On a recent Sunday evening we gathered with our high school seniors and their parents for a new Stepping Stone event. It’s called “Leave Your Mark” and it goes with our Quillows Stepping Stone coming up in June. If you are not yet familiar with our Quillows Service, it is our Graduation Stepping Stone in which the church and families gift each high school graduate with a quilt that can be turned into a pillow (pillow + quilt = quillow). We have just started offering a quillow-making workshop for families earlier in the year, led by our wonderful quilters, so that families can purchase or make their special quillows in preparation for the service.  

When all of the graduates and their parents stand on the platform during worship we get to see the colorful and creative expressions of our graduates’ interests, and they take it with them as they take their next steps. There are touching words exchanged, thank you’s, and lots of tears. It is a powerful service.

This is such an important culmination of our Stepping Stones Ministry. From baptism to graduation, our families grow together in learning the faith of the church, learning the Lord’s Prayer, Ten Commandments, and the Apostles’ Creed. They are also growing in their faith in how they learn to live in relationships with other believers and the world, grow in serving others, develop their relationship with God, and discern the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We pray that all our students and families are growing in their discipleship throughout this process.

One misconception that I am glad we do not have here is that the children and youth are the future of the church. I mean, that is true, so I will add, AND they are the Church now! They have been creating and shaping the people we are at Christ Lutheran. They help impress the faith upon our younger ones. Our middle schoolers help lead games during Vacation Bible School, they set up presentations to help us serve the needs of our neighbors through Alternative Gift Market, they staff the nursery, serve as stewards, lead worship through the Xperience, run our cameras, and bring curiosity, energy, and excitement. Each and every one of our youth has made their mark.

To celebrate this, we have added “Leave Your Mark” so that our graduates can share a message and their faith to the younger students coming up. After some parent-student connection time reflecting on their faith journey and this time of transition, our students went off to paint their tiles and the parents went to have conversation. We asked the students to paint a tile to represent something about their faith journey—something they have learned, something they hope others will remember, or something they want future generations to see when future students are in the Pit.

After about an hour, we returned to find beautifully expressive and faithful tiles! Crosses blooming with flowers, a soccer ball with scripture, a lighthouse, an encouraging message. Our graduates are leaving their mark, on the community, and the wall. They take their faith with them as they take their next step, knowing they always have a place here.

We are going to place these tiles on the Pit walls. Each class will have their own area. These tiles of faith will become part of the physical life of our church. Every year, new tiles will be added. New stories layered in. New voices join the witness of those who came before.

As we are talking about marks of discipleship, we may want to think of the marks we make.

Often, when we talk about leaving a mark, our minds often go to big achievements. We think about accomplishments, careers, or milestones that make a visible impact.

But Scripture reminds us that the marks that truly shape the world are often much quieter.

Like in our Wednesday noon sermon series, think about the countless people in the Bible whose names appear only briefly but whose faithfulness changed the direction of the story. The early church grew not only because of famous apostles but also because of ordinary believers who lived out their faith in everyday ways—welcoming strangers, caring for one another, sharing what they had, and trusting God in uncertain moments.

The truth is that the marks we leave behind are often not the things we plan.

They are the things we practice.

They show up in the way we treat people.
In the way we respond when life gets difficult.
In the way we encourage others in their faith.
In the way we show kindness even when no one is watching.

Over time, those small actions become something much larger than we realize. They become a witness.

Watching our graduating students design their tiles was been deeply moving. Each one tells a story.

No two tiles are the same, and that is exactly the point.

Every student’s journey with God is unique, yet each one is part of a larger story that stretches across generations of faith.

When future students walk through the space where those tiles are placed, they will see more than artwork. They will see evidence that others came before them and wrestled with the same questions they are asking.

They will see that faith is not something that appears fully formed overnight. It grows through years of learning, questioning, serving, worshiping, and walking together as a community.

They will see that they are part of something bigger than themselves and their belonging to a huge beloved community.