Heritage

“Heritage Sunday calls the Church to remember the past by committing itself to the continuing call of God.”

Confession: None of our house grew up in the Methodist church. We grew up in church, but our first exposure to the Methodist Church was when we came to KFUMC 6 or 7 years ago. It seems we still learn new things regularly about the the traditions of the Methodist church. Heritage Sunday is no different. But this month it feels like a God wink that my assigned day to write for you falls between two Methodist Church traditions that are new to us: Confirmation and Heritage Sunday.

This past Sunday, our sweet girl was confirmed. When we came to the church, our son had just missed Confirmation for his age group. Going through this with her was a learning experience for all of us.

Confirmation and her baptism caused much reflection for me in this last week. Reflection on our faith heritage and how that has shaped us all.

When my grandmother was a little girl, her grandmother suffered from debilitating varicose veins. Her family was an active part of the Catholic Church at the time. One day my grandmother’s grandmother was walking past a tent revival being held by a pentecostal church and she was drawn in. That day her varicose veins were healed and my grandmother’s family joined that pentecostal church. That lead to her family becoming part of a San Antonio church that 6 generations of my family attended. That heritage, that firm foundation has led us to where we are today…watching our girl publicly profess her faith through the act of baptism.

I remember my past, my family’s past…our heritage. And have a greater commitment to that continuing call of God as I see both of my kiddos living out their faith walks. I remember my own baptism, around the same age my daughter is now. I remember my son’s baptism when he was in elementary school. I think of the joy my grandparents would feel seeing their great grandkids stepping out in faith. I’m thankful for a heritage that is rooted in Christ. I’m thankful for a church helps make my kiddos’ faith their own. I’m thankful for those who went before me and paved the way for me to walk in faith. I’m thankful for heritage.