Baptism and Canned Goods

Yesterday, King of Peace started Advent with Shane Scott's baptism. It was moving to see the conviction in his eyes as he said the replies to the liturgy which he had memorized, renouncing evil and turning to Jesus as his savior.


Here is Shane with his sponsors at the font as he is presented.

The day ended for King of Peace with the youth group going on a canned food scavenger hunt to help restock the Salvation Army's Food Bank.


Here are some of the 14 teens who went on the hunt coming back with their non-perishable food items. The hunt pitted Middle School students against high school students. The Middle Schoolers had an early edge as they brought more canned goods to the meeting, giving them an early lead. Then the teens went out and knocked on doors to collect goods. Each group got a nice haul. Then we went to Winn Dixie where the groups were given $20 each to spend from their budget to buy items for the food bank. They shopped carefully for bargains, with each group getting some 7 for $1 Ramen Noodles to hedge their bets. We also picked up ice cream "drumsticks" for the winners and sour candy for the losers. Once back at the church, it was clear that the high school students won, but after picking out their favorite flavors, they proved to be good winners, sharing ice cream with the middle schoolers.



Collecting a large pile of food for needy families in our community proved to be an appropriate way to round out a day that began with a baptism. First those of us who were already baptized renewed our baptismal covenants. Then the teens went out and lived into it. Isn't that what we are all supposed to do?