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Our birth is but a sleep
and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere it's setting,
And cometh from afar:
Wordsworth,
Intimations of Immortality
We come from a world of spirit. For children baptized in
The Christian Community, and for those whose parents choose
it, the Sunday Service for Children and religious instruction
keep alive and renew children's awareness of their origin
in the spirit, their heavenly home. Attendance begins around
age seven, leading to Confirmation at age fourteen.
The inner truth of the child
is recognized and supported in religious instruction that
supplements the children's worship service. It follows
the stages of the religious development of humanity reflected
in the child's development:
· veneration of the spirit in nature (myths and legends);
· security in the divine guidance of destiny (Old Testament);
· becoming aware of the Christ in individual human life
(New Testament).
For children, the experience
of finding a spiritual home on earth is strengthened through
festival celebrations and children's summer camps.
After Confirmation the aim
is to lead the growing young person to a religious view
of the world that is supported by his or her own experience
and insight. Young people take part in youth conferences
and in the life of the community, but full membership in
The Christian Community depends ultimately on a mature personal
decision as an adult. |
Rembrandt - Christ
and the Woman of Samaria
(1659)
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