Children’s Sabbath and Dedication Sunday
This past Sunday we celebrated a Children’s Sabbath with many 9, 10, and 11 year olds leading us in worship. At one point a group of four offered a prayer using answers to some questions we asked the children of the church about the highest number they can imagine or the tallest or widest thing possible.
They prayed,
“When we try to measure your love we come up short
If we tried to count your love we would get to 100 and keep counting–
higher than a million,
a trillion,
a decillion…
Your love is wider than a Hippo; Wider than a string of offensive lineman; Wider than the Hogwarts Express; Wider than a whale or even the ocean it swims in.” (click here to read the full prayer)
It was a beautiful affirmation of the infinite and immeasurable love of God that draws us together week after week.
It was also Dedication Sunday–the day when we ask the Church to pledge to the mission and ministry of this Church that we claim.
As of now–the number of pledges received this year on Dedication Sunday is largely consistent with those of the previous two years and we want to say “way to go, Church.”
However, we still have some distance to go before we meet the goals set forth by Session. I shared in worship that we have been drawing on reserves the past couple of years during the interim period. That is 100% normal. It is also not sustainable.
It is our hope to make the budget through pledged income.
So if you are planning to pledge and have not turned it in yet–please do so soon.
If you would like to learn more about what it means to pledge please contact Pastor Jarrett at jarrett@upcch.org.
The children also prayed,
“Sometimes it’s hard to just pray for people. We want to help, too. Of course people are always telling us that we’re too small or not strong enough. But not you, God. You tell us that we matter and that with you by our side we can accomplish amazing things.”
I pray that University Presbyterian can continue to teach our children this much today and in every tomorrow.
I hope you will consider pledging to ensure that is true.
Jarrett McLaughlin
UPC Co-Pastor