Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

The church van picked up the dozen or so students from the elementary school and brought them to our backyard, the kids starving for mid-afternoon snacks and a place to run off their energy.   

After several tries to settle the group, we started talking about the upcoming All Saints Sunday. That's the title feast of the congregation so the kids were interested.

The idea of a community of saints intrigued one of the girls, a bright-eyed second-grader. She and her mom were going through a divorce, and they tried our church a few months earlier.   

"You mean, there's life after death?" she asked. "Once we die, it's not the end?"   

For those of us who grew up in the church, this seems so elementary. But for those who have never heard the Gospel, it is profound. Her joy at discovering that God offered a new beginning transformed me. I had forgotten what it was like to be amazed by God's promise.   

A few months after the conversation, this child and her mother were baptized.   

In an earlier post, I talked about how to measure church growth. I'd say this counted.