Pentecost Birthday Party

Right off the top, I need to apologize for the party blower. I realized as soon as Orie opened the bag and put it in his mouth that I was going to causing a great deal of annoyance for parents of 3-12 year-olds. Why did I even put that in there?? It's a party, that's why!
This week, if you have a kid preschool aged or older, they will receive a package to celebrate the birthday of the church. Not OUR church, but the whole idea of there even being a church. It's when the followers of Jesus shifted. They went from being a small cultish following of a particular guy to being a people who'd never even met or seen Jesus following and believing in a resurrected Christ who'd embodied the non-violent love of God.

Now, you don't have to put it quite that way with the little ones. But I hope that the little booklet that comes with this package will begin to tell that story of how the church was born and why we continue to celebrate today.

Your teens may even have received their envelope already, since teens who don't have a younger sibling will get theirs by mail. Families with younger kids I'll be making drop-offs this weekend. Inside will be a personal birthday cake mix - including frosting and sprinkles.  The Pentecost zine and recipe card - you can make your own mug-cake mix if you're so inclined - and for the elementary set, a balloon and the aforementioned blower (again: sorry.)

Take the opportunity to say the prayer for Pentecost on the back of the zine and give thanks for the things that you are grateful for about church and the presence of Jesus in your life. This is how we build the language of faith. Happy Pentecost! Happy Birthday Church!