For my home parish (Christ, Roanoke), the Day of Pentecost coincided with a parish picnic in the park, marking the end of the church school year. Our 9:30 AM Godly Play and teen classes will be suspended over the summer, as will our Adult Forum. We'll continue to offer a nursery and Children's Chapel during the 10:30 AM service. While children younger than 4-years-old enjoy play time in the nursery, children aged 4 through 3rd or 4th grade gather in the Children's Chapel room prior to the beginning of the service for games, songs, the Gospel story, and prayers.

I help with Children's Chapel, and our intent is for the group to rejoin the congregation at the passing of the peace. We don't always hit that, particularly when the Gospel is puzzling or big prayer topics surface. Recently, a newer young person brought up a reasonable question for discussion, given current political coverage: "So how did Jesus get to be king? Was there an election or what?" As the line headed down the hall toward the sanctuary, he was still shaking his head. "So, God can just do that? Wow." Wow, indeed.