Redeemer Review
The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
May, 2008
From our Interim Vicar:
Dear Friends,
Children are a gift from God and, therefore, should be our most precious treasure. Yet when we read about the many
atrocities that are happening to children in our world today, of thousands of children dying from hunger and malnutrition
each day, thousands more living in squalid poverty and filth, and still thousands more suffering as victims of neglect and
abuse, we question whether our society and our world value children at all.
In addition to the neglect and abuse of children that confront us daily from our television screens, movies and newspapers,
it is apparent that there is another form of poverty impacting children in our society and around the world. Although this
form is harder to detect and identify, its force is seen in the lives of both affluent and impoverished children. This poverty
is spiritual poverty – that void in the child’s life of not knowing that she or he is divinely created and infinitely loved by
God; that lack of spiritual grounding that gives life meaning and hope.
One factor that contributes to this spiritual poverty is that in recent years we have spent a great deal of time, energy and
money dealing with adult issues. We have been concerned with our inner self and our inner child, we have spent years
trying to “find ourselves”, and how to meet our unmet needs. We have paid a great deal attention to maximizing our own
development, to exploring our own potential and spent countless hours with therapists, counselors and life coaches
seeking our strengths. As important as these are, unfortunately, our self-pre-occupation has resulted in the neglect of the
child in our midst.
Leonard Sweet in his book Faithquakes says that we as a nation have been obsessed in recent years with the “inner child”
and “personal growth”. He says that it is time for the “outer child,” the actual child in our home, our society and the
world to be lauded as well. He continues by saying that it is time now for the child “to be treated as a responsible and
highly valued member of our society and the church.”
For centuries the home was seen as the primary source for nurturing the child in the spiritual life. Learning the scripture,
training in the life of prayer, and instruction in moral and spiritual values were a vital part of the home life of almost every
child. In the last several decades, however, the emphasis changed and the church has come to be seen as the major source
for Christian training, with the home taking a secondary role.
This past Sunday, April 27, we gathered as a community to discuss building a youth program at Redeemer. It was an
exciting and lively discussion! We grappled with the issues of providing Christian training and moral instruction for our
youth through youth groups, confirmation classes, Bible stories, music and the Sunday liturgy. We also discussed how to
live our Christian faith in the world outside the church: in our homes, in our schools and at work.
By the end of the afternoon I realized, Church of the Redeemer really knows that NOW is the time for the child “to be
treated as a responsible and highly valued member of our society and the church.”
Let’s tell it to the world!
Blessings!
Father Mark
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