AFC Releases Say Yes! to Kids Sunday Liturgy
In advance of the April 2 launch of the fourth annual Say Yes! to Kids campaign, the Anglican Foundation of Canada (AFC) has released its new Say Yes! to Kids Sunday liturgical resource.
“The liturgy will provide a spiritual focal point for the SYTK movement,” says Dr. Scott Brubacher, Executive Director, AFC, “and will be a flexible resource that any church can use, whether it has an active campaign or not.”
The liturgy has been developed by a team of AFC’s clergy board directors from across Canada. It is hoped that Anglican parishes across Canada will join forces on Sunday, June 2, or another Sunday after Pentecost to pray for the health and well-being of young people in their churches, communities, and beyond.
Archbishop Anne Germond, Bishop of Algoma and Moosonee, Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario, and Vice-chair of AFC welcomes the liturgy, emphasizing that it is meant to be used with the permission of the Ordinary. “As a bishop I am pleased to have such a comprehensive, user-friendly liturgical resource where a variety of options for prayers, readings, and hymns can easily be inserted into a bulletin and adapted for local use. I especially love the Prayers of the People and the litany that invites us to hear God calling us to new forms of ministry with children and youth and the suggestions for involvement of children and youth in the liturgy.”
Archbishop Germond adds that the SYTK Sunday liturgy supports the direction of many dioceses, “where children’s ministry is increasingly intergenerational worship. What the staff and volunteers of AFC have prepared says children and youth are valued in our churches and we care about them, which is what the Say Yes! to Kids movement is all about.”
Brubacher explains that the resource is intended to be used by all churches, whether they have young people in the congregation or not. “If you don’t have youth to involve as readers, greeters, or elsewhere, the service can be a time of prayer for children and youth in your community and across the country. What matters most is rallying Canadian Anglicans to celebrate children, youth, and young adults in our midst and pray for the creativity and compassion to make young people a vital part of the fabric of our church now and in the future.”
Visit the SYTK Sunday Resource Page
For more information about the 2024 Say Yes! to Kids campaign please contact Michelle Hauser, AFC’s Development & Communications Officer via email at [email protected].
