There’s no two ways about it, Wesley is experiencing some financial challenges. Financial challenges are hard for us as individuals and hard for us as a church. My mom used to say things like “your eyes are bigger than your belly” or “champagne taste with a beer pocketbook” which is hilarious to me because she doesn’t drink, but we got the point: we often want more than we can accommodate. The question is, how do we accommodate as much as God desires for us in our Sunday School program while still being prudent.
 
We’re entering a season of making budgets and celebrating our stewardship. This is a joyous time of acknowledging our gifts to God, the bounty that we have been given as a church and the amazing ways in which we can reach out to our community in mission and ministry. You have heard me say that we need to match our gifts to the needs of the community and quote Frederic Buechner who says, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” I strongly believe in prudent management of our assets, both financial and human. At the same time, I strongly believe that we are called to step out in faith, to risk, to take sacrificial stands in the name of Love.
 
Wesley UMC took the painful step of cutting staff salaries this past spring, losing a beloved worker in the process. In light of this, we need to continue to pray and consider how we can continue to accomplish our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Thinking about our Sunday School program, how can we sacrificially stand for a healthy vibrant ministry that makes young disciples who transform the world? Specifically, it is easy to think of the empty staff position of Director of Children and Youth Ministries as unnecessary because we seem “okay right now” or “there are fewer children in Sunday School” or we “don’t know the person who may eventually take that job.” We must all participate and take the task seriously to cultivate future Christian leadership in our church and our community or there will be none.
 
Linda Creed wrote these lyrics to the Whitney Houston song made popular in 1985.
 
I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be.
 
I think we all know that our children are the future but once they’re out of the house, they don’t take every moment of our time and energy anymore. We think that their parents will tend to them, but really, it is the responsibility of the whole community. We get that right when we pay our tax bills supporting schools, knowing that the better we teach our kids, the more productive they will be in society, becoming doctors, lawyers, pastors, engineers and scientists who improve our society. Giving kids a solid Christian education fulfills Proverbs 22:6. “Train up a child in the way they should go: and when they are old, they will not depart from it.” Leaders of the future, acting from a core understanding of loving neighbors and loving God ensures a wonderful future.
 
This is more than a sentimental desire to have a bustling Sunday School like the ones we fondly remember. This is an imperative from Jesus himself. The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all retell the story of the disciples attempting to shoo the children away, trying to keep the focus on “adult” things when Jesus chastised them saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
 
The title of this article shares the answer to the question about how much energy and resources we should pour into our Sunday School program. It’s in that word, “pour.” The answer is lavishly, abundantly, until the cup is overflowing.
 
Please be in prayer for our search for a new Director of Children and Youth Ministries, for our Sunday School program and for the precious children of our community.
 
Pastor Cheryl

Open doors for adults in our community by helping them build their basic skills in reading, writing, math, or learning English as a Second Language. No teaching experience necessary! After completing a series of 3 workshops to learn basic teaching skills, you will be matched with a student who meets your availability and teaching interests. Teaching materials and on-going support are provided. Join our amazing group of volunteers and make a difference in your student's life and in your own! Please email Linnea@second-start.org if you are interested.

Friday, September 13, 1-7 pm
Saturday, September 14, 8 am - 4 pm
NHTI Campus, Concord, NH  

Before being elected to Congress in 2002, Tim served in the Ohio State Senate and began his career in politics as a congressional aide in 1995. Tim has a law degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.  He is the author of Healing America: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Recapture the American Spirit and The Real Food Revolution: Healthy Eating, Green Groceries, and the Return of the American Family Farm.

As the Director of Research and Innovation at Brown University's Mindfulness Center, Judson Brewer, MD, PhD, is an internationally known thought leader in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery” with over 20 years of experience in the mindfulness field. He has developed novel mindfulness programs for behavior change, including both in-person and app-based treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety. His work has been featured on 60 Minutes, at TED.com (4th most viewed talk of 2016), and in documentaries, books, and news outlets across the world. He is the author of The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love, Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits.

As a Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, Rhonda V. Magee (M.A. Sociology, J.D.) is an internationally-recognized thought and practice leader focused on integrating mindfulness into higher education, law and social justice. A student of a wide variety of Buddhist and other wisdom teachers, including Norman Fischer and Jon Kabat Zinn, she trained as a mindfulness teacher through the Oasis Teacher Training Institute of the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. She teaches mindfulness-based interventions, as well as awareness and compassion practices from a range of traditions. A former President of the Board of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, Professor Magee is a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute.  She recently completed a 2-year term on its steering council.