Our church has a great tradition we call “Blessing of the Backpacks”. The first Sunday after the new school year has started, we plan a special worship service. (Once upon a time, we called in Rally Sunday.) During the worship service, we have a time of prayer - laying on of hands - and keychains for all the school-aged students to put on their backpack. I’m hoping many churches still do the same.

How can we bless *all* the backpacks – not just the ones that are here in the pews that Sunday morning? How can we embody that we are “blessed to be a blessing” – and use this Sunday to love our neighbors? Here are a four ideas to help broaden your ministry to bless more Backpacks:

1. Order too many keychains. I have been absolutely delighted to hear about grandparents taking keychains to give to their grandchildren. Or kids delivering keychains to cousins and friends that missed the Sunday morning worship. I have even had empty nesters mail a keychain to their college students across the country. But, people are funny. All of these beautiful ministry moments started when an individual asked: “Do you have any leftover key chains? Do you have any extras? If you have enough, I’d love to take one…” So order more than enough, and share that good news with the church: “It looks like we are going to have some leftover keychains! If you have a grandchild, neighbor, or friend – please feel free to take a keychain after worship today!”
   
   
2. Include teachers and staff. They deserve a special prayer, and a keychain, too! At my church, there is a young adult that is now a teacher in our community. From elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and now as a teacher: I don’t think she has ever missed a Blessing of the Backpacks Sunday.
   
   
3. Add a service element. We have collected snacks for local elementary schools. We have collected school supplies. We have collected backpacks. We have collected gently books. It’s such a fun Sunday to add a kid-centered donation collection. The message to the families is clear: “Bring your backpack with you, filled with a gently used book or two that you are ready to donate to kids in need.” Bonus effect! This is a great way to include adults in the congregation that might otherwise feel disconnected to the school year. It’s a fun time of year to be generous with kids and schools in mind.
   
   
4. Get creative with a hands-on prayer experience. The year that we collected backpacks for youth in need, we pre-purchased two backpacks ahead of time. Then, during the worship service, we passed those backpacks around the sanctuary, inviting people to stop and say a special prayer when they held a backpack. With enough backpacks, you could do this during your regular offering time, or at the start of the service. The backpacks could travel throughout the sanctuary - all throughout the service – and whenever the backpack comes your way, you are invited to stop and pray for kids most in need this school year. Another great option would be to invite the entire congregation to take a moment to think about a specific child, or group of children, that they would like to pray for. Write down who you want to pray for (could be children in a war-torn country, students with anxiety or depression, or the specific name of a child you love…) and place that piece of paper in a backpack as a sign and symbol of our prayer. It’s prayer of intercession – prayers of the people – backpack style.
   
   
5. Extend the blessing to work bags, luggage, purses and more, so that everyone in the room can receive the gift! With a keychain or small token, every person going about their day regardless of their destination can have a reminder that they are loved and supported by their Creator and their community.

There are many ways to bless backpacks. Keychains, prayers, donations to local schools… This is your invitation to expand this ministry a little bit this year. How can you bless more backpacks this year, even if the number of kids on Sunday morning stays the same? Let’s work towards blessing all kids – blessing all backpacks – at the beginning of the school year and all throughout their lives.