Pastor Casey gave each of the children a Bible after showing them the Bible that had been in her family for generations.

Celebrating a glimpse of our future

On Children’s Sunday — a time to celebrate another year of Sunday School and the dedicated work of our teachers, graduations, youthful enthusiasm, musical talents, and more than a dozen children in attendance — the message of the sermon was one for all of us to ponder and embrace.

Preston Stewart, the Cape High School valedictorian who now is headed for Harvard, reflected on the morning’s scripture reading from Ecclesiastes, which in part read: “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil — this is the gift of God.”

And Preston’s message: “By being good, that doesn’t say we have to be perfect. God just wants us to work for the good of all people.” Enough said.

Throughout the service, it was the children doing their best to be good — and succeeding — from Jasper leading the call to worship, Jack and Sawyer reading scripture, Tyler twice playing inspired piano solos, Naomi and Serafina lighting the altar candles, Alex, Kendrick and Serafina collecting the offering, and to Preston offering his sermon with a message for all. It was a Sunday for all of us to savor being part of this church family.

Throughout the service, three olive wood crosses and praying hands were passed throughout the pews and Pastor Casey asked everyone to take a moment and say a prayer while holding each item. After being passed throughout the church and collecting a multitude of prayers, the items were presented by Pastor Casey to Preston, Midori Kwan and Gail Parker as a remembrance of their church family in the Cape. While Preston and Midori are heading off to college, Gail is leaving us to spend the summer as the worship director at the Craigville Retreat Center on Cape Cod.

Special recognition was offered during the service to Carol Hubbard for once again leading our Sunday School, to teachers Deanne Burr and Margaret Braun, to Jim Young for being a guest Sunday School teacher, and to Mariah Parker for helping out the Sunday School in many ways.

Click here for more images of Children’s Sunday: