FaithFul Families

Here is your hub for information about Community’s family ministries, including special events, opportunities for children to be involved in worship, and a monthly take-home spiritual practice to do as a family. Scroll down to see this month’s issue, as well as links to previous months.

November 2024

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  • Hello again and happy Hallowtide, Faithful Families of Community!


    As the days get shorter and the weather (finally) cools off, the church prepares for some of the

    most special and sacred occasions. We begin this month with the celebration of All Souls Day,

    an ancient Christian tradition of honoring the dead, and as soon as November ends, we mark

    the beginning of a new year in the Church's calendar, with the start of the Advent season.

    This is also a time of heightened stress and anxiety for many. The stress of gathering with that

    side of the family, the pain of loved ones absent from the dinner table, the pressure of getting

    just the right present or throwing the perfect party, the gloom of growing dark and deepening

    chill. And on top of it all, a presidential election that has filled the country with fear, dread,

    bitterness, anger, resentment, and all kinds of human ugliness and that looms in uncertainty

    over the future.

    In times like this, we can turn to our tradition as a source of strength—in particular, the Psalms.

    Psalms are the songbook of God’s people, and far from being a hundred and fifty cheery little

    poems about how dandy things are when you have faith, they reflect the full spectrum of

    human emotion. Lament, joy, longing, hope, fear, rage, doubt—you can find a Psalm for it.

    We will be leaning heavily on the Psalms in our worship this month, and so this can be a great

    opportunity to bring church home with you during the week.

    Reading the Psalms together, out loud, can be a really powerful way for your family to be

    honest with one another and God about how you are feeling, while grounding you in reminders

    that God’s faithfulness endures in times of difficulty and darkness.

    Because Psalms sometimes have confusing or difficult language in them, it can be nice to have a

    resource that paraphrases them when reading together with younger listeners. I recommend

    either Psalms for Little Hearts by Dandi Daley Mackall, or Psalms for Young Children by Marie-

    Hélène Delval. Below I have listed some Psalms by topic if you would like to bookmark them in

    your Bible.

    However you read them, I hope the Psalms can be a source of consolation and encouragement

    for your family this month.


    —Rev. Stephen


    Psalms of praise: 8, 19, 47, 103

    Psalms for when you are sad: 6, 43, 102

    Psalms for when you are worried or afraid: 13, 56, 121

    Psalms for hope in the midst of despair: 12, 22, 77

    Psalms for when you need peace: 23, 46, 62

  • Reminder: Sundays in November, we will meet as one in a single, 10:30 service.


    3: All Saints Sunday

    First Families Luncheon (11:45pm) w/ Worship and Wonder (How the Church Tells Time)

    Making Advent Angels with Artist-in-Residence Grace Cox-Johnson



    Free Día de los Muertos Festival at the Nelson-Atkins Museum


    5: Election Day (watch our socials for hourly worship and meditation opportunities)

    10: Chili and Chiefs @ Noon

    Enjoy chili made by Community chefs, watch the Chiefs game together, and help raise

    funds for the 2025 Mission Trips

    17: Congregational Meeting and Thanksgiving Meal

    24: Worship and Wonder during 10:30 service (Jesus Welcomes the Children)

    Note: dates for 2025 Summer Camps at Tall Oaks are available now. Visit

    https://www.talloaks.org/doc-camps for more info.

  • This month, we are looking for little liturgists to help read selections from the

    Psalms in worship. The Psalms will be simplified in language, and won’t require much reading

    skill. Some will be responsive Psalms and only require a single-line response repeated after an

    adult reader. If your child is interested in this opportunity, reach out to

    revstephen@community-christian.org

  • This month’s Practicing Together is grounded in the ancient Christian tradition of All Souls, and

    involves an (optional) field trip!

    Sunday, November 3rd , the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is hosting a Día de los Muertos festival

    with an abundance of activities to explore the Latin American tradition, which draws from both

    the tradition of All Souls and from the Indigenous traditions of Central and South America. It is a

    really cool opportunity to see how faith and culture combine in honoring the dead. I encourage

    you to check it out if you have time after our First Sunday Family Luncheon!

    Then, after you’ve explored this tradition, your family can create their own.

    Obviously, if your family doesn’t have roots in a culture that celebrates El Día, it might not be

    sugar skulls and ofrendas, but ritually remembering the dead, particularly in this season,

    transcends ethnicity and religion.

    A simple way for you to practice honoring folks in your family who have died is to set up a

    candle with a picture or pictures of your loved one(s) and take time to light the candle as a

    family and share memories together. If you want, you can arrange items of significance to the

    deceased around the candle and pictures as a way of creating a tangible and visible reminder.

    Share stories about your loved ones and invite the children to share how they are feeling. They

    may feel sad, but they might also feel bored and disinterested, particularly if they don’t have

    clear memories of the departed loved one. Talk about how grief can be an opportunity to show

    gratitude for love that lives on past death.


    When you have set up the memorial space, pray together as a family:

    “Thank you God for [name] and for the memories we get to share. Help us when we feel sad

    about missing them. We know that all of our feelings are safe with you. Remind us to be

    grateful for love, when it is right in front of us as much as when it feels far away. Thank you that

    your love never ends. Amen.”

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