From the Associate Pastor…    Children & Youth Ministry Update

Across America, everyone has been challenged by the COVID-19 virus and the church is no exception. With the help of a network of youth and children’s ministers working together, we have used email, Zoom-Facetime, social media, and snail-mail as a gift to look at new ways to reach our youth, children and families. Sure, it’s been challenging but exciting to explore and engage using different mediums.

Here at Mount Hermon, we have taken advantage of weekly video bible lessons which use scripture to help our families with children talk about COVID-19 and find comfort in Christ. We share this on Sunday mornings by email and on our Facebook Youth and Children’s page.

Sadly, the Children’s Easter Celebration & Egg Hunt was canceled because of the virus. Instead, we improvised and had so much fun doing a virtual Easter Scavenger Hunt. Elementary children collected items from a list we mailed to them and took a photo of their collection. We posted the photos on our Youth and Children’s Facebook page. Everyone was so creative, and we loved seeing all the happy faces!

Pre-social distancing I had bought a case of marshmallow Peeps, thinking we were going to use them creatively at Sunday night Youth gathering to teach and illustrate the Easter message.

Instead, 2 packages of Peeps were delivered to fifteen youth with instructions to use one of three scriptures from Matthew to make a diorama to tell the Palm Sunday, Last Supper, or Easter Sunday stories. Using Peeps and household items each youth read the scriptures, chose one to illustrate, took a photo of their creation and sent a text message photo to me. We did make the challenge a little more interesting by offering Amazon gift cards to the winners. With the help of our great neighbors, Bruce & Lalaine Boyajian acting as judges we identified the winners and posted all the photos to our Youth and Children’s Facebook page.

The results were incredible, and it was obvious by the creations they had studied the scriptures. Skip over to the MHBC Youth and Children’s Facebook page to look.

Each day we are finding new ways to connect, teach, and minister to each other in this pandemic.  Although we might be physically apart, we can still stay connected virtually!

We can’t control the outcome of our pandemic response, but we can always control our outlook. — Remember James 1:2-4: “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

In Christ Love,

Susan