Roots on Sundays
Roots as an image of LMC’s ministry with Children and Young People
LMC was doing fantastic work with children and young people and we were grateful to God for the good things we saw amongst us. The various Sunday and weekday young people’s activities and organisations continued to attract good numbers and there were clear signs of the Spirit’s work among us. The arrival of Chloe (our Children & Community Worker) strengthened these organizations and helped create new ones like SonSeekers. God is at work among us and we give thanks to Him for all our blessings.
The question was whether we now needed to express our collective ministry with greater clarity. To have a clear, simple and understood aim and a biblical picture which helps us to understand what we believe God is calling us to achieve.
It was felt that it would help prospective parents and children to understand what we are about. It would also help the various organsiations to have greater coherence and for the whole church to understand what drives our ministry.
Our proximity to the forest makes plants a natural point of connection and the soaring wooden beams in the church remind us of trees. Plants and trees are all dependent upon good roots which draw up nourishment to keep the life flowing. There is the lovely image of church as trees of all ages continuing to grow together sourced by a common root system.
There are also strong Old and New Testaments images that speak of roots. All of them draw pictures of roots going deep down into God and drawing nourishment from God so that they can grow, flourish and produce a rich harvest. This is something that motivates all our work. One child was asked what comes to mind when he thought about the words “Junior Church”; he said he thought of meeting in groups. When he was asked what “Roots and Faith” meant, he responded by saying it meant, “going deeper into God”.
Here are a few references to roots in the Bible:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19Recently, proposals were put before our Church Council and it was agreed that the collective work would come under the banner of “Roots: Children and Youth Ministry at LMC”. Various children and youth organizations would not change their names, e.g. Butterflies, Girls Brigade, Toddler Church, but the Junior Church staff agreed that they would adopt a new name based on the concept i.e. “Roots” or “Roots on Sunday”. In consultation with the children of the various departments they chose new names appropriate to the theme of trees, growth and life.
“Continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8
In practical terms it means that all our current and future activities would be branded under the umbrella term of Roots: Children and Youth Ministry at LMC.
At a deeper level it is about our collective intent to encourage young lives to put down deep roots into God which will last a life time.
