30 pastors shadow youth.

A Bethany senior talks with pastors Terry Zehr, Sunnyside Mennonite, and Doug Kaufman ('85), Benton Mennonite, in Christian Faith Journey class.For 30 area pastors it was back to school for part of snowy February 9. These pastors, representing 20 congregations, chose to spend part of their day shadowing one of their youth attending Bethany Christian Schools. After attending the morning chapel, they attended two morning classes with their students, had opportunity to eat lunch with them, and participated in a round-table discussion with each other.

Wes Bontreger ('77), Yellow Creek Mennonite, joined in a game of volleyball during middle school phys ed.While one purpose of the day is to provide pastors an opportunity to experience Bethany, many appreciate the invitation from their youth to share this portion of their life with them—on their own turf. Pastors commented that this was an enjoyable way to spend a day with their youth and appreciated this connection between church, home, and school.

Pastors also appreciated the opportunity to connect with other pastors and to see them connecting with their youth. A new addition to the day was the opportunity for pastors to meet together to share ideas and discuss issues such as the value of Christian education at Bethany for their youth, how to talk about Christian education in a congregational setting, and effective ways for them to engage families in questions related to the benefits of Christian education.

Pastors Ann Mitchell, Prairie Street Mennonite, and Klaudia Smucker, College Mennonite, participate in a pastors' discussion.One group approached part of the discussion by asking themselves two questions about their congregations: How does Christian education permeate our lives from childhood through adulthood so that children see parents living out an alive faith? And how do pastors and congregations support parents in nurturing their children’s Christian faith from birth? They noted that it “takes a village to raise a child” and that Bethany can be a part of that. Biblical literacy, faith-inspired living, and depth of friendships with peers and adults were a few of the values that many of the pastors see in their youth who attend Bethany.