I wondered about the wisdom of scheduling our junior choir to sing this past Sunday, given that it was a holiday weekend. What do I know. Fifteen of the sixteen children were there, and they taught the congregation a new version of the Lord's Prayer, complete with actions.
Early in the afternoon most of this gang went to a local nursing home to sing. Only two of our members live there, but they were warmly received by all the residents and staff. The week before I had commended the kids in advance during practice, as a way of encouraging their upcoming junket. One of them admitted she had no idea where they were going. So I explained what a nursing home is for and assured them that the residents would be very grateful.
What a perfect activity for the Family Day weekend. These two residents are still members of our Christian family, and this was the first time many of the children had met them or been in a nursing home. For me this intergenerational activity is an essential part of being a congregation. The painting above is by Gary Crawford who created it for the illustrated New Creed booklet. The title is the phrase "we are not alone."
Any thoughts? Comments from any of the parents who went with the children?
Early in the afternoon most of this gang went to a local nursing home to sing. Only two of our members live there, but they were warmly received by all the residents and staff. The week before I had commended the kids in advance during practice, as a way of encouraging their upcoming junket. One of them admitted she had no idea where they were going. So I explained what a nursing home is for and assured them that the residents would be very grateful.
What a perfect activity for the Family Day weekend. These two residents are still members of our Christian family, and this was the first time many of the children had met them or been in a nursing home. For me this intergenerational activity is an essential part of being a congregation. The painting above is by Gary Crawford who created it for the illustrated New Creed booklet. The title is the phrase "we are not alone."
Any thoughts? Comments from any of the parents who went with the children?
3 comments:
I thought it was a lovely visit, and the children were very well behaved. It was lovely to see the clients' faces light up when the children entered the room and when they sang. A great experience for all!!
It is interesting, before heading out the door, our daughter asked if she was going to her friend's grandma's where she has been swimming before. I had to think and realized that our daughter thought that Wilmot Creek was the Nursing Home.(sorry readers from Wilmot) We quickly had a conversation as to what a nursing home is. Surprisingly, no questions were asked after the visit. They may come over time, but not at the moment.
Our girls' Sparks troupe headed into Newcastle to the nursing home for Valentine crafts two weeks ago. It was at once touching and heartbreaking, but you know what? Not one single person I saw DIDN'T have a massive smile on his or her face.
Mission accomplished. Go girls!
We took away as much as we left behind...the kids took the newness of the situation in stride and just seemed to "understand". The "moment" for me was seeing a new resident, who is dealing with Alzheimer's and the extreme confusion of a new home with great difficulty, smiling and singing Jesus Loves Me as if all is well...old, young and in between, it was a beautiful chorus. For my Mom, who lives with Alzheimer's also, the only 2 times I have witnessed her moved to tears in recent years, which used to be quite common, were at church with litle ones near her, including this past Sunday...something (Someone) so deep at work.Moments of grace.
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