Diocesan Youth Gathering and the 2017 Bishop's Ball

Bishop’s Ball 2017 Image credit: Gary Allman

What does the birth of Jesus mean to you? What was it like to be a disciple? How can we relate Jesus’ miracles to life today? What was it like to be there when Jesus was nailed to the cross? This year youth and volunteers sought to answer some of these questions at the Diocesan Youth Gathering.

Friday evening youth and adults from around the diocese gathered at Saint Paul’s, Lee’s Summit, for the Diocesan Youth Gathering. Our weekend began with a balloon scavenger hunt throughout the church involving word puzzles and ending our first evening with Compline lead by the members of the Youth Ministry Commission (YMC). On Saturday morning, we led Morning Prayer at the diocesan convention. Once we arrived back at Saint Paul’s, we began our journey through a series of stations in four rooms.

The first station (room) focused on discussing the life of Jesus from his birth to the Wedding at Cana. While at the first stop, youth discussed what it’s like to be faced with inconveniences, how we respond to them, and where we see Jesus turning the ordinary into extraordinary things.

In the second room, the youth immersed themselves into the story of Jesus calling his disciples and discussing how we can best be a disciple for Christ with ultimately striving to be an apostle.

The third room required the youth to participate at their own pace through a series of stations. Each station invited them to read a passage about one of the many miracles of Jesus followed by an interactive activity. One of the stations that spoke deeply to the participants focused on Jesus stilling the storm and how Jesus stays with us through our fears. At this station, youth were asked to write their fears on dissolving paper and then place them into the water. This allowed the youth to watch their fears disappear while reminding us that Jesus is always still present.

Our last room focused on the Passion of Christ through imaginative prayer. Using this form of prayer, we were able to attempt to feel what it was like to be there during the crucifixion.

Morning Prayer & Diocesan Report

Youth Lead Morning Prayer Image credit: Gary Allman

The Diocesan Youth Lead Morning Prayer Image credit: Gary Allman

The Diocesan Youth Report to Convention Image credit: Gary Zumwalt

Youth Network Coordinator Josh Trader addresses the Diocesan Convention Image credit: Gary Zumwalt

Bishop’s Ball

On Saturday night we were joined by clergy, other youth leaders, parents, former youth, and Bishop Marty and Mrs. Donna Field for the Bishop’s Ball. YMC members Brett Wilson and Marie Evans did an outstanding job as our emcees for the evening as we started with serving dinner. One of the highlights of the ball is the annual awards ceremony. Our honorees this year were; Christine Escobar and Brett Wilson for Outstanding YMC Member, Lily Julian and Isabelle Morrison for Outstanding Youth, Spencer J.T. Orr for Outstanding Volunteer, and Mother Megan Castellan was the recipient of the Purple Cross. Bishop Marty surprised everyone with an award of his own, by presenting the very deserving Duchess Wall with the Bishop’s Shield for her countless years of dedication to the young people of our diocese.