This Saturday we're inviting neighbors to join us on a reimagination of a labyrinth (join us if you can!). A street labyrinth. We have five of them over the next five months. They are between a mile and a mile and a half and we are asking neighbors to listen in the neighborhood as one would listen in a labyrinth then to share a meal and what we heard.
One neighbor emailed me yesterday asking about bringing a kid. Of course! We absolutely want kids! They see and hear in ways grown ups have forgotten.
I think in communities we might call hip new postmodern missional...whatever word we're using...we often neglect children. We don't sound like we neglect them. We say we want them with us. We pull them (rightly) out of a cloistered room during worship...but then we ask them to worship like adults. Kids can't be adults. That's kind of the point of being a kid. And that's kind of why we aren't just doing away with Sunday School because we don't want to teach it. We do away with it because we need kids with us in worship. And if we need them, we need them to be kids. And if we need them to be kids, we have no choice but to make corporate worship and corporate spiritual practices accessible and dare I say enjoyable to kids.
I am so so thankful that someone asked me about kids at the altered labyrinth this Saturday. If we are serious about being an intergenerational community, we can't just say "bring the kids along!" We have to ask "What will help kids, our greatest prophets, connect with God, our gathered community, and the neighborhood."
So, I spent this morning making this guide to help the kids that join us on Saturday (10:30-12:30 at Wetmore Plaza by the Performing Arts Center in Everett...if you can join :) listen and share.
And I thought I'd share in case you want to do an altered labyrinth in your neighborhood or in case you just want to take a listening walk with a kiddo and hear the amazing things they see, hear, smell, and know in their hearts.
One neighbor emailed me yesterday asking about bringing a kid. Of course! We absolutely want kids! They see and hear in ways grown ups have forgotten.
I think in communities we might call hip new postmodern missional...whatever word we're using...we often neglect children. We don't sound like we neglect them. We say we want them with us. We pull them (rightly) out of a cloistered room during worship...but then we ask them to worship like adults. Kids can't be adults. That's kind of the point of being a kid. And that's kind of why we aren't just doing away with Sunday School because we don't want to teach it. We do away with it because we need kids with us in worship. And if we need them, we need them to be kids. And if we need them to be kids, we have no choice but to make corporate worship and corporate spiritual practices accessible and dare I say enjoyable to kids.
I am so so thankful that someone asked me about kids at the altered labyrinth this Saturday. If we are serious about being an intergenerational community, we can't just say "bring the kids along!" We have to ask "What will help kids, our greatest prophets, connect with God, our gathered community, and the neighborhood."
So, I spent this morning making this guide to help the kids that join us on Saturday (10:30-12:30 at Wetmore Plaza by the Performing Arts Center in Everett...if you can join :) listen and share.
And I thought I'd share in case you want to do an altered labyrinth in your neighborhood or in case you just want to take a listening walk with a kiddo and hear the amazing things they see, hear, smell, and know in their hearts.
| listening_walk_for_kiddos.pdf |
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