First I would like to thank Jim, Shirley, and Julia for giving me this opportunity to reflect on my experience as a Sponsor with this year’s covenant class.

Let me start my reflection by examining my reasons for becoming a Sponsor. I suppose I could say that I became a Sponsor because I’m a member of this congregation and therefore have the obligation to mentor. Or I could say that I needed to add something else to my CCC resume. After all, this seems to be my home away from home. Why not add one more thing?

However, in order to explain my real reasons for becoming a Sponsor, I need to go into some of my own history to give you some background.

As a rule, I keep my opinions to myself. But, for you to understand my journey as a Sponsor, I have to confess something. I’ve never liked teenagers, especially those in their early teens. If memory serves, I didn’t like them even when I was one.

As open-minded as I see myself, I have often lumped teens into a very broad and not very nice category. I took my history, mixed it with the anecdotes of like-minded friends, and added a touch of the usual and customary media negatives. The result was rather horrible.

One day, not too long ago, I noticed that my sons were parroting my opinions of teens. After all the time Leslie and I have spent, trying to help them see each person as a gift from God, here I was using a very broad brush to paint an unflattering picture of a group. Byron and Daniel were showing the sincerest form of flattery – imitation - and it all came from me! That was the first reason that I said yes, when asked to be a Sponsor of a Confirmand.

The second reason is that I like challenges. After all, I joined Christ Congregational Church because I knew it would challenge some of the more conservative and traditional beliefs I had. Being around teenagers, a group that I did not understand, would definitely be a challenge!

The beginning of my Sponsor journey, was inauspicious, to say the least! The first young man (that I was to Sponsor) was pulled from the program by his parents. The second one lasted maybe one half hour of our first joint Sponsor, parent, Confirmand session. I drove him home wondering all the time if this was to be the sum total of my Sponsor/Confirmand experience. The truth is that I was kind of relieved that I was taken off the hook and wouldn’t have to confront my opinions. However, I was finally matched with David Lyons. For that I say Amen!

Our covenant says "Depending on the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth…." I believe the Holy Spirit was guiding me and being David’s Sponsor was the beginning of the end of my narrow-minded categorizing.

The pivotal point came at our recent West Virginia retreat. For the first time the Sponsors and Confirmand worked with each other on a one-to-one basis. One of the exercises was for the Sponsor and Confirmand to go off together and use the admonition that God gave you two ears and only one mouth for a reason. The Sponsor would speak for twenty minutes on his or her faith journey, while the Confirmand would just listen. Next the roles would be reversed and the Confirmand would speak while the Sponsor listened.

David and I chose to sit on the footbridge under the cloudy night sky. I found the first half of the exercise very easy. I had no problem talking about me! The second part was a little problematic. As David spoke, I wanted to jump in at many points to concur, or acknowledge, or interrupt as adults tend to do with teens. David didn’t have to share anything with me, let alone where he was spiritually, but he chose to. I can’t go into details, since we all agreed that what was shared would be kept confidential. But what he said and how he said it gave me so many "aha’s" and woke me up to the potential, not just of David and the entire Confirmand class, but also to the group called "teenagers" that I have for so long maligned! For me, the Sponsor-Confirmand retreat exemplified the words of the hymn "Called as Partners in Christ’s Service:" "May we learn the art of sharing, side by side and friend with friend, Equal partners in our caring to fulfill God’s chosen end."

During the retreat and throughout my Sponsorship journey, I learned a great deal from and about David. I know that he has had wonderful guidance from his parents and from his wrestling coach! I learned that he has goals for his faith journey, and is following a spiritual path that will help him meet those goals.

While David was the main teacher in my remedial course in teenagers, I also learned from my observations of the other members of this class. Most importantly, I have learned that beyond the different dress code, beyond the different musical tastes, beyond the youthful boisterousness, and beyond the sometimes-apathetic appearances, lies a gold mine of interests, commitments, ideals, concerns, and dreams. I believe that the future of Christ Congregational Church will be in good hands if this class is a true indicator of what these young minds can offer.

I know that the following is going to sound like a paid political announcement, but it really comes from the heart. I highly recommend this program to all of you, but, most especially, to those of you who have had very little experience with teenagers. If you have small children, please take advantage of this present that CCC is giving you. One day your children will also be teens. If, as the saying goes, it does take a village to raise a child, then it also takes a church, and its congregation. Take some time out of your busy schedules to invest in the future of your church and your community. Sign up to be a Sponsor the next time it’s offered. I know I will.