Acolytes

One day in 2004, back in Virginia, I lost a fight with a minister, and it completely changed how I think about my children's faith journey. We were arguing about my son getting baptized. I wasn't a church member, but I had been a regular visitor for a year and seriously considered joining. My sister had received short notice that she was being deployed overseas by the Air Force and was going to be my son's Godmother, so it forced my timeframe up a bit. That church had a rule about only baptizing the children of members.

I can't say I'm proud of everything that I said, but I made a number of strong points. As a proud son of New Jersey, I may have used a bit more of the song of my people than is typically used when discussing matters of faith with clergy. He won the argument, and I never returned to that church.

But something he said really stuck with me. He told me that it is important to raise your children in a faith community because one person isn't enough to share the gifts of God. You need the example of a group of people praying and working together to connect kids to the history and the current experience of being Christians. I thought about that argument regularly as my kids got older, and I also began to think about how I could make sure that I gave them opportunities to find their own faith and take ownership of their Christianity.

I eventually suggested that both try acolyting. I thought they would enjoy walking to the altar at the beginning of the service and lighting the candles. More importantly, I hoped they would begin to develop memories of their connection to the church and participation in the service that were separate from mine. After all, I'm sure that when they have their own children, they will remember all the times they came to church with me. But the memories that will call them back to church will be where they interacted as individuals and as Christians with others in the church.

Click here if you missed the video I made to encourage people to be an acolyte. I hope it offers both humor and inspiration.

Glenn Knight