Sermon submitted by Dennis Sanders, Associate Pastor for Diversity and Mission at First Christian Church in Minneapolis, MN

[At First Christian Church] we are trying to find out how to make what was once a big downtown church into something that fits the current times.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but I do know that it seems difficult to find an easy answer.  We sit and pray and talk and wonder and so on.  In some ways it seems like we are just plodding along and trying to see what works.  Some people at the church think that the congregation’s best days are behind it and wonder if it is time to just give up.

At the same time, something else was quietly happening.  One of our members, Deb Murphy, was a little bit upset about the fact that there was no children’s program going on at the church.  One of the things that can happen when a congregation is in decline is that certain things tend to get left by the wayside.  The children’s ministry was one of those things that got left aside.  Well, that got to Deb.  She is an artist and has worked for years in the Twin Cities theatre community.  After some thought, she came up with an idea of using arts to teach children about the Bible.

Come September of 2009, Deb started her class called Art of the Covenant.  It was kind of amazing: kids started coming to the class.  A friend from work ended up bringing her daughter to the program.  A couple started bringing their three grandsons.  A woman who had stopped attending started coming back after her two adopted sons were eager to attend the class.  Little by little, Deb’s class is making a difference.  On Easter Sunday during the children’s sermon, there are fourteen children who came forward,  It was a wonderful scene.

Deb’s action was one of love and service.  In all the questions regarding how First Christian transforms, we had forgot about one simple thing: that we were called to love people.  Deb remembered.  She remembered to love the children.

[To read more Dennis Sanders' sermon about the "Art of the Covenant" program and its modeling of the missions of the church, go to: http://fccminneapolis.org/2010/06/22/shared-spirit-young-trees/]