Bat Mitzvah

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Bat Mitzvah of a stunning young woman. She led the congregation in worship; she read from the Torah in Hebrew, intoning (singing) the text; she presented the historical context of the text; she talked about the meaning of the text in her own life; then she received blessings from her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

It was a fascinating experience - and it causes me to question, challenge and rethink just what it is we Christians do in this process we call "confirmation".

What would it be like if:

each confirmand led an entire worship service?

each confirmand chose their own text that speaks to them and their own lives?

each confirmand's family stood to offer their own heartfelt, original blessings?

Then again, I hear a whole lot of talk about modernizing our language, our liturgy, our hymns. This young woman presented the foundation of her faith experience in the ancient language of Hebrew - with no apologies, no explanations, no attempts to modernize (well, yes, the prayer book did offer English translations of most of the liturgy and prayers).

How do pastors, parents and parishioners lead our young people into passionate relationship with Jesus? It's not through programs, or texts, changed language of the liturgy or new processes. We can pass on such passionate knowledge of Jesus only through our own passionate relationship with Jesus. (Core value from learnings in Dubuque: if we want spiritual children and teens, we need spiritual adults.)

Here's another item for us to all discuss together when I return.