of abilities at the talent show.

More here-

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jul/29/camp-love-children-special-needs-find-safe-haven-s/

Jubilee in Southeast Dallas

From The Living Church-

How might an affluent Episcopal church celebrate its Jubilee anniversary? Would it commission another stained glass window, expand its facilities, redo the landscaping, upgrade its parking lots?

All those options were on the table in 1997 when members of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Dallas, started thinking about its birthday bash. But then something strange happened. The celebration committee decided to put suggestion boxes around the church, and hundreds of parishioners cast their votes, and chose, overwhelmingly, to make a substantial investment in people living beyond the church’s upscale neighborhood. Members of the anniversary committee put away the silver service and got out their work gloves.

We had no money to invest, and scarcely knew where to begin. So we stepped out in faith — determined, by God’s grace, to transform the lives of others in need. Of course, we have ourselves been transformed, beyond our wildest imagining.

First we chose a neighborhood: Fair Park, a 62-block neighborhood in southeast Dallas, just 15 minutes from Saint Michael’s. The focal point of the neighborhood was a bar. There were several drug houses. The elementary school rated the lowest in the entire city. Many senior citizens were living there because they had no other place to go, but were afraid to go outside due to violent crime.

After the committee shared its vision with the parish, donations began rolling in. Working with AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity and the Greater Dallas Community of Churches, St. Michael’s acquired five acres to build a beautiful park, on lots formerly covered in whiskey bottles, syringes and trash.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/2/26/jubilee-in-southeast-dallas

Child bishop tradition continues at Woodbury's Christ Church

From New Jersey- (I'm tempted to say that "child bishop" is a redundancy but that wouldn't be nice)

On Dec. 7 Christ Episcopal Church in Woodbury seated its second child Bishop during the observance of The Feast of Saint Nicholas. Selecting a Child Bishop is a tradition of many English cathedral choir schools and collegiate chapels. This year, Megan Steffney, a sixth grader, was selected as this year’s Child Bishop.She was vested in full Episcopal regalia, processed to the altar, took her seat at the Bishop’s chair, and offered the Homily and the Prayers of the People during the service.Following the Mass, the congregation celebrated the evening in the parish hall with a pizza party.

Students in the church’s fourth, fifth, and sixth grade Sunday school classes were invited to compose an essay answering the question “Who was Saint Nicholas and why is his example of being merciful so important to imitate?” The student who offered the best response was selected as the Child Bishop, and presented her essay response to the congregation as the Homily. Christ Church, founded in 1856, is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey and the Worldwide Anglican Communion.

http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/towns/index.ssf/2009/12/child_bishop_tradition_continu.html

Christian camp helps children keep the faith in a hostile world

From the London Times-

With a dozen beds to a dormitory and chilly winds seeping through open windows, this could be a 1950s boarding school. In a converted stately home, children are learning how, in a cold climate, Christianity can be fun.

There are also tennis courts, cricket pitches, gardens, a heated swimming-pool and playing fields. Drawn from Anglican and Baptist churches, the 60 girls and boys are spending a week in Berkshire at one of 100 Venture summer camps run by the evangelical Church Pastoral Aid Society — founded in 1836 by Lord Shaftesbury.

They are discussing how to live as a Christian in a world increasingly hostile to faith. Here, they say, the key feature is that they are not made to feel foolish for believing in God.

Most of the young people, aged 11 to 14, are already committed to Christianity, and the emphasis of the programme is as much on fun as faith.

The day begins with ball games. Breakfast is followed by Bible study, and more games, plus arts and crafts workshops. At “buzz groups”, children can discuss issues such as peer pressure and self-esteem. Lunch in the dining-room, a lively affair, is followed by group activities such as role-playing. Sport, jewellery-making and cookery continue through the afternoon. There is free time, and a sung celebration in the evening before the leaders put on party games, acting and dancing.

George Heath-Whyte, who is 13, said that he was among the few Christians in his year at school. “It is really encouraging to come here where most of the people are Christian. It is fun being encouraged to faith. How can you be encouraged to be an atheist? That would be pretty boring.”

More here-

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6732425.ece