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Raising our Children in the Faith

 

Christmas Eve photos BH 2013 - 5

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Called

Children’s Sunday

Matthew 4:18-25

 

Jesus calls his first disciples from their narrowly defined but typically Galilean lives. They are fishermen, the sons of fishermen, the grandsons of fishermen. Their world is narrowly defined to their families and their work and the towns in which they live and the sea in which they fish. And then Jesus comes along and calls them away from all that. When James and John follow him, they not only leave their nets behind, they leave their father behind. Jesus invites them to a world larger than Galilee and a family larger than blood and kinship. And in a whirlwind, they go from their small lives as fishermen to the disciples of a man who heals the sick and casts out demons, who turns the world upside down wherever he goes. They find themselves across the sea in Syria and Decapolis, among Gentiles and sophisticated Romanized Jews. The change is dizzying. Read More »Raising our Children in the Faith

Seeds and Soil

By Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
St. Stephen Presbyterian Church
Fort Worth, TX
Mark 4: 1-20
September 30, 2012

The most bizarre thing about the farmer in the parable of the sower is that she throws the seeds anywhere, just willy-nilly, like she doesn’t care where they land. So some seeds land on the path, some in rocky soil, some in thorns. And of course, some lands in good soil, and thrives.Read More »Seeds and Soil

Childlike Church in a Grown-Up World

The only stained glass window that was taken from Broadway Presbyterian Church when it moved to the present site of St. Stephen in 1950.

By Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch

September 23, 2012 

Mark 9:30-37

 

 

Here’s something I’ve seen happen in every church I’ve ever served in. Families with children join the church, or start coming back after a long hiatus. They are sitting in the pews with their children. The children get antsy and a bit distracting, as children do. And one of the “long time” members leans over and whispers to the family, “You know, there’s a nursery.”

And as often as not, the family never returns.Read More »Childlike Church in a Grown-Up World

Sacramental Drama

 

By Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch

St. Stephen Presbyterian Church

Fort Worth,TX

 Communion Sunday and the Baptism of Eunice Kang

Mark 7: 31-37

James 1: 17-27

JC Kang, St. Stephen’s seminary student at Columbia, holds baby Eunice with his wife Jung and sponsors Beth and Robbie Fultz looking on, as Rev. Ritsch administers the sacrament of baptism.

Today we’re baptizing Eunice Kang, the daughter of JC and Jung Kang. JC is the seminary student we’re sponsoring at Columbia Seminary. But we’re also performing the Lord’s Supper, which means we’re performing both the sacraments that Presbyterians believe in.

 

Now when yours truly was in seminary, I was taught that one of the main purposes of the sacraments is drama. When I heard that, a little light went off in my head. See, I was an actor for quite a while myself. The sacraments are dramatic—of course! When we do the sacraments, we are actors in a play. Read More »Sacramental Drama

Ash Wednesday, Family Friendly Service & Meal

Ash Wednesday, Family Friendly Service & Supper

Wednesday, February 22, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

The church staff and the Worship Committee invite all parents and children to attend the “child-friendly” and multi-sensory Ash Wednesday Service  for Children & Families, Wednesday, February 22.  Participants will gather in the sanctuary narthex (front hall) and the service will take place in the sanctuary. Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lenten Season, where we prepare ourselves and our families for the life, miracles, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This service includes a child-friendly Lord’s Supper and the Application of Ashes. Read More »Ash Wednesday, Family Friendly Service & Meal

“The Lord is Trying to Do Something Grand Through Us…Therefore We, God’s Servants, Arise and Build”

Our unofficial church historian, Cathy Corder, has unearthed some fascinating documents from the early days of St. Stephen. Most interesting are those that detail the process our predecessor church, Broadway Presbyterian, went through in deciding to move from its location across from present Broadway Baptist to this site.Read More »“The Lord is Trying to Do Something Grand Through Us…Therefore We, God’s Servants, Arise and Build”