Last Saturday, we had our Youth Fall BBQ Kick-Off, generously hosted by Heather and Darwin Keith-Lucas. It was a great time welcoming back our youth after the summer and welcoming in our new youth who just started 6th grade.
We started the evening with introductions, and each youth said their name, pronouns, and whether they thought Cheez-Its or Goldfish were better. In my opinion, White Cheddar Cheez-Its are the best, but unfortunately not many agreed with me on this. I also invited our older youth to share advice to our new 6th graders. A lot of the advice was along the lines of making the most of the experience, staying open, and exploring new opportunities. It was lovely to see our older kids take this advice seriously and share their reflections. One of our 9th graders spoke to the importance of finding the friends who accept you for who you really are and the temptation of trying to change yourself in order to fit in. He went on to say that if you try to hard to fit in, those friends aren’t really the friends you want because they’re not the ones that know and appreciate the real you.
That comment reminded me of the deep wisdom that our tweens and teens have. Sure, there are things we hope to teach them, but we cannot forget that they teach us too. The invitation for us adults of this parish is to make a point to listen.
This isn’t just the role of those who volunteer in the youth ministry program, but for all of us. Youth aren’t just the future of the church, they are present with us right now. I do encourage you, if you haven’t yet, to get to know our youth — their names, their hobbies, the book they’re currently reading. Say hello at coffee hour. Ask them how that test or soccer game went. Compliment their acolyte skills. We want to be more than just an intergenerational community on paper. We want to be an intergenerational community in practice. And I believe we have what it takes to do this. I am often encouraged by the ways I see you all connect with one another, and as we begin a new program year together, I am hopeful for what this year will bring.
With gratitude,
Rev. Janelle
