10 Children & Youth
Where are all the children? Where are all our families? We have been asked this question numerous times as we begin to ease back into a pattern that is more “normal.” I thought it might be helpful to share some of the insights I have come across in this time. Many of us find ourselves looking off into a space that has taken hold of us these last 2½ years. A time of unprecedented chaos caused by the pandemic. Although this chaos was caused by the same virus worldwide, the only common thread was just that…the virus itself. Everyone was affected personally, and those conditions were very, very different. Having been able to be with our children, youth, young adults, and parents via technology, we, as a
church, never left them. They knew there was a steady presence in their lives. We reached out in tangible ways to help equip parents to be the primary faith formers in their families. And, yet, their lives were drastically altered. For most of us, as adults, we have experience on our sides. We were able to safely ride out the isolation even though many of us felt isolated. But our children and youth had no such ride. Their only
Nancy Van Fleet, Director of Children & Youth, nancyv@fpcnaples.org Rev. Rex Childs, Associate Pastor, rexc@fpcnaples.org
social networks closed, leaving them without friends, peers, teachers, and extended families. They were thrust into a virtual world of school, expected to be normal learners, and often frustrated by the lack of movement and physical activities that balanced their lives. Families struggled trying to keep a job with kids at home, or struggling with finances because they lost their jobs. There was very little normalcy they could count on, and what was once normal, no longer existed. They are very different children from who you may have known 2½ years ago. Some have lost a place to live, some families are really struggling with higher rents and parents are still stressed trying to make ends meet. We, as a giving church, gave them hope and continue to do so. This church has helped many in tangible ways during this crisis. And, we need to be aware that, as warned by the American Psychological Association, the mental effects of these past years are unprecedented and will continue for years to come. I have heard it said that we “cannot think our way into a new way of living, we live our way into a new way of thinking.” Our
families have lived their way into a new way of thinking just to survive. The Rev. Brian Wallace, Associate Minister of the Pittsburgh Presbytery, shared some additional insight. He shares that we have lost “momentum.” Children and youth ministry thrives on regularly scheduled events, something that we just started back to in-person. Think about the impact on our littlest ones – 50% of their lives have been impacted by the pandemic.
