Bringing it all together

You know, in the middle of the summer when you're contemplating making a change to your youth program, you never know quite how it's going to be received. Last year when we started our Journey to Adulthood (J2A), I thought we had come up with a really neat way to build excitement and get everyone thinking about our pilgrimage to England in summer of 2010 and... well it was too complex, and it fell completely on its face, causing a whole host of issues. It was easily the lowest 3 months in youth ministry I've ever had.

This summer we did something even bigger. The decision to go with this curriculum was not undertaken lightly. We would have to get the kids to be open to a much more intensive spirituality. We would impact on other programs (acolytes, worship, etc.) within the parish. Leaders would move from a teaching role to much more "guiding and letting go" role. Most importantly, we would give up starting our meetings out with donuts or bagels. It basically required us all (youth and leaders) to reach out to new levels.

So it was with a decent amount of trepidation that I sat down this morning (after stalling for as long as I could passing out paper, string, index cards, pencils, etc.) and started the guided meditation that opens our liturgy each week. But as I read the words encouraging us to calm down and think about our life with God this week, I felt myself calming down as well, and noticed to my great joy that everyone seemed to be approaching all this new stuff with an open mind.

The kids were wonderful. The space turned out to really set a good mood, and we were able to share, contemplate the task at hand (writing a prayer) and even have some fun together. It was a great start.

Now I look forward to starting the daily readings tomorrow morning.