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The
Bishop's Journal
September 2002
Youth and Laughter
Theologian Karl Barth once said that "Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God." If Barth is correct, the church's youth know quite a bit about what it means to experience the grace of God in all its fullness, because when you experience youth ministry you certainly experience a lot of joy - a lot of laughter!
Over the past few months I have had opportunities to share that gift of God's grace with young people in a number of different contexts.
I had the privilege of attending Camp Sunday festivities at Camp Mush-a-Mush in our Atlantic conference in early July and a chance to meet the committed group of young people who serve there as summer staff members. The work done by these, and the many other committed young adults who serve at our three synodically supported summer camps is a vital component in our synod's mission and outreach program. What a delight it was to meet these folks and to share some of their contagious excitement for life and ministry!
In mid-July, along with Pastors Ernie Skujins and Ilse Kuplens-Ewart, I had the privilege of participating in some of the World Youth Day festivities at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. What a thrill it was for us to be invited to share in this special celebration that brought together hundreds of thousands of young Christians from around the world! What a privilege!
Then in mid-August it was time for "Cry Out", the National Lutheran Youth Gathering in Vancouver. Although the scale was smaller than that of World Youth Day, the spirit was just as strong! Wow! There is not much in life that compares with the experience of being with a group of young people who are taking such unrestrained delight in the rare experience of worshipping within a large community of their peers!
An historic event occured within the life of our synod when, in early July the members of the newly created Synod Youth Council attended the first-ever synod convention where youth delegates were entitled to full participatory rites. The members of this group are: from the Hamilton/Niagara Conference, Brian Lieske; from the Northern Conference, Sarah Priebe; from Kitchener/Waterloo, David Wilk; from Georgian Bay, Ashley Dixon; from Ottawa/St. Lawrence, Erika Perley; from Toronto, Lesley St. Jules; from London, Jordan Smith; and from the Atlantic Conference, Debbie Langille.
Over the next two years, the members of the group will be working with Christie Morrow, Jessica Hawley-Malina and Pastor Scott Schellenberger from the Youth Congregational Life Working Group to help develop a youth ministry strategy for our synod. As part of this process, they will host a series of consultations with youth and those involved with youth ministry right across the territory of the synod.
I'm really looking forward to participating in these consultations and having an opportunity to consult with our synod's young people. I'm looking forward to learning more about the hopes, dreams and aspirations they have for our church. But especially, I'm looking forward to experiencing more of their joyous and spirit-inspired laughter - a precious gift of God's grace for us all!
The Rev. Michael J. Pryse,
Bishop
