It’s important to nurture faith in young people

This weekend I am at Victory Bible Camp for our yearly confirmation retreat with 20 or more middle school confirmation students and a number of other adult helpers. This year’s retreat theme is “Growing in Maturity as a Child of God.”

I am sensitive to the fact that I was gone for the first two Sundays of February on vacation and am now gone again the last week of February on this retreat. I wondered about sending someone else on this retreat, but I also considered how important it is that God’s church work to encourage and nurture faith in our young people. Then experiences and requests quickly taught me again about many of our young people who are doing special work to serve God and the members of St. John.

• Last week I had a request from a lady in California to write a recommendation for a Lutheran scholarship for Quillan Jacobson. Do you know that for three and a half years now Quillan has served as a lay minister in early worship? Quillan leads many of our different liturgies. In fact, while I don’t personally chant when leading Divine Service setting two, Quillan does. Our early service people are really appreciative of Quillan’s service in our worship.

• Last week I also visited one of our members who was home recovering from a serious automobile accident. Denise Larsen is home from the hospital in a special body cast that supports her broken back. She is doing better, but still needs folks there to help her get around safely. When I visited, do you know who I found spending time with Denise to help her out? Kaycee Nufer was at home with Denise. You may know that Kaycee is a high school senior. Kaycee not only helped Denise, she runs our soundboard and video screen at times in late worship. What a blessing to have Kaycee as part of our congregation!

• Hunter Richards is a little older, but has now been going to school for almost seven years in his studies to be a pastor. He is currently serving an internship or vicarage in North Canton, Ohio, and will graduate from Concordia Seminary in May 2015! During his time at home here in Palmer, Hunter also served as a lay minister leading worship. He has also taught Sunday School and Confirmation Classes, and Hunter has visited home-bound members of our church and preached in worship. What a blessing this young man of God is in Jesus’ Church!

• Brittany Arlow is in her fourth year of college education as she studies to be a director of Christian education. She is currently serving her internship in Plant City, Fla. I hear she is doing such a good job the church there would like her to stay! In her years at St. John, Brittany was in the Bell Choir and also helped lead worship as a song leader.

• Last week, Kathy and I were working on taxes and looking at expenses for us and for our children. We figured out that our son, Tim, had driven to Cooper Landing and Sterling 12 times in the last year to lead worship in those small congregations without a pastor. Of course, Tim also served as a lay minister at St. John. He sang as a late service song leader, and Tim helped in many skits over the years during Lent and Advent.

These are only some of the young people at St. John who are not just attending worship, but putting their faith into practice and blessing the members of our congregation. This doesn’t even include the other 15 young men who have served as lay ministers. It doesn’t include our acolytes, other high school youth who help lead singing on the second Sunday of each month, or our high school youth who have led the Good Friday service for many years. Many others have helped present skits over the years, and this year our Eighth-Grade Confirmation Class will help share God’s Word through skits about the catechism in our mid-week Lenten services.

One of the last classes I took in my doctoral studies at Concordia Seminary was on the Gospel of Matthew. Our professor let us know that in Jesus’ time, children were considered unimportant in comparison with adults. That is why Jesus’ words about reaching out to children were actually quite radical for his time. Jesus has much to say about how important children are in God’s kingdom. Just look at Matthew 18 and 19. Perhaps you know what Jesus said in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Jesus cares about everyone, but it is obvious that he has special care for our youth and children. I am thankful to be able to spend a weekend with our middle school students learning about “Growing in Maturity as a Child of God.”

Jonathan Rockey is pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer. Contact him at jonrock53@mtaonline.net.

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