We’ve been asked to help a child in a unique situation.
Abby is six months old. She’s the daughter of Candace and Paul Reigrod,
who live in New Jersey; and the granddaughter of George and Paulette Yohe, who
are members of Good Shepherd. She is a thriving, healthy, happy child, and her
parents are faithful, God-fearing people, who deeply love each other and their
daughter. They take very seriously their own faith and that of their spouse
- and that’s why they need our help. Candace is a Christian, a life-long
Lutheran, and Paul is a Jew - and they have asked us to help them introduce
Abby to God and welcome her into the family of God. They have decided to raise
their daughter in a multi faith household rather than choosing one religion.
“We understand that can sometimes be confusing to a child,’ says
Candace, “but we are both too deeply rooted to our religions to have to
chose just one for our children.” But they cannot find a congregation
as welcoming as ours; it was barely possible for them to find a rabbi and pastor
who would work together for their wedding ceremony.
On the surface, Baptizing Abby would be the easy thing for Candace to do - it’s
our tradition and our faith and what we know how to do. But Candace is also
aware of the promise she would make on Abby’s behalf at her Baptism, a
decision to raise her as a Christian, committed to Christianity alone. While
she certainly hopes that Abby will come to adhere to our faith, she also feels
that to chose it for her would be to reject her husband’s faith and the
possibility of God calling Abby into that faith. Paul feels the same way, for
the same reasons.
So: during the prayers of the church June 10, we will introduce Abby to the
people of God, and ask God to use us to make her welcome. God made her born
to parents who both worship the God of Abraham and Sarah: her father, as a Jew,
her mother, as a Christian. As Abby grows up with a foot in two such very different
worlds of faith, we join God in yearning that she’ll know she is welcome
within the whole family of God, that she knows that she belongs to the whole
family of God. We’ll ask God to bless Abby’s journey of faith, and
her parents’ promise to engage her in both their faiths, and provide a
righteous home where each respects and honors the faith of the other.
The world needs more prayers like that.
Pastor Jim
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:4-7
From the Shepherd's Song Newsletter -- June 2007
Copyright 2006 by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
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E-mail your comments and questions to Pastor Jim in care of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at gslc@sirus.com.