Editor’s Note: This week we welcome Rev. Melissa Collier Gepford as our guest to share her “Back to School” Blessing. Melissa is the Intergenerational Discipleship Coordinator of the Great Plains Conference (all of Kansas and Nebraska). Melissa supports United Methodist Churches working to establish healthy kids, youth, small group, and care ministries. She is an author, consultant, and speaker. Melissa is also the creator and owner of Dandelion Marketplace. This online hub brings together a network of creators to provide reliably progressive spiritual formation resources for families and communities.
For this back-to-school season, Melissa generously shared free resources with our 3MMM community. Be sure to get your code at the end of this blog!
Ode to the Back to School Blessing
Summer has flown by, and one thing’s for sure. Back to school is just around the corner. Teachers, caregivers, and students are all busy gearing up for the fall season. With all the preparation for change, this season brims with emotions: excitement, anxiety, sentimentality, and more. Ministry leaders, the church has an opportunity.
As a clergywoman who specializes in family ministries, might I offer a back to school blessing?
When you offer space during worship to recognize the shift in seasons you are honoring families and educational professionals. For this season of transition, I invite you to consider the role of the blessing in your worship setting.
Honoring Emotions
The back to school blessing is a perfect way to hold space for all the feels while helping students, teachers, and caregivers make meaning of them. Take this time in the service to be open and real about the tapestry of emotions that starting school can bring then share words of comfort, encouragement, and hope.
One emotion the church needs to honor is anxiety. Though this past school year saw a decrease in school shootings, generation alpha (born 2009-2024) hasn’t experienced a single year in their lives with less than ten school shootings. Caregivers often feel that anxiety and helplessness as they send their kids to school. Education professionals bear the brunt of the work and expectations to keep kids safe. Your church has a real opportunity to grapple with that reality while offering a safe haven for families – physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Honoring Rhythms
Perhaps your community is an anomaly, but for most of us, it’s tempting to work all the time with little regard for rest or rhythm. A back-to-school blessing is one of the ways we can mark the changing seasons, celebrate what was, and look forward to what will be. We know inherently there’s a different rhythm for back to school, but what would it look like to intentionally talk about incorporating rest into this new rhythm? Your church also has a built-in opportunity to invite familiar families to re-engage in the life of the church and to invite new families to experience the love of Christ through your congregation.
Celebrating Milestones
For many families, the first day of school is some kind of milestone. First day of kindergarten. Middle school. High school. College. It can also be the last first day for many. These milestones are big, and it’s no insignificant act to recognize that in your families’ lives. I invite you to make the back-to-school blessing a big deal. Why? Because going back to school is a big deal to families. Your church has an opportunity to support students and their grownups as they navigate some of the most crucial times in their lives.
A Back to School Blessing
by Melissa Collier Gepford
Here’s a back to school blessing that you may adapt in order to use it in your own context.
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To the one who created seasons of life, we give you thanks for this new one full of new rhythms, new responsibilities, and new opportunities.
As families gather all the things they need to go back to school, we ask that you bless each student, teacher, administrative professional, and volunteer that steps inside the school. We ask for peace, safety, patience, and an unshakeable joy to sustain them.
As families prepare and organize their school clothes, we ask that you help them clothe themselves with Christ. For the school supplies, we give thanks. And for the devices and technology that aids in learning, we give thanks. For breakfasts and lunches in the cafeteria we give thanks. We are reminded of those who do not have access adequately to these things. We ask that you will use us to care and provide for them, for whatever we do to them, we do to you.
For the lesson plans, we give thanks and ask that you bless the teachers. For the school calendar, we give thanks and ask for sustainable rhythms. And for the buildings and grounds, we give thanks and ask for your protection and safety. For grown-ups who support students, we give thanks. For firsts, for lasts, and for everything in between, we give thanks and hold space for every emotion that may come.
And for the backpacks, we give thanks. As our students pack their backpacks everyday, we pray for their spiritual backpacks – that they carry the love of Christ in their hearts.
In the name of the one who said, “Let the little children come to me” that we pray these things. Amen.
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If you would like to download a longer version of this blessing along with additional supplemental resources, then visit Dandelion Marketplace. When you reach the checkout, use the code 3MMM for 100% discount! The product will automatically download to your device.
