Youth Service at Trinite Cathedral

This past weekend included the arrival of the three U.S. members of the BuildaBridge Diaspora of Hope Artist on Call art program and a wonderful youth service at Trinite Cathedral. There are three Sunday services at Trinite-6 a.m., 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. The youth service is held at 7 a.m. Given the hour, I am not sure there would be the same reponse at my home parish as I experienced this week. There must have been 200 children in attendance, They completely filled the left side of the church. They were all dressed in their school uniforms- green and white for the girls and gray for the boys. The girls' hair, as always, was beautifully styled with braids, ribbons and barrettes. It was quite a site to behold.

The service lasted about 1 1/2 hours. During the course of the service, the matrons from the children's school would observe a random squirmy, giggling boy or girl and swiftly relocate them to the adult side of the church. Despite exemplary behavior overall, the right side of the church did experience an increase in numbers throughout the course of the morning! I had a line of boys and a couple of girls who became new worshipers in front of me. Of course, I was amused by this, as it brought back vivid memories of Sunday services when my boys were young. With three sons and a husband singing in the choir, there was no chance of me winning the behavior war-I was outnumbered! Even sitting in the front pew did not seem to dissuade their poking and proding.

The children do all the readings and lead the singing at the youth service. It was really wonderful to see young faith affirmed and leadership nurtured. This is especially significant since all the children are not members of the Cathedral. It was also a powerful image to see the long line of children taking communion. It was truly Christ's gathering of the little children.