Back-to-school rituals for church and home
It’s that time of year again, folks–time to get ready for the school year! I know some places around the country have actually started school already, so maybe you are seeing the yellow buses and lines of backpacks and fall sports signups around where you live. Or, maybe not! If you are still getting ready for the school year to begin, or if it began recently, how are you preparing for it in your church? Does your church mark this time of year in a special way, maybe with a “rally” or “homecoming” Sunday? How do you let the children and youth among you know that you are praying for them as they start their studies this year?
This is the sticker I’m using for my church’s Backpack Blessing in 2022. The words are adapted from a blessing my friend and colleague the Rev. Claire Brown posted on Facebook a couple years ago.
In my church we do a Blessing of the Backpacks ritual! Pre-pandemic, we would do it on the first Wednesday night dinner of the year. Usually it would also happen to be the first day of classes for schools in our local area. We prepared for it by inviting children to bring their backpacks to church that evening and put them in a little altar space area in our fellowship hall. Then, after dinner concluded, we would gather around, sing a song, share about our hopes and dreams for the school year, and I would hand out special #blessed stickers.
But of course, a blessing of the backpacks doesn’t just have to be for kids going to school, though that absolutely serves a specific purpose. You can also invite adults to be blessed on their daily journey–with their keys, planners, cell phones, cane, work gloves, sunglasses, laptop or briefcase! Adults in my congregation love the stickers and are collecting them year after year on their water bottles and desk planners.
Want to do this with kids in your life or at your church? Here’s some practical steps:
Prepare
When does the school year begin in districts near you, or for the majority of children and youth in your church? Plan for a Blessing of the Backpacks before or near the first day of school. Or, does your church do a kickoff to the program year? That would be a great time to coordinate a ritual for kiddos in your community.
Share blessings inside and outside your church family. It may be late for this year (HOW did it become August?!), but at my church it’s been really special to collect school supplies for a local school for the month before we do a backpack blessing. This way we can have a pile of the supplies to be donated and name the school we are giving them to–blessing them as they will use the supplies day in and day out. Or, is there a special ministry with local children and youth your church works with, such as a church preschool or foster care organization or homeless shelter? Check with them to see what resources they need!
Get church stakeholders involved. Make this a whole church project! Invite the committee that organizes outreach or charity or Christian education to participate–or better yet, lead! Is there an arts committee or women’s circle? Invite them to make bookmarks or design stickers.
Prepare a giveaway. It can be helpful to have something tangible to give out during your ritual. I’ve been a fan of designing something on Canva and then printing it with StickerMule.
Ritual
It’s important for rituals to be tailored to your worshiping community. Here are some guidelines for a Blessing of the Backpacks for your church.
Who are you blessing?
Name each person! This could be an opportunity to introduce children and youth to the church–invite them to say their name, grade and something they like to do.
Why are you blessing?
There are lots of ways to answer this question: because you love the children in your church, because you want the adults in church to recognize the importance of children, because you want to signal you are a church that supports children, because you are aware of the mental health difficulties young people face at elevated rates since the advent of COVID-19, because you need to pray for the children in your church as school shootings are on the rise.
What do you want the people being blessed to remember?
This is where you can use “May you…” statements, a traditional form of blessing. Here are some examples:
May you know this church loves you.
May you know you are never alone; God is always with you.
May you be safe and healthy.
May you learn with grace and joy and curiosity.
What is a meaningful piece of music for your church?
In my church, we have “Heritage Hymns” that the church chose a few years ago, hymns that convey the spirit and beliefs of our church family. Sometimes I will choose one of our Heritage Hymns, such as “All Are Welcome” by Marty Haugen. Other years I like to use a beautiful song by a friend of mine, Don Schlosser, called “Be Loved.” Since 2020, our church has also enjoyed using Illustrated Ministry’s Compassion Camp songs by Amanda Meisenheimer in our worship services. Some could also fit very well for a Blessing of Backpacks, since they have themes of self-love, community wellness and recognizing God’s presence.
Invite participants to share.
I like to have a sharing time, where children can say something they are looking forward to about the year, a new skill they want to learn, or share about their hopes for the year. It’s good to set a limit on sharing time if you have a lot of people or are trying to keep this short. You could use the format of “2 hopes and a question” to invite sharings.
Recognize the complexity of school in children’s lives, church and community.
Here are some ideas you may want to incorporate in a blessing:
Give thanks for the experiences of summer. Whether kids have been on vacation, in camps, at home, visiting family or doing something else, offer the children an opportunity to share something that brought them joy over the summer. Encourage them to play and rest throughout the school year, too.
Teachers, administrators, cafeteria and janitorial staff, nurses, bus drivers, special education teachers and all adults who work to make school a safe and healthy place to belong and learn.
Friends, old and new. One of the primary locations of children’s socialization is at school, so the process of developing friendships and learning about healthy and mutual relationships is an important facet of school!
Learning new things and increasing knowledge from years previous. Encourage curiosity as children and youth learn more about things they are interested in and that will help them be healthy individuals and contribute to their community.
Justice in education. Education is a human right, but not all places around the world see it that way. It is important to know that in the USA there are great inequities in the quality of education provided to children and youth, the kinds of enrichment activities that are accessible in urban, suburban and rural communities, and home life situations that significantly impact educational opportunities and achievement.
Include everyone.
Though I have referenced “children and youth” a lot in this article, just a reminder that adults can also participate! Often adult schedules change as the seasons do to follow the school year, so there are things that are new and need blessing for adults at this time of year, too.
Pray
If your church already has a liturgy for a Blessing of Backpacks, that’s wonderful! Use it! And if not, pray in a way that is good and true for your community in this time and this place. You know your people, so go for it!
Blessing at home
If you are not regularly participating in communal worship, or you are looking for ways to do this kind of ritual at home, think about collecting school supplies for a local school or organization, or doing a blessing for the school day.
How to do a blessing for the school day:
Before your kiddo walks out to greet the school bus or hops out of your car, share a special moment. Look them in the eye and say:
“May Love surround you today, keep you safe and healthy, and may you greet whatever comes with grace and peace.”
“May God bless you and keep you today and always.”
Or–say whatever sounds good and true for you and your kiddo!
You may also choose to mark the special moment with a physical touch: making the mark of the cross on their forehead, giving them a kiss or hug or high-five, holding their face in your hands, boop-ing their nose–whatever it is that marks this moment as a genuine, consensual moment of care between you and the child.
And it’s worth saying that I know it can be tough to carve out a “meaningful moment” in the hectic preparation for the day. Though I don’t have little ones of my own at home, I know from plenty of friends with young’uns that sometimes taking a moment with your kid in the rush of the day is A LOT to ask…so this could also be something you do when you pick up your kid or when they come home. A welcome home blessing could be something like: “I give thanks for your safety and healthy return home. May you be held with God’s love this evening.”
I hope this helps as you consider how to celebrate children in your life and church, and how to mark this important time in the year. There’s no real way to mess this blessing up–as long as you are centering God’s love and care for all people, and holy presence with children as they learn and grow, it will be beautiful and meaningful!
