Have you ever wondered what it is exactly that our little 6, 7, and 8 year olds are doing in Sunday school?  In what ways are our children truly experiencing God's love?  Do they even know what it means to partake in bread and wine at Holy Communion?  Or is this another opportunity to play "grown-up" for them.

Perhaps you yourself have witnessed God's spirit through them if  you've been the recipient of a sweetly fashioned locket with the words, are you listening to Jesus, obviously scribbled by the hand of a child.  Or, you might have noticed, on a particular occasion, a spattering of construction paper hearts purposefully affixed here and there throughout Mediator's hallways and church.  Or, you've seen a "stained glass" star inadvertently left behind in a pew.  However, you're not quite sure what these things mean or how they teach about God's way.

Being an Episcopalian means, among other things, trying to raise children in Christ's love.  Well, as an occasional class participant and loving parent of one of these Rainbow Kids, this writer can assure you that our children are absolutely celebrating, learning and growing in amazing and wondrous ways.

Just as our biblical ancestors formed their identity as God's people as they heard the stories of faith and participated in rituals associated with them, so too are our children shaping into wonderful little spiritual beings and developing an understanding of what it means to be blessed by God.  Teachers, their assistants and the students alike explore meaning and mystery in the Bible through the same Bible stories we hear in the Scripture readings during church services.

Rossana K.