At the beginning of 2026, Christ the King joined 10 other congregations in a grant program through Vibrant Faith in a research project, “Raising Faithful Kids”. One of the hopes of the program is to develop faith formation environments that directly and indirectly influence homes in their vital role as primary faith teachers with children under the age of 12. Earlier this summer, several listening sessions were held for parents of children and the strongest message was this: Parents want their children to develop an authentic faith that becomes their own—not simply inherit beliefs or participate in church because they are told to. Rather than emphasizing doctrinal knowledge or perfect church attendance, parents consistently talked about relationships, community, belonging, character, curiosity and feeling safe to ask questions, and experiencing God’s love.

We are a community and more specifically a faith community, where there is richness in our diversity of ages, backgrounds, families, interests and more. Each week we gather in worship with all our uniqueness, all our quirks, all our doubts and certainties and we root ourselves in the central practice of worship. In our worship we experience new and long-standing relationships among each other, and we experience relationship with our faithful God. 

Beginning Rally Sunday, September 13, and continuing for 12 weeks, the whole congregation will explore six themes that are central to worship. Using the resources offered by Vibrant Faith, there will be experiential faith practices for all ages, many of which can also be practiced at home, at work, and while traveling. For example, how often do you think about the holy ground that we traverse every day? Holy ground is any place where God’s presence is recognized and honored, and a faith practice to experience this is removing our shoes, our thick-soled, cushy and supportive shoes and letting our feet feel the ground beneath us and being reminded that God meets us wherever our feet trod. May these practices help us notice God’s presence, deepen our relationships, and nurture a faith that truly becomes our own.