"Their church"

". . . fleshing out . . . ideas... fully involving kids in the life of their church..." : phrases lifted out of Jason's comment (not to pick on Jason) but every time I finish a post I'm convinced I've run out of material so consider it a thank you!

I haven't heard the term "fleshing out" in a very long time. Last thing I knew, it meant taking an idea and living it out with all its positive (and negative) ramifications, so let's use that definition.

I thought "fleshing out" was a key phrase to think about (it may still be) but taking a second look, I'm thinking more about "fully involving kids in the life of their church." (my emphasis) . Speaking as an adult, it's not just "our" church. "Fully involving kids in the life of their church" conjures an image that requires us to think differently.

What does it take for a small child or a school child or a teen to say, "This is MY church?" Once they affirm that, how do they show it? Maybe it's similar to when Jesus said, "Come see where I live." Isn't it that kind of thinking, that sense of ownership, what will carry a church beyond one generation and into another? It's not unlike our hope that someday every child will say, "I believe in Jesus" as opposed to "my parents believe in Jesus." [The fleshing out part is "what does that look like?" For some, that terminology doesn' t say it anymore.]

How do you create a sense of ownership, involvement, participation? How or when do you take something that someone else is doing and make it your own? Even for me as an adult (or for any adult) - at what point do I say, this is my church?

George (my husband) undertakes all kinds of things and because he does, I do - but more often than not, it's his thing and I'm there because I want to be with him or he needs help or I want to be supportive. It doesn't neccessarily mean I want to be responsible to make it happen. (He knows how I feel :-)

To be honest, I'm usually glad we did whatever we did. It's usually something I never would have done on my own but every once in a while I want him to say, let's not do this anymore because it's his more than it's mine.

I'm randomly feeding lots of people Monday nights and my teens/young adults are home for the summer. When I started my Monday gatherings a month ago, all the people I'd invited were virtual strangers to my kids (but when they were younger we were doing things like that.) Two Mondays in, I reminded them that I'd be gone, and they didn't have to feed people if I wasn't there. They were a little dumbfounded, and I more so, when their response was something like, "We'll do it while you're gone." Of course we will!

I found it a profound affirmation of something . . . But the bottom line, Monday night isn't just my thing.

Is that a tiny glimpse of what we're talking about?