Wednesday Evening Children's Service and Dinner

by Fr. Guy Mackey

We have a program at St John’s on Wednesday evenings, open to all but aimed at speaking to our children and opening their eyes to the Gospel of Jesus.

The evening begins with a simplified service of Holy Communion encompassing a Bible lesson geared to the understanding of children, and is followed by a meal together. Afterwards, there is a time of Christian fellowship and conversation for the adults while the kids watch a video. And even though it’s geared for the kids, all parishioners are invited to the gathering.

The Eucharist will be according to the Prayer Book; however, the steps of the liturgy will be simplified and clearly defined, with simple children’s hymns, Gospel readings, and re-tellings of the Gospel stories for young ears and hearts. Sometimes I will give these lessons, sometimes others will give the children their explanations and impressions of Jesus and his life or other parts of the story of salvation.

The meal will be provided by parishioners, based on signing up ahead of time, and can run from soup and sandwiches, to prepared meals of any variety (kid-friendly of course); please sign up to help with this aspect.

And, when the children have eaten and escaped to the nursery or playground, the adults can talk through the Scriptures of the day, their impressions of Christ and the Faith and their family’s involvement in the life of the Church. It’s a great time of fellowship and learning for the whole family, both young and old.