Blessing students and teachers before the start of the school year is a tradition at Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis.
“It’s always been a priority to empower, encourage, and bless our children and emphasize education as an important aspect of their development,” said Executive Pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church, Rev. Dr. Rose Lee-Norman.
The blessings this year, on Aug. 31 at the 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. services, have a different meaning after a gunman shot into the windows of a church at Annunciation Catholic school in Minneapolis, killing two students and injuring 18 others, mostly students, who were attending mass.
“As a faith community, we hold the reality of the grief, the anger, the frustration, and the fatigue that this is happening yet again,” said Lee-Norman.
Fear is another strong emotion being felt by Jakesa Thompson, a member of the Sanctuary congregation. “As a mom of three kids who go to church and go to school, it’s hard not to feel like that could have been my kids,” said Thompson, who will send her three children to school in South Minneapolis after Labor Day. She has a kindergartner, a second grader, and a fourth grader, the same ages as the kids in Annunciation Church.
“It really shook me to my core,” Thompson said. “It’s a painful reminder of how fragile life can be, especially when it comes to our kids.”
Thompson says fear from the shooting has her thinking differently about letting her kids go. “There’s pride in sending my kids out in the world to explore and learn and have their experiences, but there is a ton of fear because I can’t always be there to protect or shield them from all the dangers.”
That’s where faith comes in, said Lee-Norman, who encourages families to come to the church’s services on Sunday, Aug. 31, when the back-to-school blessings will take place. All students and educators will be blessed. In addition, kindergarteners and sixth graders will receive a special gift.
“It’s a chance for us to say, we’re in this together and you don’t have to go afraid,” Lee-Norman explained. “There is a whole congregation supporting our children in prayer and in action. They’re not alone, but there is a lot they have to hold, and we are mindful of that.”
Thompson and her family are out of town on Sunday, but she is emailing her pastors to get a blessing at the next service. “I feel the importance of it, especially right now,” Thompson said. It’s moments like these when she leans on her church. “I look to my faith community for guidance, support, and strength. They remind me, you’re not alone, you have a community going through the same thing, that’s going to support you.”
To register and learn more about the back-to-school blessings at Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, visit here.