Be Not Anxious for Tomorrow

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Oh, I wish you could have been there!  Berea College, Berea, Kentucky – a college that forged a new educational effort for blacks and whites, BEFORE the Civil War.  In July, 2005, some 150 years later, Berea welcomed 1,500 high schoolers and their adult advisors, of all races and nationalities, to an Episcopal Youth Event.  Kids came from all over the Episcopal Church – which, remember, includes much of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and even Guam, all of whom sent representatives.  I accompanied our nine New Hampshire young people, and their adult advisors, Pat Stelz and Lauren Zimmerman, to this event.  They represented us heartily and well.  I was SO proud to be there as their bishop.

It was hot in lots of ways.  The temperatures and the humidity topped the 90s, but the music, liturgy and sheer energy topped that by a mile!  You have never seen such exuberance for the Lord and such affirmation of the Episcopal Church as these young people’s  expression of that faith. 

Kids today don’t look like the kids many of us were and grew up with.  These kids wear earrings – girls AND boys.  They have piercings and tattoos in places you don’t even want to know about!  They wear numerous plastic bracelets – from Lance Armstrong’s “LIVESTRONG” yellow bracelets, to any number of colored bracelets, espousing any number of laudable causes.  They ask straightforward questions in workshops that would have never been asked a few years ago.

My favorite reminder from this event that I am of another generation:  In “our” day, remember when, at a folk music concert, during an especially inspirational song, we would take out our BIC lighters, ignite them, and wave them ceremoniously in time with the music?  Well, it still goes on.  But in these non-smoking days, and in these days of technology, when the inspirational song is played, hundreds of kids open up their cell phones, and wave the lighted phone faces to the beat of the music.  At first, it is just funny; then it sinks in that it’s a sign of the times (not to mention less of a fire hazard!).  It helps me remember that the Good News of Jesus Christ ALWAYS has to be re-fashioned and re-articulated in a way that will reach and make sense to a new generation.  The meaning is the same, but the way of communicating it has to change.

I have the great privilege of being one of the three people who helped think up the Episcopal Youth Event.  I served on the first three design teams for that event, in ’82, ’84, and ’87, before this year’s participants were even born!  Most of what I learned about real ministry to real people, I learned from my ministry to/with/for young people. 

The most important learning:  Nothing really gets through to anyone except true authenticity.  You’d better mean what you say, and say what you mean, and believe it.  It’s the only thing that moves young people.  Or ANY people, for that matter. What a delight to come back to this event, some 25 years later, and not only find the youth of the Episcopal Church as energetic and faithful as ever, but to hear some of the language I helped initiate repeated as “gospel”  (We’re not the church of the future, we’re the church of today!), and to see this ministry carried on in new and creative ways.

There was a hip-hop mass.  Presented by young people from the Bronx, it showed that the eternal truth of salvation could be communicated in words and music OTHER than Anglican Chant.  The absolution, following the confession, was:  “Forget about it!  Your sins are forgiven!  It’s a done deal!”  Isn’t that plain street language for what we proclaim every Sunday?

One of the three priorities established by the people of the Diocese of New Hampshire, in our Re-Imagining Process, was “youth and young adult ministry.”  We will need to put our money where our mouth and priorities are.  I can’t wait!  But in the meantime, know that New Hampshire was well represented at this international gathering – contributing to the everyday life there, bringing home great ideas, and joining in the fellowship of the larger Episcopal Church.

If this event is any kind of measurement, the Episcopal Church’s future is very bright indeed.  Praise God for raising up new generations of the faithful.  What an exciting time to be alive and to be the Church!

Your brother,

Gene+