From the Pastor's Pen, November, 2005:

September 2006 From the Pastor's Pen

“A First Day of School Snapshot”

Was that a tradition in your home growing up, as it was in mine? I recall very clearly, for some reason, a picture taken a day or two before I started 3rd grade. I'm standing in the front yard of our house, by one of the maple trees my Dad had transplanted from the woods not long before. I'm wearing my new school clothes: that year, a navy blue jumper with brass buttons on the front, a white short-sleeved turtleneck, and a pair of brown and tan suede saddle shoes, and holding a very professional-looking briefcase in my hand to carry my school papers. Of course, since the picture was in black and white, the jumper is dark gray and the saddle shoes are gray and gray. I don't know why this particular year's “first day of school” picture is burned on my memory, except perhaps that it was about the last year that all four of us Baker children were at home. My brothers would have been at community college and my sister in her junior year of high school at that time. After that picture of me, Dad snapped another picture with the four of us—me, Jan, Forrest and David—sitting, kneeling, squatting and standing, respectively, our four heads “stacked” on top of each others', so we look like a totem pole of the Baker tribe.

As I write this, son John has just completed his first day of college classes. For once, I didn't take a picture as he went off to face the day, but he tells us it was a good day; and he's started on this new phase of his life's journey. The television news last night included a segment on the influx of students returning to MSU during “Welcome Week,” to the mixed reactions of the year-round residents of East Lansing. Public school kids all over Michigan are looking forward (?!) to the first year of the new “start school after Labor Day” law. Stores are full of folks doing back-to-school shopping for clothes and supplies. Lots of “first day of school pictures” are about to be taken. It's a change of season; and every bit as much of a “new year” as January 1st marks.

It's a new year in the life of the church, too. Here at First United Methodist Church, we begin a new “program year” with the return to Sunday School and music programming on September 10th. It's a good time for a reminder that our growth as Christians is a lifelong learning process. Christian nurture does not stop when we reach any certain age. We anticipate a great year of learning opportunities for children, youth and adults in our congregation, and we encourage you to be a part of our Christian education program.

There is a place for you, your family and your friends. Part of our commitment to nurture one another in faith (at all ages), as named in our baptism vows, is to provide these kinds of opportunities for Christian education AND to participate in them by example and encouragement. That is, don't just bring your kids, grandkids, friends and neighbors to Sunday School, or tell them that's a good idea, GO to Sunday School yourself!

Not only is it time for back to school, but September is one of the biggest months when people look for a church home. The United Methodist Church will air a number of television messages during September on the theme of “I Believe.” If you've seen these TV spots in the past, you know how well done and thought-provoking they are. During this “Open House Month” in the life of the church, it's important to be ready and welcoming for the company we'll see in worship at First Church. Welcome visitors, help them learn about our church and its programs and ministries-and encourage your friends, neighbors and loved ones to attend. The good news of God's love, and the way we experience it at First Church, is too good to keep to ourselves!

What are your “first day of school snapshots” like?

As September comes, may we eagerly anticipate this new year, and the new ways we can grow in the journey of faith. See you on September 10th for Sunday School!

On the Journey with you,

e-mail Pastor Baker-Streevy