A Message from Ellen
February 8, 2019
February 6, 2019
Dear Friends,
Sometimes the most important signs of growth and deepening faith are the easiest to miss. Like a good gardener, we need to be adept at looking at all that is happening around us and being able to tell a good plant from a weed and to know what good plants need to grow and thrive.
At church this means that we all need to be on watch for signs of growth that need to be encouraged, and for “weeds” that need to be checked. And, sometimes those signs of growth happen in small groups or one-time events.
The last weekend in January, there was a sexuality education event here at FLPC called “Created by God.” The program itself was identified by Katherine Lockwood who brought it to Andrea Paschal’s attention, and together they have made this valuable resource available to fifth and sixth graders and their parents for several years in a row.
Over the course of the weekend, parents come first on Thursday night to hear about the weekend plans and to receive coaching themselves so that they can better live into the all-important role of sexuality educator for their children. Then the fifth and sixth graders come to FLPC on Friday night, all day Saturday and about half of Sunday. This year there were 15 fifth and sixth graders who participated, and because the “good news” of this program has spread, we had lots of other congregations represented. In addition to FLPC, we hosted children from the following congregations: Shandon Baptist, Shandon Presbyterian, First Baptist- Sumter, Downtown Church, Trenholm Rd. UMC, Trinity Episcopal, Christian Life Community Church, Beth Shalom Synagogue and Shandon United Methodist Church!!!!
In addition to Katherine Lockwood and Andrea Paschal, Corky Clark, James Hutchison, Caroline Streater and Jessica Agee were small group leaders, and Julie Warren helped with food! Folks, this program is very costly in terms of time and volunteer effort to put on, but it is SO IMPORTANT to make sure that children get both good (scientifically based) factual information about their bodies and a theological and moral framework within which to make decisions about sexuality. NOBODY else is doing this! This program is a rare plant indeed. And Forest Lake Presbyterian Church is growing truth and faith in children throughout this community. When you see these volunteers, please thank them for being “good gardeners”, and if you don’t see them, pray that God will both bless them and raise up even more “good gardeners” in our congregation to do the very important work of sexuality education.
Way to go – Church!!
See you in worship!
Ellen
Ellen Fowler Skidmore
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