Youth – St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

Youth confirmation class

Our youth at St Andrew’s Episcopal Church are growing in knowledge and understanding of the Holy Scriptures as they study together and take time to ask many valuable questions. We did an 8 minute youtube romp through all the books of the Bible, spoke of the timeline, origins, the different languages.

Their pre-class work was to take a virtual tour of the Bible Museum in Washington DC prior to class. We discovered that there are many Bible translations. Stay tuned to our next updates to see how our youth are learning and growing together spiritually which will strengthen them both now and through to adulthood.

Our Bishop’s Visit

Our Bishop’s visit. We are blessed today with our bishop’s presence among us. Although she is often here for other events or meetings, today is her official bishop visit with us which happens every two years. Our bishop is our shepherd and chief pastor so her visit with us is an opportunity for us to get to know each other better, to experience worship together, and for us to share our passions around God’s mission here in Shippensburg, and to learn more about the diocese. We invite you all to a reception immediately following the 10 a.m. service. After our fellowship time, Bishop Scanlan will meet with Mother Barbara and your vestry members.

Confirmation of our Young People. We were blessed by our bishop as she gave our young people two choices for confirmation this year: 1) confirmation during her official episcopate visit (once every 2 years) and 2) a service in the fall where our young people will assume integral liturgical roles and the service will be an intimate celebration of their affirmation of their adult faith. The second option allowed for continued formation of our young people as they had not yet completed their more formal confirmation preparation. That service will be on November 5^th and we invite the congregation to be a part of this special time.

We celebrate with all our young people and acknowledge and affirm their walk in faith. Today, our young people who will be prayed over and blessed in preparation for their continued confirmation preparation are: Jonathan Luo, Julia Rhodes, Alexander Smeltz, and James Williams. Our young people who will be confirmed today are: Sarah Brooks and Neiley O’Donnell. We give praise and thanksgiving to God for their presence here among us and their faithful example of growing into the love of Christ.

Confirmation of our adults. We are incredibly blessed that both Donna Harpster and Juanita Mills are being confirmed in the Episcopal Church and becoming official members of our parish. We are delighted to welcome them into our part of the Body of Christ and rejoice of their presence and commitment to faithful living.

Confirmation Class

Each month, our young people gather together to prepare their hearts and minds for the commitment of Confirmation– that Sacramental Rite when they affirm their baptismal vows and become adult members of our parish. Our curriculum this year is centered around the Episcopal Church’s The Way of Love, the seven spiritual practices that can help us to follow Jesus. This past month our young people learned about the spiritual practice of God. Their activity was drawing their image of God, for how we imagine and name God tells us actually a great deal of what we believe of God and/or what we have experienced of God. This class meets every 4th Sunday of the month from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All young people are welcome. They can bring friends too!

Sharing of the Sacred

Our young people are amazing and have the ability to see the holy around, among, and within them. We wanted them to have an opportunity to share all this with their bishop, Audrey Scanlan, during her visit with us on Sunday.

Using a format that involved sharing, silence, meditative chanting, and the ringing of a singing bowl, children and adults gathered together to share the sacred in their lives and in their church experience. Themes of finding God in comfort, love, peace, wholeness, and in nature came from our hearts. It was clear that the children find God often and in many places, including in our church, through their offering of their musical talents, through the people near them, through the support others have given them, through the safety of the community, through the proximity to the altar, through their service as acolytes, and through the hearts of others. One young person said that when she sings in front of the congregation, it is clear to her that God is looking back at her through all the people gathered.

How blessed we are that we have young people who are being formed well in their faith, with eyes opened to the presence of God within, around, and among them. Thank you to all who support our young people in their faith formation. I believe it’s making a big difference to them — and to us!

Bishop Scanlan’s Visit

It seemed appropriate that the gospel text for the day of the Bishop’s visit was on Jesus’ mountaintop experience which transfigured him and transformed the disciples in their understanding of Jesus’ identity and their shared mission. That’s what happened yesterday when Bishop Audrey Scanlan led us in worship, confirmed those ready to commit anew to their faith, blessed a parish member and resident of The Episcopal Home who wanted to reaffirm her faith, engaged in the sharing of stories and experiences of the sacred, and met with our vestry. It was a mountaintop experience for us all! We left, coming down from the mountain, changed and clearer of who we have become as a parish and what God has placed on our hearts to do. We all offered the depth and breath and best of ourselves to God and each other — and the Holy Spirit gathered us all together to bring God’s glory into our world.

We are so grateful for our bishop’s pastoral guidance and leadership and her ability to enter fully into our life as a parish and to enhance it.

We offer our congratulations and blessings upon the people who were confirmed or who reaffirmed their faith yesterday:

Emma Eshleman
Cameron Gilbert
Bramley Hawkins
Della Hawkins
Shannon O’ Donnell
Zachary Rhodes
Laurel White
Dolly Koehler

One of the very meaningful parts of our bishop’s visit was the time she spent with our younger members. We gathered in a circle and shared an object that is special to us and why and then shared where we each find God at St. Andrew’s. After each person’s sharing, we entered into a time of silence, then chanting, which seemed to draw us ever closer to each other and with God. What was remarkable and stunning to me was that all of our young people seemed to speak so naturally about finding God at St. Andrew’s. It was as though this is the most natural thing in the world. For many of us, it is. But for some, those two things, spirituality and the institutional church, don’t always come together. I feel blessed that we at St. Andrew’s are forming our young people to expect to discover God in what they do here at church and in the people gathered. One of the most touching responses for me was when one of our young people mentioned that when they stand up in front of the congregation to sing, they are aware of God looking back at them through the people in the pews.

The bishop spent time getting to know the vestry members and exploring what the term missional means. This word takes the more familiar concept of outreach and expands and extends it to speak of experiences where all those involved are changed and transformed. There is a mutuality of growth that happens when we move from doing something FOR someone to doing something WITH someone in such a way we are all changed and our lives are enhanced.

I know the bishop’s visit is one day which is etched in my heart, now and through all eternity. This is what church is all about. Many blessings, Mother Barbara

Pre-Confirmation Class Session #1

Today we began our Pre-Confirmation Class– and boy, were we delighted and amazed (once again) at our young people — what they’re interested in, the questions they have, and their already deep understanding of worship.

We were blessed that Dean Robyn Szoke was with us to help facilitate the conversation about the beginning part of our Holy Eucharist Service, touching on the topics of: how we come into worship, how (and by whom) are we welcomed, and the Collect for Purity (who says it and why).

Each young person contributed to the conversation and they busily wrote their amazing questions and thoughts in their special journals provided for them.

What was best of all though were their questions! It was so great to offer them the safe space to ask all the burning questions on their hearts. That makes me so happy that we have young people who are thinking and wondering and coming to us to ask our thoughts.

I also introduced them to the exercise they will do with the Bishop when she is here in two weeks. I have asked each one to bring with them something from home that is sacred. We talked about what that word “sacred” means and they came up with the definition of something that’s special or important. With this item to share, they are then going to offer why it is sacred to them. After everyone has shared (including me and the bishop), we will give the young people an opportunity to tell the bishop what it is about church that is sacred (special or important) to them, whether it’s taking communion to the residents of The Episcopal Home, or playing their musical instrument, or being an acolyte, or washing feet on Maundy Thursday. I am so happy our bishop will get to know these amazing young people.

Our next Pre-Confirmation Class will be on February 25th at 11:15 a.m. in the upstairs PLC. Parents and grandparents are always welcome to come to the class too!

Affirming our Young People

At our Annual Meeting on Sunday, we approved the slate of vestry members, recognized the outgoing vestry members, celebrated our ministries in 2017, had a frank conversation about our financial deficit, and approved our budget for 2018. All of those things were fabulous and spoke volumes of the strength of our parish.

For me, however, the highlight was in presenting my Rector’s Award to two of our young people. Typically, only adults receive this award and it’s usually because of some new ministry developed, some extra giving of energy and enthusiasm to an existing ministry, or some show of extra devotion to our parish. I decided this year to give this award to two young people — and have pledged to each year raise up our young people in their ministry at St. Andrew’s with my award.

I chose Alexander Smeltz and James Williams as recipients of my award. These young people (ages 11 and 12) have shown to me and our parish what it means to be a Christian: being willing to take a risk in answering God’s call for the benefit of the community. Alexander has delighted us with his playing of his trombone, a relatively new instrument for him, and has on many occasions offered himself for the glory of God in this way. Alexander also comes to church all the time, attends the mini-mission events, helps at the community meals, and “lives and breaths” church — and we are all the better for his dedication.

James Williams approached me and asked me how old someone had to be to preach. I was quite impressed. James and I preached a sermon last fall and James shared his own personal reflections that opened up the text for us all. James also offers his musical talent in playing the trumpet in church often, comes to church all the time, attends the min-mission events, and is always the eager acolyte. He is passionate about being involved in the church in all possible ways. Both these boys have already moved from a casual faith to a committed one.

I presented them with a graphic New Testament (a Bible presented in comic book style) and a necklace which I hope will always remind them of God’s love and the love of many in our parish. The necklace says “Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think, loved more than you know.”

My sense is that these two boys, as well as other children in our parish, have already figured out how to be spiritual AND religious, in that we have given them the opportunity and encouragement to find and express their spirituality within our church setting. They give me much hope for the church, here and now in the example they are setting for us all, and for the future of the church as I believe they will continue to be leaders. Thank you Alexander and James for your leadership and your love of God and of our parish!

In Christ’s love, Mother Barbara

Youth Mini-Mission Event: Watershed Clean-up

A number of us gathered this past Saturday, as the warm air surrounded us and the bright sun shone down upon our shoulders, warming us to the chilliness of Middle Spring Creek, which we found ourselves wading in as we participating in a stream clean-up as one of our Youth Mini-Mission Events.

We began by learning about what a watershed is and why it matters. The map shown to us by our excellent guide visually showed our connections with each other, from those living in New York State, all the way down into Maryland. The blue intricate lines all over the map set the framework for our work as mission: loving our neighbors as ourselves means caring for the water and ground in our area well, so it doesn’t damage those further down in the watershed, and with cleaning up the stream, means actually enhancing the water quality for those in Maryland.

Our work, which was also fun and involved laughter and play, meant we were to wade in the creek and pick up trash.

Some of us were recording the amount of trash collected. Others took water samples for testing.

Some delighted in identifying the insects, fish and ducks which we came across during our walk.

All of us had fun.

All of us came away believing we had done good work.

All of us came together to “love our neighbor as ourselves” in a real and concrete way. All of us helped restore our earth to the way it should be.

This was good and faithful work, my friends!

To view more photos from our fun day together, please go to our website and look at the latest photo gallery: http://www.standrewsshippensburg.org/youth-mini-mission-event-watershed-project/

Our next mini-mission event is scheduled for October 21st when we will go gleaning and visit a farm which produces food while not damaging the environment. For more information, please see Mother Barbara or Tim or Irene Hawkins.

Youth Mini-Mission Event: Gleaning

This past Sunday 17 young people and 10 adults gleaned 900 pounds of apples! It was remarkable! The day was beautiful and the energy high as we headed out in the rows of apples to pick any remaining fruit from the tree or to choose good apples from the ground. it was an amazing experience to have so many of us show up to gather food, which was then transported to SPO (Shippensburg Produce Outreach) and was distributed today to their clients.

We are forming our young people in their faith by offering them the opportunity to do hands-on mission work, so they can actively make a difference in reducing the problem of hunger in our area.

After the gleaning, the youth gathered in age groups to discuss their experience and reflect upon how this connects with our scripture (The Book of Ruth) and any social justice issues raised by our experience.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Our young people make beads too!

This past Sunday, our young people joined in the fun and created their own beads for their Anglican Prayer Bead sets. We are so grateful they are interested in exploring different ways to pray and always feel welcome to do whatever it is the adults are doing. I just love these intergenerational events!

Building Faith: Brick by Brick

This Sunday we had a special offering for our young people ages 9-12 year olds.

Once a month we engage the curriculum “Building Faith: Brick by Brick”. It’s a time when our young people listen to a story from our scripture and then reflect on how it connects to their life, and then they build with LEGOs something in response. It’s all about helping our young people hear something from God’s story and figure out how it’s a part of their story.

National Acolyte Festival

This past Saturday, our parish was represented at the National Acolyte Festival~ and it was so much fun! We joined many other young people at our beautiful National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

We brought our many beautiful banners along and proudly joined the procession.

Working hard on getting everything just right

We sat right up front so we could be a part of the grand service. We were honored by the message offered to us by The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson who was the presider and preacher.

His sermon was about “All I ever needed to know I learned from being an Acolyte” was about servanthood, kindness, and acceptance of all people.

We hope each year more and more of our young people can join us. It’s a fabulous experience!

To view more photos of this event, please click here.