Youth Sunday

I've not written since the concert on the 14th and that is mainly because it has been crunch time leading up to today - which was Youth Sunday at First Presbyterian Church of Annapolis. That means that the youth group lead the worship services at both 8:30 and at 11:00.

They did a fantastic job and I am extremely proud of them.

Leading the service is only a fraction of what they did, though. They started back in late January deciding on a theme, finding relevant scripture, writing as a group, writing individually, deciding on hymns and planned the entire service. Its quite an undertaking.

Its a great way for the youth to really learn about the different components of a service and to get a better understanding (hopefully) into why we do the things that we do. Its also a great way for them to share with the congregation what is important to them and how they see faith interacting with life.

This year the theme was "Change." The heart of the service focused on five stories about change and had five mini-sermons or reflections.

The first was the story of Moses and the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. Sam read a piece that he and his sister Ellie wrote explaining how when they recently moved to the area they were lost in the wilderness of not knowing anyone at school, where their classes were, and missing familiar surroundings. He ended on a hopeful note talking about the growth that can be achieved when you embrace the changes in your life.

The second was the story of Jonah attempting to not do what God asked and ending up in the belly of a whale. Jacob's reflection talked of the futility of ignoring God's will and how it often takes something drastic or catastrophic (like a big fish) to get us to make the changes that are needed.

The third was the story of Saul (persecutor of Christians) becoming Paul the Apostle. Connor told a moving story of a friend who turned away from self destructive behaviors after friends reached out to her and provided her with a modern day "Road to Damascus" moment.

The forth was Jesus' advice to become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. KC explained that kids are less set in their ways, have to deal with change more frequently than adults and are used to be dependent on others (parents, grandparents,teachers) for their basic needs.

The fifth was Psalm 46, which begins with the very recognizable "God is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in trouble" and near the end has the equally recognizable line "Be still and know that I am God." Hayley related for us the psalmist's optimism in God's presence and power despite "the world falling apart." She compared the images of a river whose streams make God glad to a grassroots movement for civil rights that eventually lead not only to equality in public spaces, but to our first African American president.

Instead of using hymns from our hymnals and having a pipe organ for accompaniment they chose modern day popular songs to compliment their service and we sang along with the CD recordings of Turn Turn Turn performed by the Byrds, Everything by Alanis Morissette (the clean edit version), and With My Own Two Hands performed by Ben Harper and Jack Johnson. And after our Prayer of Confession and Words of Assurance we celebrated by singing Feelin' Good with Nina Simone ("It's a new dawn, it's a new day, and I'm feelin' good!"). During the offering Matt, one of our eighth graders, played a very impressive saxophone solo.

What can I say? I think they are all amazing and I am so lucky to get to work with them.

Tomorrow I'm off to Princeton, NJ for a youth leader forum at Princeton Theological Seminary. I've been trying to attend this forum since I first started working with the youth. The first year I was in the job it was filled when I attempted to register. Last year I got registered in plenty of time, but had to cancel since I was still stuck on the couch recuperating from my first surgery and this year I'm finally able to attend. I'm really looking forward to it. It'll also give me a chance to visit the seminary, get a feel for the campus and the town.

Next weekend our confirmation class will meet with the elders of the church on Saturday and those wishing to do so will join the church formally on Sunday. It's a big week for me personally and for the youth of our church.

UPDATE - The mini sermons are now posted on our church's web site.