Message from Pastor Stanton for Nov 2023
On First Fest Sunday, back in September, First Lutheran tried something new (to us). The idea was to invite every kid and every adult into a Faith Web. On poster paper, we drew five lines. On the top went the name of a child who, in 2024, plans to experience a faith formation event by attending a Christian camp, our middle school mission trip to Rapid City, SD, or the ELCA Youth Gathering to New Orleans. On the next line down goes the name of the child’s family. That family is “supporting household #1” for that child. There is space under that first supporting household for three more. Each supporting household commits to connecting with that child in whatever way(s) they choose. It could be as simple as getting to know each other’s name, keeping the child in prayer and perhaps receiving a note of thanks at some point after the faith formation experience. The ‘thanks’ is for the other big commitment made by each supporting household: $300 toward their faith formation experience.
“We want this family of faith to feel more like a family…
Faith Webs put kids’ faith formation at the center of a group project ”
Each month, a menu of possibilities for connections will be provided to all the supporting households and kids. In October, some were, “sit together at worship”, “Go to the First Lutheran Fall Fest together” or “offer to rake each other’s leaves.” There was also a “meet-your-web” event in our sanctuary where participants shared ‘trading cards’ that included basic contact information and answers to some fun questions like ‘sweet or spicy’, ‘summer or winter’. 57 kids signed up, meaning that in addition to their 57 families, 171 more lines awaited supporting households. As of the last week of October, 115 of those lines are filled! Only 60 (or so) supporting households to go.
The first and most obvious goal of Faith Webs at First is to financially support families so that they can more easily send their child(ren) to faith formation experiences. Think about what gets communicated to a kid AND their family who have friends at church (perhaps strangers otherwise) who put their money where their mouth is? At a baptism, everyone in the room says they will support the newly baptized in their life of faith. But that can feel insincere when we don’t even know each other’s names. $300 is a significant but doable amount of money as some of us can simply write a check while others of us will make full use of the months between signing up and June 1, 2024 when the gift is ‘due’. Many of us will be using scrip cards to meet our financial commitment. Give us 7 months and much of our commitment will be met!
The other—and just as meaningful—goal of Faith Webs at First Lutheran is to make our church feel smaller. Leaders at First Lutheran have talked about this challenge for years: “how can we know each other’s names?” “How can we get to know each other amidst so many busy schedules?” “We want this family of faith to feel more like a family.” Faith Webs answers all these questions by putting kids’ faith formation at the center of a group project shared by a wide variety of partners: one child might have supporting households of 1) a widow, 2) an ‘empty-nester’ couple and 3) a 20-something and their partner along with 4) their own parents and siblings. Well, guess what? Those households do not only learn the name and likes/dislikes of the kid… They become familiar with the whole web! That widow meets and becomes known to 7-10 people in that scenario and vice versa for everybody else.
On October 15, at the first “meet-your-web” event, one 70 something grandmother said, “it was so fun to trade cards with our kid (who is 8). Our grandkids just aren’t little any more and it was fun to remember that age and he is such a great little boy! I’m so glad we signed up for it!” In fact, it was so fun that she and her husband signed up for a second child to support.
Thank you to all who have received this opportunity to connect with your family of faith. If you’d like to become a supporting household, or if you have any questions about whether such a program is right for you, please visit the Faith Webs table in the narthex before or after worship on Sundays or Wednesdays. It is the same table where we sell scrip cards.