You’ve heard about the Day School Installation and the Back to School Fair that we’ll be doing on Sunday, August 18, but in this article we’d like to focus on one of the most important things we’ll be doing at both the traditional and family worship services on that day: Blessing the Backpacks.
The Blessing of the Backpacks is something that many churches do annually, and at LCC it has become an important tradition. We highly value our little ones, and we want to do everything we can to prepare them for school so that they can grow into their full potential as children of God. Starting a new school year can bring anticipation and excitement, but for some kids, it can also come with some anxiety.
For all those reasons, we at LCC want to surround our children with prayer and support. To do that, we will give each child who attends either the traditional or family worship service their own backpack tag. The tags say, “God’s Got Your Back,” an important message to hear for kids as they begin their new educational journey. Knowing God walks alongside them to protect them can empower them to learn and grow. The tags also have lines for the child’s name and class.
At the Back-to-School Fair, which will be in the lobby from 10 AM to 11 AM, children will have the opportunity to decorate and personalize the tags with beads and other items. Of course, there will be several other stations at the Fair for kids to create other school-related craft items.
But as important as the message on the tags is, perhaps what we will do in the worship services is even more crucial. Children are invited to bring their own backpacks to either the sanctuary (for the traditional service at 9) or the Fellowship Hall (for the family worship at 10:45), where they will be arranged in front of the Communion Tables. Then, during the services, we will offer prayers of blessing over the backpacks, asking God to encourage, protect and empower the children who will be wearing them as they go through their school days.
What better way to start off a new school year than with prayer and a reminder of God’s continual love and protection than with “God’s Got Your Back” tags and a blessing of the backpacks? So please mark your calendars if you have children or grandchildren and remind them to bring their backpacks to whichever worship service they want to attend, and encourage them to also come to the Back-to-School Fair. LCC stands for Lutheran Church of the Cross, but it could also, on August 18, stand for Loving Children Continually, because that’s what God does, and what we strive to do too.
