Building Lifelong Traditions

Today I attended and participated in the Hopkins Raspberry Parade with 35 other Gethsemane members. The weather was perfect – partly cloudy, a little breezy and the thermometer was in the mid seventies – uncharacteristically comfortable for the parade. I was not the only one enjoying the beautiful weather; it looked and felt like a record crowd watching from the sidewalks.

As I was walking the parade route I was thinking how lucky my kids are to live in a town with an old-fashioned Main Street and a town festival steeped in tradition. My kids are proud to say they live in Hopkins and thoroughly take advantage of living close to Main Street. They often walk downtown to go to the movies or bowling, ride their bike to the library, eat at restaurants with friends or go shopping in the numerous antique stores. I grew up in a town of 500, and though Hopkins is 35 times larger than the five streets of my hometown it still has that same small town feeling.

Though more people probably attended the parade because the weather was pleasant, most people go because it is something they have always done. The parade is fun – but face it – it is often miserably hot and after you see a couple waving princesses they all start looking alike. Yet while walking the parade route you often see three generations watching the parade together. Parents bring their kids to the parade because their parents brought them.

Church is the same way – parents often bring their kids to church because their parents brought them. If your parents only brought you to the parade a couple of times while growing up, you as a parent probably wouldn’t feel a strong need to bring your kids. The same can be said about church.

My hope as Gethsemane’s Children’s Ministry Director is that parents will bring their kids to church regularly so that kids experience church as something that is part of a routine, not something that just happens when the conditions are right. Going to church can be work, but I promise you will not have to reserve your seat at 4 am like many diehard parade goers do. As a parent I do realize that getting everyone out the door early on a Sunday morning is hard – but so worth it!

I want every Gethsemane child to feel part of our community and when they grow up to want to share their faith and Gethsemane’s traditions with their kids.