As students prepare for the first day of school -- some with excitement, some with trepidation -- churches are offering prayers and support, including the increasingly popular blessing of the backpacks.
Lakewood United Methodist Church in North Little Rock will have a blessing of the backpacks during the 9 and 11 a.m. services Sunday. Students are invited to take their backpacks for the blessing and prayers will also be offered for students, teachers, administrators and parents.
The Rev. Luke Conway said the blessing of the backpacks is a tradition at the church. He began serving as pastor in July 2014 and participated in his first blessing service that August. Students up to college age participated.
During the services, the students gather at the front of the sanctuary, where each is recognized by name and the school they'll be attending.
"We'll have them stand up and say, 'This is Johnny and he's going to be a first-grader at Lakewood Elementary,' and we'll lay our hands on his shoulders and say a prayer for him," Conway said.
After the 9 a.m. blessings, the congregation will walk next door to the new Lakewood Elementary School to bless the school.
"We'll stand out front ... and pray for the teachers and students and everything that's going to happen there," Conway said.
The church has a long history with the school. The congregation's first worship service 60 years ago was held in the old school building, and for years church members gathered in front of the school to bless it. The new school building will be blessed by the congregation for the first time on Sunday, the day before classes start. The old school building, opened in 1953, has been demolished.
Conway said the yearly blessings for students are a way for the congregation to show its support.
"It lets them know we are pulling for them and God is blessing them," he said. "The kids, it makes them feel important and cared for, that other adults are looking out for them and wanting them to succeed."
COMMITMENT TO PRAYER
West-Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith will have its Back to School Day on Sunday and will offer blessings for children and students from preschool age through college, as well as for all school workers. The service will be at 10:30 a.m.
Chris Benjamin, pulpit minister, said the church has been offering the back-to-school blessings for more than 10 years.
During the service, students, teachers and other school workers from public, private and home school settings will be invited to come forward and one of the elders will bless them in groups and offer a prayer.
In addition to the blessings, the day marks a commitment to prayer that will continue throughout the school year. Members of the congregation can pick up magnetized cards with the name of a student or school worker to pray for.
"Sometimes people try to find a person they know and sometimes they take one randomly," Benjamin said. "I often call it a prayer buffet -- take as many as you want but pray for all you take."
Benjamin said some church members take a card each year but also continue praying for all the students they picked from past years.
"So some have been praying for a student from the time they were in elementary school and are now praying for that student who is in college," he said. "I never anticipated that and that's been one of the more inspiring things to come out of this."
Benjamin said the church views prayer as a ministry that every member is called to do.
"It's the first mission of the church," he said. "The first thing is to pray and bless and we want those being prayed for to be a blessing. There's a rich theology in this. God said to Abraham 'I'm going to bless you so you can be a blessing to the earth.' God has always called his people to be a blessing. He wants us to be a source of light, to be salt, to bring some preservation and some zest to the world around us."
The start of school can be an exciting time for some, scary for others and Benjamin said that's what makes the blessing day so important.
"I think there is a true ministry here," he said. "There's a lot of controversy when you start talking about religion and education but what we're talking about here is not controversial. We're not asking anyone in government or in education or in school administration to affirm or deny our faith or the faith of anyone else. We are just following our calling to be people who bless others, people who seek the blessings of God and share those blessings with others in a sharing and loving way.
"Prayer is something anyone can do, and we think it does a lot of good."
A PROMISE TO THE CHILDREN
At Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock on Sunday, students, teachers, administrators, coaches -- anyone involved in education -- have been invited to offer their backpacks, briefcases and even diaper bags for the littlest ones for a blessing. They'll all be piled around the Communion table to be blessed.
The services at 9 and 10 a.m. will include a special litany for the children, as well as prayers for students, teachers and school workers.
Jeannie Ford, church educator, said each person participating in the blessing will be given a tag they can hook onto a backpack as a visual reminder of the prayers of the congregation.
"They can be reminded every day that they are part of a church family that's supporting their faith," Ford said. "As Presbyterians we baptize people of all ages, including infants, and when we do we make a series of promises. As a church family we promise to nurture the faith of our children and this is one of the ways to nurture their faith."
Ford said the service is also a way for students to link their faith with their everyday lives.
"As Presbyterians, we believe it is important for our children, youth, and adults to connect their faith and daily living," Ford said. "We want our children and youth to learn that God is not only at church on Sunday mornings, but with them in every part of their lives."
A backpack blessing will also be held during the 8 and 10:30 a.m. services on Sunday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in North Little Rock. The Rev. Joanna Seibert, deacon, said the purpose of the service is to honor children as they go back to school.
"It's to let them know that the church community is praying for them and it's recognition that the children are a part of our community," Seibert said. "It's to let them know they are not alone."
During the services, students will come forward for a blessing from the Rev. Carey Stone, rector of the church. They'll also be given a name tag with a prayer that they can attach to their backpacks. Parents will also be given prayer cards that they can put in the children's lunchboxes throughout the year.
Seibert said students of all ages often participate, including elementary age children, college students and adults returning to school later in life.
The prayer for the service is one written by Wendy Claire Barrie from St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York. It says:
"God of Wisdom, we give you thanks for schools and classrooms and for the teachers and students who fill them each day. We thank you for this new beginning, for new books and new ideas. We thank you for sharpened pencils, pointy crayons, and crisp blank pages waiting to be filled. We thank you for the gift of making mistakes and trying again. Help us to remember that asking the right questions is often as important as giving the right answers.
"Today we give thanks for these your children, and we ask you to bless them with curiosity, understanding and respect. May their backpacks be a sign to them that they have everything they need to learn and grow this year in school and in Sunday School. May they be guided by your love. All this we ask in the name of Jesus, who as a child in the temple showed his longing to learn about you, and as an adult taught by story and example your great love for us. Amen."
Religion on 08/15/2015