Hi, Friends!
I’m sending you so much love and gratitude today. I’m honored to call you our church family and to be connected to you even though we are physically apart. Your children in particular are such precious gifts to our church, and we are praying for them and the future we are called to create for them. (And if you missed the behind-the-scenes photos of the Pentecost delivery, you can see some here!)
I imagine that you, too, may be receiving and finding a lot of excellent resources out there regarding anti racism and, in particular, the need to educate our children on issues of injustice. This email will share some I have found most helpful. If you have a resource you want to share, please send it on over!
Resource Hub for Parents
This resource hub (created by the baby food company Yumi) has books for kids by age, podcasts to listen to, videos to watch, and social media accounts to follow regarding how to teach kids about racism.
National Geographic's Article
This is another article about talking to kids about race. It has good tips and resources to facilitate conversations about race with young people.
And here are some weekday wonders we are excited to share!
New Wonders
An Opportunity to Spread Love (and Stop by FBCP!)
Here's an opportunity we have to partner with The Giving Spirit! We have a yellow box set up right outside of First Baptist Church Pasadena for you to drop off a card. Read on for details!
In the coming weeks, The Giving Spirit is committed to serving 10,000 homeless lives by building and delivering new Health and Safety Kits to help protect 10,000 of our most vulnerable neighbors during this dangerous time. And just as with their traditional Survival Kits, each Health and Safety Kit will include a homemade “Friendship Card” – it’s often the first item that the recipients pull from the bag because it tells them just how much we care and gives them hope that they are not forgotten! This is where you come in. We would love your compassion and creativity to help create these cards and make sure they get to those in need. It’s totally safe and easier than you might think. Here's a video on how to make one and here are some written instructions.
Highlights @Home Kindness Ideas
Carolyn, one of our longtime church members, shared this resource that is full of meaningful ways your kids can practice kindness at home. Let us know if you find ways to be nice and kind!
Sunday Specials
All-Church Zoom
This Sunday at 7pm, you are invited to gather on Zoom. Pastor John Jay will be available to hear your questions and concerns and to make space for us to share what we are feeling in this moment. The other pastoral staff will be there, too. The goal of this time is to ground ourselves in community and to open the dialogue in our church family in the midst of our pain and in our calling to be people who manifest God's Kingdom. We know we can't possibly answer or hold all the questions and thoughts of our community in one hour, so consider this is the beginning of an ongoing dialogue that we will continue to make space for in whatever means are available. Those who want to join can keep an eye out for a Zoom link we will send to everyone Sunday afternoon. Mary and I are also planning a time for parents to connect next week over zoom, so stay tuned for details.
Sunday Video
This week’s video may be short because we are working on some other ways to share love with our kids on Sunday. So, kids, there might be something in your parent’s email or text messages for you to see this week or next—make sure you ask them to keep an eye out!
Youth Hangout!
Thank you to our youth who were willing to engage in really meaningful conversation last week regarding their own feelings and thoughts about everything going on. We are on for our regular noon call this Sunday, and here is the meeting link that you can use to hop on the hangout. We are working out the details for future in-person gatherings for youth (with safe protocols), so stay tuned for that.
Sending you so much love and virtual hugs!
With gratitude for you,
Pastor Lindsay & Pastor Mary