It Takes A Village

May 8, 2024
By Pastor Kim Ogle, Associate Pastor

This Sunday is Mother’s Day! Are you a Mom, Step-mom, favorite aunt, and/or a woman who gives vital support to a young person who needs love and care? If so, we want to celebrate you. We honor the time, strength, patience, and grace that you have extended to that person(s).

You moms, etc., have taken your children to church, taught them to pray, and nurtured them in Christian love. Two groups of young people will be recognized this Sunday in worship. It’s fitting that we celebrate them on Mother’s Day. (It could have been Father’s Day, which is equally important.) They are our Confirmands and our Graduates.

Confirmation at St. Mark’s is a full commitment. The program is open to young people in grades 8-12. Students participate in discussions, field trips, guest speakers, and Bible studies. They learn about church history, grace, prayer, United Methodism, the church universal, different denominations, and most importantly, their place in all this. Through it all, our amazing Youth Director, Rachel Mosher, has nurtured them, found appealing ways to teach, and extended God’s love to each of our confirmands.

Many of the young people in our congregation are graduating this spring. It’s a proud/emotional time for some of their family members, as well as their church family. When you see their pictures in worship, this Sunday, some of you will walk down memory lane. You may think, “I remember when that person was confirmed”, or “I can still see that person playing games at VBS”, or “Really? How did that person grow up so fast?” Yes, it takes a village.

Our Confirmands and Graduates are lucky to have leaders to teach and encourage them, and a congregation that prays for them and welcomes them into the life of the church.

Thanks be to God,
Pastor Kim Ogle