7am. That was the time I arrived at the parking lot of the First Presbyterian Church in Woodbridge, New Jersey. I was heading to Montreat, North Carolina with twelve other kids to attend my first Montreat Youth Conference, focused on strengthening and shaping youth’s faith. I’ve heard great stories of what a week in the black mountain area of North Carolina entailed, however, in hearing the greatness and multitude of them I wanted stories of my own. I’ve heard that this trip was supposed to be life changing, and that Montreat was a “thin place between heaven and earth,” but I wasn’t really sure what any of that meant before actually going on the trip. But after a twelve-hour drive, a week there, and another twelve-hour drive back, I surprisingly found myself in a spiritual sense, and actively strove towards creating a newfound relationship with God. Personally, I’ve never labeled myself as religious but I’ve been a part of a youth group since the fifth grade. Then again, I only joined and stayed a part of it for the simple facts of making friends and free food. While those are not the best reasons to stay a part of a religious organization, they worked for me because it’s what led …show more content…
In going to Montreat I never expected to be given such a wide range of options as to what to do with my newfound knowledge. I had always thought that the church’s views were set in stone. I mean the ten commandments were said to have literally been carved into two pieces of rock, how much more “set in stone” could that be? Yet, the way I was presented religion that week showed me otherwise. Youth is the future and the church has begun to realize that so their effort to modernize and connect with youth has been greater than ever before. And not only that but also being open to the fact that there is no one true and right religion, because there
Brown Trail Church of Christ. Gleanings from the Corinthian Letters, 36th Annual Fort Worth Lectures, 90-93. Brown Trail Church of Christ, 2013.
The night before we left, Joe talked to us about how it was essential that we continued our walk with Christ. We couldn’t obtain the spiritual “camp high”, and then go back home and fall back into the worldly way of living that we were accustomed to. Many of the kids who go to camp are
In 1966 while serving as chairman of the Ohio Board of Evangelism, I went to Ashland, Ohio to meet with Carl Richardson who was one of the board members. We were working on a book called “Let's Have Revival”. While there Carl took me to Oberlin College, where the late Charles Finney served as President. I felt was a privilege just to stand in the chapel where he preached many of his great
After seeing though the eyes of my pastor I’ve come to realize the importance of faith and committing to one’s beliefs. Returning to church after two massive losses has helped my mother in many ways and it has also taught me as a young man how small things that I could do would turn to have a big impact on someone’s life the same way my pastor impacted my life and the life of my siblings.
Paul Tillich. “What Faith Is”. The Human Experience: Who Am I?. 8th ed. Winthrop University: Rock Hill SC, 2012. 269-273. Print.
This book has been my interpreter, into the mired maze of youth ministry. From a logical perspective this is a must read for every one not only involved in youth ministry, but the church as a whole. If possible I would like to revisit this book in a year as kind of a case study to see how much I have learned for this course and how my views, out look, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors towards youth ministry have changed or no
Plantinga’s (2002) book Engaging God’s World consists of five parts: “Longing and Hope,” “Creation,” “The Fall,” “Redemption,” and “Vocation in the Kingdom of God.” Throughout the work, Plantinga references public speakers and activists, lyricists, philosophers, saints, and authors to help his audience connect to his perspective.
As far back as my mind would let me travel, I remember my grandmother telling me, “Jaylon, there are three things in life you can’t escape. Death, taxes, and Sunday school.” Well, it turns out she was right. Come rain or shine I was there every single Sunday morning service and since all my other grandmother’s grandsons took to playing sports and chasing women they left all the singing in church choir to me. Now I was always different and in my little town of Mount Pleasant they let you know just how different they thought you were.
Stephens, Randall J. “Assessing the Roots.” American Religious Experience at WVU. The American Religious Experience. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.
I sat down with Ryan Govig in order to interview him on his communication experience as the youth pastor of New Life Reformed Church. Even the beginning of Ryan’s educational background which launched him into his youth ministry career hinged upon his communication relations. Ryan was an average C-student majoring in business. In his spare time, he volunteered with the youth groups at New Life, but hadn’t intended to become a youth pastor himself. When the head youth pastor at his church decided to leave, Ryan’s peers recognized the potential he projected and encouraged him to apply for the position. Eleven years later, what started off as a simple word-of-mouth communication initiation has turned into a career intentionally focused around
My involvement in the life of Epiphany Lutheran Church is different than most others. I started attending our church when I was a child. I attended Sunday school every week with my grandmom. I remember being excited to go every week and I always had a lot of fun. I attended church regularly up until I was around ten years old. Since my parents were getting a divorce, it made going regularly difficult. I usually went with my dad and grandmom, but until the divorce was finalized I did not see them as much as I used to. Once, I started seeing my dad weekly again, I visited him two days during the school week. By the time, the weekend and Sunday occurred, I was with my mom again. She was not as actively involved in the church as much and preferred
As my friend Jenni and I entered the hall of the big church, a feeling of apprehension overwhelmed us. Our feelings were soon comforted when we entered a sea of smiling faces and outstretched hands. A sense of belonging engulfed us. Ms. Shirley, an older colored woman was first to extend her arms. She did not know us from Adam, but it did not matter. She threw her arms around us. "You girls have the prettiest smiles", she declared. "I am so glad you came to be with us this morning." Words can not describe what the act of kindness did to our feelings of apprehension, and that was just the beginning.
There were many instances during this assignment in which my train of though was challenge and there were questions which I was seeking an answer for. Personally, I have never been a religious person. This have brought me to many conflicts with people who believe in different religions. However, not being part of a certain religion has given me the gift to tolerate and understand what other people come from, and to not just based my opinion on any personal religious believes. For this visit I decide to attend a Christian church called The Vineyard they are a huge church located in the Kendall area.
Growing up, I was raised in a southern Baptist church setting. Every Sunday you were required to attend church which included going to Sunday school, first service, and second service. You were also required to be active in the church whether it be ushering or singing in the choir. For my foreign experience of worship I decided to attend a Catholic church. At first I was a bit skeptical about stepping outside of my background history of worship because I thought that attending a Catholic church may change some of my beliefs or practices. I will admit before my attendance to this Catholic Church I had negative thoughts and was determined that my paper would be only about negative experience that I had. Once I entered the church all of my negative thoughts were out of my mind. Prior to researching background information I really didn’t think that Catholics and Baptist had a lot in common, besides their belief in the faith of Jesus Christ. In my essay about my Catholic Church experience I will describe the physical setting of the church, tell you about the church service, and lastly tell
The people there were all extremely nice and would try to help me understand. They understood and accepted the fact that I wasn’t religious, but was showing interest in their faith. There were not as much people there as I had expected, but that might have been because it was a smaller church. It also wasn’t as racially diverse as I had expected. I thought that because it is the world’s biggest religion, that it