” “Were Not Our Hearts Burning Within Us . . . ?” -Luke 24:32

The Gospel reading for the third Sunday of Easter in Year A is always the disciples experience on the road from Emmaus. I grew up hearing this story and it never ceases to thrill me. I look forward to hearing it every three years.

The story the two disciples tell of their experience at Emmaus is a familiar and rich one. There is much food for thought and prayer within this text, yet I always find it is verse 32 of this passage that leaps out at me: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the Scriptures to us?”

I suspect this verse catches my attention because, at heart, I am both a teacher and a student. I recognize the thrill and certainty the disciples feel when they have been in the presence of Truth that opens their hearts and eyes to seeing in a new way. Educators of all kinds refer to what happens in this story as a "teachable moment"- a moment that helps us to see and know in a new way. This is the function of Christian formation within the tradition of the Church. Gathered together as the community of faith around both sacrament and teaching, we experience over and over again the "teachable moments' that faith offers us. We meet Jesus the teacher again and again - and our lives change as our hearts change because of it.

Christian formation – Church School as it is more commonly known – it not the glamour place of the Church. It tends to be messy (glitter paint and glue) and noisy (children aren’t designed by God to be quiet!). Viewed in passing, it can often appear somewhat chaotic. And it is easy to think that it is only one more activity in which our children participate. But something else goes on in Church School that doesn’t happen during our children’s other activities. It is in this place, at this time, in these activities that our children, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, encounter Jesus, the teacher. At Church school, our children hear, play, share and explore the teachings of Jesus in community with others doing the same. As they mature and progress through the different stages of faith formation here at Christ Church, our children encounter the stories of Scripture over and over. Each moment is rich with the possibility of new understanding, change and growth. These stories of God’s saving action in Jesus form a foundation of faith that lasts a lifetime, and continues to grow and develop as our children mature throughout life.

In the larger scheme of life, it is easy to forget the place of Church School in our children’s lives. But where else in their busy lives will they hear the stories that change their hearts, provide a secure foundation of love and trust, and form them into the people God calls them to be? That’s the role of the Church School in partnership with you, their parents. We are delighted to have your children on the journey with us.

Faithfully,
Elizabeth