It was fun to spend the evening with Teens for Christ, the youth group at Trinity, as they had a lock-in at the church. No, we didn’t stay up all night with them because we have a plane to catch tomorrow, but we did stay until 9pm. The event was run in part by a group of college students from Augustana College in Sioux Falls. They helped to organize activities, worship, and bible studies for the teens. They brought a lot of great energy to the event. I guess that their energy was infectious, as I turned into a stone-cold competitor during a game of “Slide Your Bum,” according to Carmen. Who knew I had a competitive edge? We also finished off our week-long marbling with an awesome potluck. This was a true Lutheran potluck, my friends. Check out that awesome spread of crock pots in the kitchen, as well as all the desserts.
We take off tomorrow morning for Omaha where we’ll catch a flight back to Chicago. Although our time in Nebraska is nearly finished, we’ll be reconvening this Wednesday and Thursday for further processing and debriefing of the experience. We’ll be sharing our final projects with each other. We’ll also be joined by our host pastor, Bob Bryan, as well as Pastor Brenda Pfeifly, who came to Chicago before the trip to prepare us for the experience. Stay tuned later this week for more updates on the interesting projects that people are putting together. I’m also in the process of assembling some great videos for you guys to watch from our trip, as well as a photo album of our time in Nebraska.
5 comments:
I thought this was a very fitting end to our time in Nebraska. And, I thought that this last day was a reminder of some of the things that are signs of vitality within the church. (Capping off a week in which we saw plenty of church vitality)
The first of these things is stewardship: a topic of the two workshops that I attended. When the people of God give (especially of their time and talents) then we see growth and vitality within the ministry that all of us share.
And, the other thing is youth. Seeing the excitement of the Teens for Christ at Trinity was a treat, and it was a reminder of the life and excitement that youth can bring to the ministry of the church.
All in all, I think this last day was a mirror, offering reminders of ways, in which rural congregations can display their blossoming ministries.
Dom
What I got out of this last day in Nebraska was a good insight into the rural ministry experience. We were able to listen to two different speakers for the main presentation at the workshop, and while they had very different ideas that were mostly opposed to each other, there were no attacks. I found this to be commonly mentioned in the rural environment, people tended to be more polite and reserved when they interacted in public with those they disagreed with. When you see someone everyday in town/work/church/all of the above, it seems that extra civility is needed.
I also felt that the overall day, the conference and the lock in, were a good representation of a snapshot in rural ministry. We saw "how can we be more effective in ministry" regardless of what particular effect of the smaller discussions, and "focus on the young ones, they are the future". I got both of these messages over and over during our time in Nebraska as key themes for rural ministry.
I was really impressed and interested in the presentation that Mr. Kleinschmit gave. It is amazing how much science goes into farming. And the fact that farming organically can actually help to take carbon out of the air and put it back into the ground was really neat.
I was also impressed with the stewardship workshop. I learned that there is a difference between stewardship and fundraising: fundraising is about earning money, whereas stewardship is about responding to God. Our offerings are an act of faith.
All in all this was a great end to our week. We were able to reflect on our week, ask a few last questions, and finally relax with the high schoolers.
The lock-in was a fun ending to our trip. As the parents dropped their kids off for the lock in, some came in a socialized for a bit and some put out food and beverages for the kids. During this time I enjoyed watching the interactions of the adults with the youth. The adults engaged the youth in conversation and showed a genuine interest in the lives of the youth. It reminded me that we are all models and our youth will watch us and when adults make a point to include, engage and value the participation of youth in activities, both inside and outside of the church, it will enrich the relationships and experiences of both adults and youth.
In my project for this class, I described the total experience as diversity-bliss. The variety of ways that people who worship and serve together to make their livings and their lives was exciting and very moving.
This major learning event at the close of our trip of our trip drew to a close at the Rural Ministry conference held at our host congregation on Saturday the day was truly, as Dom says, a very fitting end to our time in Nebraska.
Listening again to Martin, whose organic farm we visited on our first day in Hartington, and to Charles Shapiro, a professor of Soil Science and Crop Nutrition at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, I once again pondered the diversity and the similarities of God’s people. Each with their own perspective, each being clear that what they were saying was most likely in conflict with what the other understood, these two men stood in personal conversation for quite a while following their presentations. What a treasure it is to know that someone does not have to be wrong for another to be right.
I also echo Amanda's comment about the teens and adults at the lock in. Not only did the Teens 4 Christ have the opportunity to hang out and learn from a group of college students (closer to their own age and people to emulate), they were also able to talk with the many parents who dropped by or were present for the entire event. I was actually surprised by the number of teens present and figure that it must be their acceptance by the congregation and their positive engagement with adults that brought such a crowd.
PS - That's me there with all the desserts. I wanted to do something useful, like help fill the trays. The photo looks like I'm just interested in sampling, which, of course I was.
Post a Comment