Risen indeed!

Going to church on Easter Sunday is so much easier with adult children. As I look around at all of the parishioners with toddlers I breathe a sigh of relief. Those were difficult but memorable times.  Keeping kids occupied for an hour isn’t easy but our new, and may I say young (looks like a high school senior), associate pastor did his best.

The children’s message started with a parade of children and their happy parents saying “Alleluia”.  At the end of the brief message, the surprise was revealed and all of the children received colorful helium balloons with the word Alleluia inscribed.

One of the fathers of a young child with a little one in tow gasped as he watched his child’s balloon to be the first to ‘Rise’ to the cathedral ceiling with the entire congregation watching.  His attempt to jump and retrieve the rising balloon failed, but not without cheers and laughter from the crowd. More balloons followed and the whole church was filled with laughter.

The young pastor picked up the microphone in an attempt to get us back on topic. I’m sure he was thinking ;
nothing worse than watching his children’s message rise to the ceiling as the more practiced members chatted about the merits of his naive attempt to deliver a fun and engaging lesson.

Mission accomplished! Nothing better than a visual message… He has risen, he has risen indeed!

As church filed out of the Sanctuary many of the balloons were in the hands of parents or tied to the cute baskets filled with toys and color crayons. I noticed one balloon out of reach in the bookshelves of our library and had to snap a shot.

What a great message. Well done Pastor!