Andy's Blog: A Personal Word

April 2008 Archive

April 30, 2008

Apr. 30, 2008

Thinking about children and faith again, a recent study conducted by sociologist John Bartkowski, at Mississippi State University found that kids whose parents are actively involved in their faith are better adjusted and better behaved than others. Parents and teachers of more than 16,000 kids, most of them first-graders, were asked to rate how much self-control they believed the kids had, how often they exhibited poor or
unhappy behavior and how well they respected and worked with their peers.

The researchers compared these scores to how frequently the children’s parents said they attended worship services and talked about religion with their child.

The kids whose parents regularly attended religious services – especially when both parents did so frequently – and talked with their kids about religion were rated by both parents and teachers as having better self-control, social skills and approaches to learning than kids with non-religious parents.

Why so good? Bartkowski thinks religion can be good for kids for three reasons:

First, religious networks provide social support to parents and this can improve their parenting skills. Children who are brought into such networks and hear parental messages reinforced by other adults may also “take more to heart the messages that they get in the home,” Bartkowski said.

Secondly, the types of values and norms that circulate in religious congregations tend to be self-sacrificing and supportive of family. Bartkowski reported that these “could be very, very important in shaping how parents relate to their kids, and then how children develop in response.”

Finally, religious organizations imbue parenting with sacred meaning and significance, he said.

At Trinity, rarely a Sunday goes by that we don’t baptize a child. There is something very special about this for me. In this act of God’s promise to love this child always, the parents promise to share God’s love with their child, and the entire congregation’s promise to share in that responsibility, all come together. That’s a whole lot of promises coming together. And apparently when we all keep those promises, it works!  Children are enabled to fulfill the promise of their own lives.

Faithful parents, raise faithful kids.

April 23, 2008

Apr. 23, 2008

Children! That seemed to be our theme on Sunday. Our Children’s Choirs sang in worship and presented a wonderful concert on Sunday evening. We baptized two babies at the early service. At the 11 AM service, we had Baby Recognition for children born in 2007 with forty families present, babies in tow.

One of the great privileges and responsibilities we have as a church is to nurture the children God has entrusted. Whenever a child in baptized at Trinity, the parents make a promise to nurture their child in the faith so that they may be guided to accept God’s grace for themselves. Then we, as an entire congregation, make a promise to surround this child with steadfast love that they may be “established in the faith, and confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to life eternal.”

These are sacred promises. Promises which all of us should take to heart. Every child is a gift of God to be treasured and nurtured. It takes a church to raise a child. Given all the pressures of our society and all the things that our children will be exposed to – it behooves us to be the kind of place where they are grounded in the grace of God. 

We are fortunate at Trinity to have an outstanding children’s ministry. Our staff and lay people do a great job. But what we do can only support what is done at home.  Study after study has shown us that the most powerful predictor of a person’s growing to maturity in faith is the faith of his/her parents. In this, as in so many other ways, children follow our example. 

Deuteronomy 6 contains the shema, the daily prayer to be said by God’s people:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

It takes a family and a church to raise a child in faith.

April 16, 2008

Apr. 16, 2008

We Methodist have sometimes been accused of being “do-gooders.” If by that people mean we believe that faithfulness to the way Jesus calls us to be actively engaged in doing good in the world – then we are guilty as charged. Whether it was feeding the hungry, healing the sick, offering hope to the hopeless, or challenging oppressive power – Jesus went about doing good. 

Ours is not a privitistic faith of just “God and me.” John Wesley insisted there was no Christianity except “social Christianity.” “Whenever religion can be concealed it is not Christianity,” he wrote. It is not surprising then that, of the three “general rules” he laid down for the early Methodist societies, the second was simply to do good.

As a result, we have been busy people. In our history in this nation, Methodists have founded more colleges and universities than any other denomination, and today has more church-related colleges than any other protestant group. We have helped to pioneer work with children as seen in the more than 74 institutions in our nation that provide services to youth and children. In our own state, we have been the largest provider of residential care for children for many years. Beginning in the last century, the church rolled up its sleeves to offer care to the sick, particularly among the poor. This grew into more than 60 Methodist-related hospitals across the country. Methodist people have built more Habitat houses than any other group. We sponsor more scouting groups.  We have one of the largest networks of retirement homes in our state. We provide residential care for mentally challenged adults, and camps for exceptional children. And the list goes on…..

Doing good is part of the Method to Methodism.

April 9, 2008

Apr. 9, 2008

Every now and then someone will ask me, “Why are we called Methodists?” It’s a good question. Methodist is a rather odd name for a denomination. Say “Church of Christ” – there’s a name that’s self-explanatory. The Presbyterians get their name from their form of church government based upon the New Testament word “presbyter.” Lutherans have Martin Luther to thank for their name. Even those “non-denominational community” churches sound a bit more user friendly than “Methodist.”

So what is it with this name? Well, actually it began as a term of derision. When John Wesley (our Martin Luther) was a professor/student at Oxford University in England, he started a Bible study/prayer group which he called the “Holy Club.” This group met frequently for study, prayer, and acts of service. They did strange things like receive communion weekly, visit the city prison, give a portion of their meager funds for widows and children and held each other accountable for their Christian walk. Other students began to make fun of them, calling them “Bible moths” and “Methodists” because they were so methodical in their faith. The name Methodist stuck and became the brand name for a Christian movement which now encompasses more than 50 million people around the world.

Wesley’s intention from the beginning was practical – how do we live as Christians?  Methodism did not begin in a theological disagreement, but in an attempt to bring the Gospel to bear on life. Our DNA has been a vital link between Christian doctrine and Christian living – talking the talk AND walking the walk. 

To help in walking the walk, Wesley developed “rules for Christian living.” He knew that we needed help to live a good and holy life in a world such as ours. His intent was to foster those Christian practices that would lead to faithfulness and to the way of Jesus.

Some of the specific injunctions sound quaint to us today, but they are all summed up under three basic rules: 1) Do no harm 2) Do good 3) Stay in love with God. For Methodist Christians, these three “rules” offer a basic pattern for the Christian life that is as valid now as it was in Wesley’s day. 

Join us over the next three weeks for a Sermon Series entitled “The Method.”

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