Dear St. John’s Family and Friends,
Happy Mother’s Day! We will celebrate our Mother’s this coming Sunday during worship and will provide a flower if you wish to show appreciation to someone. Mother’s Day is a day filled with gratitude, memory, and love. For many, it is a joyful celebration of mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, and all those who have nurtured us with compassion and care. For others, this day can carry grief, longing, complicated memories, or the ache of absence. Wherever this day finds you, may you know that God’s love surrounds you and holds you gently.
Throughout scripture, we encounter the image of God’s love expressed in deeply nurturing and parental ways. In the prophet Isaiah we hear God say, “Can a woman forget her nursing child…? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). These words remind us that the love of God is steadfast, abiding, and life-giving. It is a love that shapes us, guides us, and calls us into community.
On Mother’s Day, we also celebrate the sacred work of passing faith from generation to generation. Faith is not formed only in sanctuaries or classrooms. It is often nurtured in everyday moments: bedtime prayers, stories shared around the table, comforting words during difficult times, acts of kindness witnessed in the home, and the steady presence of people who teach us what love looks like.
As a church family, we are called to support and encourage the spiritual growth of our children and youth. Christian faith formation is not simply about learning Bible stories or memorizing prayers. It is about helping young people discover that they are deeply loved by God, welcomed into the Body of Christ, and called to live lives of hope, compassion, and purpose. This work belongs to all of us. Parents and grandparents, teachers and mentors, church members and friends all play a part in shaping the faith of the next generation. Every encouraging word, every act of patience, every invitation to worship, every shared meal, and every prayer matters more than we may ever realize.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples, “I will not leave you orphaned.” Christ promises to remain with us through the Holy Spirit, guiding and sustaining us in love. That promise extends to our children as well. God is already at work in their lives, planting seeds of faith that will continue to grow through the care of a loving community. May we give thanks for all who have nurtured faith in us. May we honor those whose quiet acts of love have reflected the heart of God. And may we recommit ourselves to supporting the children and youth of our congregation, helping them know that they belong, that they are valued, and that God’s abiding love will never let them go.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Scott Siefert
St. John's United Church of Christ 
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