By Angela McCann, Children’s Pastor, Cascade Covenant Church
I first saw Justice Journey several years ago at Legacy, the MidWinter pre-conference event for children’s workers. I knew right away that I wanted to start Justice Journey at my church as soon as I got home, but it was a matter of timing. The calendar for children’s ministry was full for the rest of the year, as was the church calendar. Lent and Easter were around the corner, followed by summer events, which were then followed by Fall planning, recruiting, and volunteer training. Before I knew it, Advent had come and gone, and I was back at the MidWinter conference wondering why I hadn’t done Justice Journey yet. I knew it was a matter of capacity for me and for my church. I knew I had to hold off on planning anything new for a while. I waited and I trusted that when the time came I would have the capacity too.
As it turns out, that time was in the middle of a pandemic. In terms of timing, I didn’t have extra time on on my hands; I was in the middle of on the job training for a job I’ve had for over twelve years! In terms of capacity, well, I had writers cramp from all the postcards, a major case of zoom fatigue, and a little grocery store anxiety. On so many levels there did not seem to be capacity for something new. Neither was the timing right, because in person events were allowed. So, I wondered why it seemed as if God was opening this door now.
This summer, the racial pandemic was exposed for what it is, and for what has always been. Like so many others, I grieved for Ahmed Aubrey, and for George Floyd, and their families. I grieved for my friends of color who have known this grief far longer and much deeper than I could ever know. I thought about the children and families of my church who were trying to make sense of things and trying to figure out how to talk about current events from a faith perspective. I thought about Justice Journey again and imagined how it could equip parents to have conversations about racism and prejudice with their kids. Then I began to think about how an in person event for kids could become an online event for families.
If I was going to do Justice Journey, I knew it had to involve parents. Equipping them to speak God’s truth into what was happening all around the country was part of the vision, but it was also the catalyst for considering a new program, now of all times. I also knew I had to adapt the curriculum for a Zoom format, and it had to be shorter, because I didn’t want to cause Zoom fatigue. Suddenly, I had something to plan, lessons to go over, and activities and supplies to consider. I knew how to do these things! Plus, I was going to teach almost face to face again. All these things thrilled me; I had missed this part of my job and suddenly capacity wasn’t an issue anymore.
As I began to adapt Justice Journey, I started to reconsider the timing, and I realized it might be the best timing for several reasons. It can be hard to have meaningful conversations with kids about racism in kid’s church. First, parents aren’t present, and from my perspective, they should be for this kind of conversation. Second, there isn’t enough time on Sunday mornings; fifty minutes goes by quickly, and not every child comes every week. Of course, there are all kinds of ways to make it work when we meet in person again, but the other reason now is the time has to do with families. They aren’t as busy with all the extra after school activities, so they have space in their calendars and they have the capacity to do this together in a way they won’t when we meet in person again. This timing isn’t just right for families, though, I think now is the best time for the children.
Children are more savvy than they were ten years ago. They know what is happening, and if we want Jesus to be real to them then they need to hear what Jesus thinks about racism. And they need to hear it from us. If we are silent on racial issues then that silence will speak volumes to the children in our ministries. To be clear, our silence won’t reflect on us; many of the kids we see won’t even remember us. No, our silence will speak volumes to them about Jesus, and it will follow them through the years to come. If we stay silent about racism and injustice, I fear for the message that will send to children about Jesus.
Truthfully, I don’t feel adequate when it comes to teaching kids about racism and injustice. I still have growing to do and I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing but I don’t want my fear or my insecurities or my privilege to stand in the way of a child, any child, knowing in the deepest part of their being that they are deeply loved by God. I want them to know this forever and I want them to know that every person they will ever meet is made in Gods’ image and deeply loved by Him. I want this for kids so much that I’m willing to get out of my comfort zone for it.
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