The youth commission is looking for disciples, particularly four advisors and two teachers who feel called to engage with, serve beside and care for our youth in grades 7 through 12. This is an excellent opportunity to continue our promises made at baptism, to love, support and care for our new sisters and brothers in their life of faith. The time you give in encouraging and supporting the faith exploration of a young person is invaluable, because it strengthens their connection to the faithful people of the church.
The two teachers would be involved in the confirmation studies program, where we follow an alternating course of bible study and catechism each year. The teachers may elect to team-teach the Sunday morning class or one teacher may wish to take that class and the other would team-teach with me on Wednesday nights. These are important years in the life of a youth, as they form an adult understanding of scripture and are asked to take some responsibility for their life in Baptism. Part of the responsibility for these positions include participation in the fall confirmation retreat at Trinity Lutheran Church and the spring confirmation retreat at Camp Calumet.
The four advisors would help to plan youth activities, coordinate transportation and food as needed and would help gather supplies for the program. Youth group advisors would also take turns collecting important permission slips and deposits and submit them at the church office. Youth group advisors would assist me in recruiting volunteers for larger events.
In order to keep the wide selection of youth activities and events going, we need the engagement of thoughtful Christians who are looking for a place to serve. If this ministry seems like the right place for you, please contact me (508) 753-2989 or jmlongworth@trinityworc.org and we can have an individual conversation about the future of the youth ministry here at Trinity Lutheran. You can be a part of continuing a tradition of solid ministry and powerful growth. Many thanks, Merry Christmas and a Blessed Epiphany to you all.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
God's Waiting People
In a funeral sermon, one image I like to lift up for the mourners is that of God's people as a waiting people. That is to say, everything which God has promised to do hasn't come to completion yet. Therefore, we are a people who are expectantly waiting for the fulfillment of those promises. We long for the day of Jesus' return and to see our beloved friends and family who have already died. We have something more to look forward to than the empirical world that surrounds us. We have something more to hope for than a generic God who is “nice” or “friendly”. Indeed, we hope in a future where the reign of God is apparent, clear and unchallenged by any human rebellion. We hope for a future with life as prevailing truth and death as a forgotten oppressor. The same is true for the beloved dead who are doing their waiting in the presence of Christ.
In some ways, “the battle is o'er the strife is done” when a believer dies. They have already died the death of eternal abandonment in Baptism and been redeemed to live for God. Their second death is now a passage from waiting here on earth to waiting in the near presence of God. But we sell God short when we imagine their waiting place as the complete picture. If we bound in the waiting church in heaven, transforming it into some sort of cosmic resort, as though those who have died are on some sort of vacation of a lifetime, we disregard their eagerness to see the kingdom fulfilled too. So even though many things are transformed at death, Christians are God's waiting people both here and after death.
Waiting for the day when Christ will return and there will be no separation between the living and the dead. When the victory of God will be clear, and that victory will be Christ's triumph on the Cross, not some sort of maneuvering in the cosmic equivalent of extra innings. We are waiting to see the promises of scripture fulfilled, where those who have fallen asleep in Christ will be the first to become fully awake. We are waiting to see that vision from Revelation of God coming down to earth to dwell with us forever, remembering that ancient promise, “I will be your God, you will be my people.”
In a manner of speaking, you could say as we prepare for Christmas this year, that God's people in heaven and on earth are hoping to celebrate Advent for the last time. Oh what an Advent that would be! Oh what a morning, when the stars begin to fall! A peaceful and blessed Advent to you.
In some ways, “the battle is o'er the strife is done” when a believer dies. They have already died the death of eternal abandonment in Baptism and been redeemed to live for God. Their second death is now a passage from waiting here on earth to waiting in the near presence of God. But we sell God short when we imagine their waiting place as the complete picture. If we bound in the waiting church in heaven, transforming it into some sort of cosmic resort, as though those who have died are on some sort of vacation of a lifetime, we disregard their eagerness to see the kingdom fulfilled too. So even though many things are transformed at death, Christians are God's waiting people both here and after death.
Waiting for the day when Christ will return and there will be no separation between the living and the dead. When the victory of God will be clear, and that victory will be Christ's triumph on the Cross, not some sort of maneuvering in the cosmic equivalent of extra innings. We are waiting to see the promises of scripture fulfilled, where those who have fallen asleep in Christ will be the first to become fully awake. We are waiting to see that vision from Revelation of God coming down to earth to dwell with us forever, remembering that ancient promise, “I will be your God, you will be my people.”
In a manner of speaking, you could say as we prepare for Christmas this year, that God's people in heaven and on earth are hoping to celebrate Advent for the last time. Oh what an Advent that would be! Oh what a morning, when the stars begin to fall! A peaceful and blessed Advent to you.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Learning to FLY (Forming Leadership in Youth)
So, you've affirmed your baptism, you've learned a little bit about the amazing gifts God has given to you. More and more, adults in your life are asking you questions like: “Where do you want to go to college?”, “What do you want to do when you grow up?”, “Where do you want to live when you finish High School?”. While there may be some answers forming in your mind, it can be hard to make such important decisions without some tools.
Picking a college because of a beautiful campus, degree program and sports you love aren't bad reasons, but this sort of decision making isn't as complete as it could be. The same goes for choosing a career path because it sounds fun, or seems like a good way to make money. Engaging your faith as part of the decision making process is an important aspect of being an adult Christian. Ultimately your decisions about your education, your career path, and the extracurricular and Church volunteer activities you choose are all a part of your stewardship. Your church is here to help with that process, that is why I've begun offering a class called FLY (Forming Leadership in Youth). Over the course of the year we will meet for lunch after the 10 AM liturgy to engage in a Bible Study called “What on Earth am I Supposed to Do?”, a study of themes around our calling in the world and our gifts.
Beyond the classes, each participant will be expected to observe a church council meeting, visit at least two commissions to learn about the working of the church and to interview an adult member who is not a family member about their faith journey. We will have regular classroom guests who will take the opportunity to share their faith journey and help connect their daily life to their life of faith. Students who would like to join the class should plan to come to our next session on November 22nd, 2009 at 12 pm. We meet in the Education Conference Room down the hall from the Pastors' offices.
Upcoming Classes:
November 22, 2009- Justified- Who's going to save me from me?
December 21, 2009- Gathered- Am I in this alone? (Katherine Duffy's story)
January 24, 2010- Enlightened- How can I learn more?
Picking a college because of a beautiful campus, degree program and sports you love aren't bad reasons, but this sort of decision making isn't as complete as it could be. The same goes for choosing a career path because it sounds fun, or seems like a good way to make money. Engaging your faith as part of the decision making process is an important aspect of being an adult Christian. Ultimately your decisions about your education, your career path, and the extracurricular and Church volunteer activities you choose are all a part of your stewardship. Your church is here to help with that process, that is why I've begun offering a class called FLY (Forming Leadership in Youth). Over the course of the year we will meet for lunch after the 10 AM liturgy to engage in a Bible Study called “What on Earth am I Supposed to Do?”, a study of themes around our calling in the world and our gifts.
Beyond the classes, each participant will be expected to observe a church council meeting, visit at least two commissions to learn about the working of the church and to interview an adult member who is not a family member about their faith journey. We will have regular classroom guests who will take the opportunity to share their faith journey and help connect their daily life to their life of faith. Students who would like to join the class should plan to come to our next session on November 22nd, 2009 at 12 pm. We meet in the Education Conference Room down the hall from the Pastors' offices.
Upcoming Classes:
November 22, 2009- Justified- Who's going to save me from me?
December 21, 2009- Gathered- Am I in this alone? (Katherine Duffy's story)
January 24, 2010- Enlightened- How can I learn more?
Monday, October 19, 2009
Just the Guys...
It's not easy to be a man of faith. So much of what is genuinely powerful about Christianity and the life of Christ falls into the realm of the subjective, the relational, the emotional and the celebration of God's power in weakness and vulnerability. All of this is held up against the cultural expectation for men to be right, in charge, more thinking than feeling and utterly silent on the relationships that matter most. Often times this tension results in a sense of faith that is so deeply personal that it is repressed, either out of embarrassment for the strong feelings attached, or out of a need to exhibit self-control even when things are out of control. Sometimes you need a space to be both a guy and a Christian. Sometimes you need to know that other guys are in fact going through the same things. Sometimes you need to be fed and just know that Jesus is present, and that you can lean on him without any sense of shame.
Starting on October 14th you can plan to take 45 minutes out of your week for Bible study, prayer, and breakfast with some of the men of Trinity Lutheran Church. This is a great opportunity to make friends, renew old friendships and get a spiritual charge before heading into the middle of your week. Participants will receive a Lutheran Study Bible if they don't already have one. We will meet in the Golden room at 7:00 a.m. and be on our way by 7:45 a.m. Each week we will have a light breakfast with coffee, take an opportunity to check-in as a group and discuss the readings that will be read during worship on Sunday. We'll look for insights that are important for our working lives and family lives and try to compile some key sermon points to listen for. We'll close each session by holding one another up in prayer.
Study and prayer without service makes for an incomplete walk with Christ, so the Men's Breakfast will also be traveling to Calumet in early May next Spring for the camp opening work weekend. The trip is free, it just requires your work gloves and your energy. We'll take time during that weekend to further explore our faith and to give back to an important ministry of the New England Synod.
You can simply drop in on October 21st, but I'd love to have an idea of how much food to provide for the session. Please drop me a line at 508-753-2989 x.13 or jmlongworth@trinityworc.org. Let me know if you plan to attend and if you have any allergies that I should be aware of.
Starting on October 14th you can plan to take 45 minutes out of your week for Bible study, prayer, and breakfast with some of the men of Trinity Lutheran Church. This is a great opportunity to make friends, renew old friendships and get a spiritual charge before heading into the middle of your week. Participants will receive a Lutheran Study Bible if they don't already have one. We will meet in the Golden room at 7:00 a.m. and be on our way by 7:45 a.m. Each week we will have a light breakfast with coffee, take an opportunity to check-in as a group and discuss the readings that will be read during worship on Sunday. We'll look for insights that are important for our working lives and family lives and try to compile some key sermon points to listen for. We'll close each session by holding one another up in prayer.
Study and prayer without service makes for an incomplete walk with Christ, so the Men's Breakfast will also be traveling to Calumet in early May next Spring for the camp opening work weekend. The trip is free, it just requires your work gloves and your energy. We'll take time during that weekend to further explore our faith and to give back to an important ministry of the New England Synod.
You can simply drop in on October 21st, but I'd love to have an idea of how much food to provide for the session. Please drop me a line at 508-753-2989 x.13 or jmlongworth@trinityworc.org. Let me know if you plan to attend and if you have any allergies that I should be aware of.
A Gathering to Remember
The pictures have begun to roll in and are being posted at http://www.elca.org/gathering. The journals have had their final entries and the last of the brightly colored tee shirts has boarded a plane or a bus and headed home. Even so, in many ways the 2009 National Youth Gathering in New Orleans continues. It continues in the sounds of Jazz and Blues that still float in our memory as we reflect back on our week there. It carries on in the reverberations of thirty eight thousand people crying out “And also with you!” It lingers in the rich taste of chicory coffee and the crispy sweetness of a beignets. It still haunts as we remember the high water marks stained into the sides of buildings, and the vast emptiness that makes the Lower 9th Ward feel like a desolation. It still delights when I recall the sheer gratitude that poured forth from the locals as they greeted, fed, housed and welcomed us.
The National Gathering continues in the hearts and minds of the youth who attended, who heard the music that shaped a city, who saw the eerie above ground graveyards and restored their dignity, and who painted, planted and cleaned their way through the lower delta region. And it continues because the gathering was a testimony to Christ's reign, even in hard times and in beleaguered places. It was a sign that God has called a people to be the hands and feet that do God's work in the world. I believe that our group was indeed changed by New Orleans, and did their part to change NOLA for the better too. We look forward to sharing our stories with you this year, please ask! We also hope you'll make time this fall to watch our slideshow and see what we saw.
As part of our ongoing commitment to bringing the enivironmental work we did in New Orleans home, our collection of cell phones, electronics and printer cartridges will continue through the rest of the year. Please place these items in the box in Jeppson Hall, a complete list of acceptable items can be found at: http://recycling4green.com/price-list/pricelist.pdf
I was deeply grateful for the opportunity to lead such a trip and look forward to talking to everyone soon about the planning process for the 2012 ELCA National Youth Gathering.
The National Gathering continues in the hearts and minds of the youth who attended, who heard the music that shaped a city, who saw the eerie above ground graveyards and restored their dignity, and who painted, planted and cleaned their way through the lower delta region. And it continues because the gathering was a testimony to Christ's reign, even in hard times and in beleaguered places. It was a sign that God has called a people to be the hands and feet that do God's work in the world. I believe that our group was indeed changed by New Orleans, and did their part to change NOLA for the better too. We look forward to sharing our stories with you this year, please ask! We also hope you'll make time this fall to watch our slideshow and see what we saw.
As part of our ongoing commitment to bringing the enivironmental work we did in New Orleans home, our collection of cell phones, electronics and printer cartridges will continue through the rest of the year. Please place these items in the box in Jeppson Hall, a complete list of acceptable items can be found at: http://recycling4green.com/price-list/pricelist.pdf
I was deeply grateful for the opportunity to lead such a trip and look forward to talking to everyone soon about the planning process for the 2012 ELCA National Youth Gathering.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Back to the drawing board
Well, keeping up with a keen Bible study hasn't been as easy as I expected. Perhaps I need to do less ministry so I can blog more? I don't suppose that would work. At any rate, there are all kinds of transitions going on right now, so I feel like I'm in a vortex of change. Our current musician is leaving at the end of the month for Texas, and the search committee is wading through the pile of resumes in an attempt to gather some candidates for interviews. Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of my father's death, a transition that just seems to keep on changing and surprising me. At the beginning of the month I took a week to help my sister with her 3 week old baby boy, Thomas. Next month we'll be off to the National Youth gathering in New Orleans and later this summer I'll be visiting the Church Wide Assembly in the Twin Cities. This Spring in Phoenix, AZ I became a board member of LERN (Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network) and am getting excited about planning various ecumenical activities throughout this year. There are schedules, policies and actions to plan for confirmation, high school youth, young leaders forum, young adults group, WPI and more! Whoever said the summer was slow wasn't paying attention!
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