"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
~Proverbs 22:6
~Proverbs 22:6
Martin Luther loved children his entire life, and he knew that every child should be given a throrough religious training by his parents. After he, himself, became a parent, this feeling only intensified for him. In 1529 he wrote the following:
For if we want to have good and capable persons for both temporal and spiritual leadership, we must certainly spare no diligence, effort, or cost in teaching and educating our children that they may be able to serve God and the world. We must think not only how we may amass money and possessions for them; for God can surely support them and make them rich without us, as He is doing every day. But He has given and entrusted children to us that we should train and govern them according to His will; otherwise He would have no need of father and mother. Let everyone know, therefore, that it is his duty, on peril of losing his divine favor, to bring up his children above all things in the fear and knowledge of God and, if they are talented, to let them learn and study so that they may be of service wherever they are needed.
At St. John's we, too, believe that children must be given a solid foundation in the Christian faith. This foundation begins at home, with you, the parents, and it continues with regular participation in Sunday school and worship.