“When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart” Jeremiah 29:13
Here we are, the beginning of another school year; and the return of weekly routines that seem to have been placed on pause over the summer. Over the summer we find ourselves in celebration of rest, the outdoors, trips, and sunshine. In our youth group, we break from our weekly meetings of Sunday school, Sunday night Impacts and Tuesday night Devotions. We gather for various activities throughout the summer, including our two camps (a week-long mission trip and a church camp in Lakeside, OH). Although we do not meet as frequently as we do throughout the school year, our kick-off event Sunday night seemed like no time had passed at all since our last Sunday night meeting in May.
We met in small groups to begin the evening talking about Jeremiah 29:13. A “sister verse” to Jeremiah 29:11, a quite common verse in the Bible, and what seemed like an appropriate place to share in conversation for the start of our school year. Our tradition for the past few years is to begin the year with a Scavenger Hunt around Downtown Worthington, and we indeed ended the evening with roaming the surrounding neighborhood of our church. However, my hope for sharing in this verse was to set focus of what Jeremiah speaks to in this chapter. What I love most about the prophet Jeremiah, is that he is also often credited as the author of Lamentations, which is well-known as a book filled with real life suffering, complaint and doubt; an honest account of questioning and sadness. However, if you were to ask someone to quote something of Jeremiah, most likely they would point you to Jeremiah 29:11:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
What a comforting verse! Jeremiah 29:13 leads us to encouragement of seeking God with our whole heart – a task that may seem hard to do when life throws us curve-balls, tragedy, and frustration. The same author credited with perhaps the most sorrow-full book of the Bible, is also credited with these hope-filled Scriptures. In this particular verse, the Hebrew origin of “seek” means to search for God’s face. What a great reminder to us – to always be seeking God’s face at all times, with our whole heart. If we seek God with our whole heart, we will see God in all things, in all people, in all beings and creatures. Not a more important message is needed, ever.
It was a beautiful evening to see so many faces of God in the youth of our church. Fellowship is a great way to begin bonds of friendship that can lead to these conversations in our small groups, and of course, in our communities. Here is to a great year ahead!
Every Tuesday from 8-9 a group of high school students take time out of their week to journey to the church for one thing. Devos. Devos is an hour every week that Impact students take as a time to destress from the week and check in with their Impact friends. Activities include, but are not limited too, Would You Rather, Crafts, Pows and Wows, and really great talks about faith. Even on days when we play Would You Rather, though it may not be a life changing religious experience, it’s still important because it’s important to develop relationships with our church family. Devos is a time to devote to Jesus, to make coming to Church a priority and commit your time to be apart of the community of faith. In a crazy world sometimes we need to take time to be still and I can do that at Devos. Devos is a time to be present and enjoy your time with your Impact Pals, it’s important for developing relationships with each other and Christ, relationships that last long past 9pm tuesday night. Last night at devos Ashley brought her Tibetan meditation bowl and we had devos in the potter chapel, (it usually happens in the prayer room) and with candles lit and lights dim it was a great atmosphere to decompress, despite some craziness that I have come to learn is nearly unavoidable with high school boys. For me the craziness was a bit of a shock to the system at first because last year devos was pretty much a girls night with about 4 of us attending (including Ashley). Now we have about 8 regulars and 4 boys who are there almost every week! Its great that more people are attending but it’s VERY different. However I’m starting to realize that different isn’t bad, it’s just different. I will always cherish the memories of last year and after overcoming the natural aversion to change I really enjoy devos. Things change; if things never changed there would be no butterflies… but one thing doesn’t change, and that’s Jesus’ love. Jesus always loves us so it’s always important to take time for him, in whatever form that takes. Devos is a good reminder that I will always find a family in Impact and I will always find love in Jesus.
– Abby Beers, a junior on the Impact Youth Leadership Team
We try to do some form of Mission once a month with our youth group. Of course, what each person would consider to be mission can change with each perspective. For our youth group, it typically means something that “impacts” our local community or others who are in need from afar. This past week, we split up into small groups and completed four different “stations”. We helped with two of our WUMC mission projects (both impact the homeless; Mat Ministry and Operation Sandwich), put together care packages for our college members, and put some finishing touches on our 3rd floor youth and children’s rooms that were re-painted over the past year.
Beyond serving others, one of our goals was to create small groups that allowed us to get to know one another better. Since we don’t meet over the summer, we do a lot of team building activities and games at the beginning of the school year so people who are new to Impact can feel welcome and a part of the group quickly. As always, there were moments of fun and laughter as well!
**Thanks Doug Cantrell for the last few pictures!!
The school year has started, and our daily routines are coming back into play. Even though our schedules become busier with work, school, sports, and all kinds of commitments, it is important to make time for our church family. This coming Sunday at WUMC is our annual Rally Day, where we celebrate a kick-off to the year ahead and celebrate the ways we can be involved in our church. I asked a few of our youth to write why they make being a part of Impact a priority, even with everything they have going on in their lives. Growing in faith often times means growing and learning from others, and being a part of a church family gives the opportunity to do that in multiple ways. If you are considering coming to Impact for the first time, coming to our church for the first time, or if you are considering taking a new step in your faith in any kind of way, maybe these testimonies will help encourage you to take that new step!
Impact has affected me in more ways than I can count these past few years. Since eighth grade, when I began to come to Impact, I have really began to trust God in my daily life and let Him take over. I want to encourage many of the youth to take that extra step in their relationship with God to make time for fellowship with the other youth every Sunday night. One of the greatest gifts I have gotten from coming every week was the amazing friendships I have made and all of the people I had and will have a chance to meet. Fellowship to me is one of the most important things that has helped me grow in my faith. Being able to talk to others who find our God awesome and great is so powerful and if all the youth come to impact every week they would see how great He can be. Being such a tight knit group might be intimidating to new-comers, I know it was hard for me. But we all would love to see youth coming more frequently and would love to get a chance to really know them. One of my favorite impact activities would definitely be the corn maze. It’s coming up in the next few months and I hope everyone will be able to experience this fun, exciting outing first hand. So if you are looking to grow in your faith with God and meet wonderful people you will be friends with forever, make impact your priority! You won’t regret it 🙂
-Emily Koch
I make impact a priority because it gives me the chance to meet new people and to be with my friends as we become closer to God, and as we share God’s light with others. In the past, church wasn’t really my priority, but when I moved here to Worthington, I came to this beautiful church and met amazing people, but best yet, I became closer to God, and I still am. Impact has changed my life for the greatest, and I couldn’t be more thankful.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” -Matthew 5:16
– Olivia Burrier
Coming to IMPACT is a priority for me because it is my escape. Sometimes I get so tired of the world around me, that coming to a place where everyone is accepted and loved is refreshing and a heaven-sent(literally). There are great people, lessons, and great times that really get me up when I feel like I’m drowning in the sins of others. It can be a struggle for me to focus on the good, but IMPACT makes me want to try harder to better myself and my relationship with God. It’s a priority because it lets me see the hope for the world.
Mady Rice
Impact is a priority for me because it is an opportunity to experience Christ with and through your peers. I love coming and not only growing in my faith but seeing all my impact family and seeing how they grow with Christ and each other. It’s an opportunity to relax and enjoy fellowship before the school week, it always puts me in a good mood and is a great way to sum up the weekend. It is sometimes hard to find the time and sometimes I miss an event, but it just comes down to deciding that it’s important to you and making the time whenever you can. I love coming to impact because with our crazy little family every night is fun exciting and yes a little overwhelming at times. I’ve referred to IMPACT as a family because we really are a family and that’s what makes it so great. We are always 100% ourselves all the time and even though we drive each other a little crazy, or a lot crazy at times, we all love each other and Jesus and at the end of the day that love is what makes me come to impact every week.
– Abby Beers
There is a multitude of reasons why I make Impact a priority, but I have three main points that I would like to make. The first point is the atmosphere of Impact. I have never been your normal person, I have always been the misfit, I talk too loud and fast, I walk around like a chicken with his head cut off. Yet I fit in at impact, granted I still don’t act like the real me around them, but Ashley is persistent in trying to crack open my shell, and she is slowly getting there. Second off is the worship and activities, every week I can come and there is something fun to do, whether it be our scavenger hunts, our annual trip to the corn maze for Halloween, singing praise music, or just hanging out and having a good time. Ashley and her team of upperclassmen and adults always have something planned. My third and final point is the Fellowship. When I’m at Impact I always feel at home, every week I walk in and see some of my best friends, many of which I would never had met if it were not for Impact. Actually earlier today I was doing a long run for cross country and ran into two of my friends from Impact, it was amazing to just be able to stand around talking to them, and it made me realize just how lucky I am to be part of this youth group, because no matter where I go, I will always have a friend nearby. Friends who have my back no matter what, even if we don’t agree on everything, I know they still have my back and I will always be there for them.
– Josh Bowen
One of the most powerful experiences for me in my ministry is to see the commitment families take in getting their children involved in church activities. To see a youth make the decision to continue getting involved without their families pushing them is so rewarding. To see the impact that a church family can have at the young age of a child bloom into a sustaining relationship of faith at the age of a teenager is what children and youth ministry is all about. May that continue in all of our church families!
When starting discussions of where our next Work Camp adventure would take place… Washington D.C. was a clear front-runner with all of our youth. DC would be an entirely different experience than any of our Work Camps before. Inner-city, urban ministries; being in the middle of our Nation’s Capitol; and living a week of social justice while learning of and appreciating American history.
Once our trip was getting closer, anticipation was high and excitement was present. We had a group of 12 youth committed to making the trip; some had never been on a mission trip before while others had been a part of many. A diverse dynamic of ages, experiences and strong personalities were going to make this group unique with its own set of both joys and challenges.
As our trip began with an 8 hour car ride, conversations quickly turned from inside jokes to political discussions of all kinds. Race, homosexuality, religion. It was clear that everyone had an opinion and everyone expressed them in their own way. This was a clear foreshadowing of what would be happening throughout the week! However, as we pulled in to the city, we started to notice Pride support all over DC. Signs, flags, paintings, everywhere on the streets and local businesses. In fact, the church we stayed in (National City Christian Church) was decorated with a giant Pride flag on its steps to show their support as an open and inclusive congregation. Conversations grew throughout the week of the upcoming Supreme Court ruling, different perspectives of the issue, and why it matters to talk about it from our religious stand-point. It was kind of hard to avoid the issue with it staring us in the face everywhere we went. With our minds focused on ALL being deserving of divine love and earthly love, on went our week with our hearts ready to serve.
The first two days of service we spent painting a stairwell for an inner-city school program. Each morning we drove down Embassy Row to get to our site. What an awesome way to start our day of service with envisioning what this city represents to our country and to the world! While painting in the un-air conditioned building, we kept moving strong with music playing and keeping each other company with conversation. It was just our group working there, so we got to know one another more each day. On our third day, we switched sites and went to a local farm (Clagett Farm) which helps grow organic produce to be either sold at farmer’s markets or distributed to local food pantries for those in need. It was a beautiful day; lucky for us, the coolest day of the week right around 88 degrees. Humidity wasn’t as strong, which made moving hay and weeding a lot easier. After those three days, it was obvious that being in service with one another has an effect on our relationships, since you can bond over something that has nothing to do with particular interests; simply the desire to help someone else out.
The last day of service was perhaps the most impactful. We walked the streets of D.C. with two hot dogs each in hand, put together in a brown lunch bag with inspirational Scripture inside to give out freely to those who may need a free meal. As we split up into small groups of 4-5, we visited parks making our way towards the White House. If someone needed a meal, we gave it and asked if we were able to pray for them if they would like. One of our groups was talking with a man who instead of requesting prayer for himself, asked if we would pray for the city of Charleston. This was the morning of the terrible shootings at Emanuel AME. As our youth were trying to bridge our gaps and share love to others, we experienced the sadness together with those we were serving. Yet another one of our groups talked with a man who refused to let them call him sir, since they were all equals. What an example of pure love – and exactly how we as Christians as called to act! We ended up at the White House, and split into small groups again and took a silent prayer walk in front of the monumental site praying over the city, the country, and the world.
As our week continued, personalities clashed as we all grew so very tired each day. Beyond serving in mission, we went and explored the sites of the city every day. We visited the Jefferson Memorial, the White House twice, World War II memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the Pentagon and 9/11 Memorial, and multiple museums of the Smithsonian. We made the most of every moment in our days! However, inevitably tempers grew and at times we had to deal with arguments. But the most beautiful part of our week (for me) was our last night together as we gathered for our tradition called the “Senior Send-off”. We all celebrate the seniors that are on our trip, as each person in our group takes a turn to say good-byes and well wishes to each senior. It was a very emotional night for all of us, as 4 strong leaders had attended the trip for their last time. To listen to each youth share their memories and thank-you’s to each of them, you could literally feel the love that is shared between all of us. Yes, some may be closer than others, but we all had shared the week and many memories together. Any tension or tempers that had developed from our own diversity within the group had disappeared. The examples that each gave of their appreciation for our seniors truly showed how strongly connected our group had become.
On our way home, we waved goodbye to a city that had impacted all of us. I pray that each youth had a life-changing experience not only for praying over the city and our nation, but for the experiences they had with each other as a church family. Throughout the week we had shared conversations of political and religious discussion, and a group of us were excited to be walking at Columbus’ Pride Parade with WUMC as a church. Seeing the support in D.C. and knowing that we had an opportunity to continue our week’s journey of Social Justice with our church in support together was even more heart-warming than I could have ever imagined. Last week, not only did we fulfill our personal mission of going out and being the hands and feet of Christ, but we were a part of history in a city that means so much to our world.
Throughout the week, the song “God of this City” by Chris Tomlin kept playing over and over in my head. Reflecting on our experiences in D.C., and the history-making decision that was released today over the Supreme Court ruling in favor of loving marriages of all kinds… I still find myself listening to this song. Change has been made, but more is to be done. Our youth have made an impact, but they are still called to impact further. Our country has done a great thing, but more work is ahead.
“Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this City.”
I pray that our youth group can continue to grow in discussion, grow in action, and continue to be ambassadors to the world for social change with loving hearts.
This past weekend, a few of our high school girls went to Camp Wesley, as has been a tradition in our youth group for the past few years. We had a theme verse that we studied, Galatians 5:22-23:
“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control“
We talked about living in love, joy, and peace; that the remaining “fruits” where the vines and pathways to getting us the way of life that is God’s love, giving joy, and personal peace. We shared different ways that we can de-stress when it is hard to live the fruits of the Spirit, and thought about which fruits were hardest for us to follow. We spent lots of time crafting things, and simply enjoying being in each others’ company. I am thankful to those who were able to attend, it was transformative for us all!
Yesterday, 13 youth from our families within our congregation became official members of WUMC. It has been an incredible journey with them since past September. To be fair, the reality is that their journey started years ago, and Confirmation has just been a continuation into learning and growing within their faith. However, today they made a commitment to our church to be active with their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Our WUMC doctrine invites those who are members to participate in this way, and I couldn’t think of more appropriate ways to incorporate God’s covenant with us into church membership.
Families came in from out of town to help celebrate with these youth; however, what was so wonderful to see was the other family that each of these youth had – a church family that welcomed them with smiling faces. Welcome, Meredith, Josh, Olivia, Amanda, Joseph, Chris, Jenna, Jacob, Caroline, Connor, Corrinne, Kaitlyn, and Kyle!
Each Lenten season for the past few years, our Church has had the opportunity to host a Prayer Labyrinth in our Chapel. Our West Ohio conference center offers the Labyrinth to be passed around to some of local churches to be used for about a week somewhere within their church. Last night at our Senior High Devotions, we spent time in meditation using the labyrinth and 5 other prayer stations that one of our women’s circles helped to set up. As I was walking through the labyrinth myself, and watching as the youth took turns doing so too, I had many thoughts going through my head. I kept thinking about how the labyrinth is like our faith journeys. We all are constantly walking through life on our own paths – passing through the times in our life that are straight and redundant, carefully swerving around the unexpected curves, and watching out for others traveling around you. At times the walk was mindless and simple, especially when others were far from you and you only focused on your personal next step. At times others may walk right next to you, so close in such a similar space, yet on a totally separate part of the path. The way the labyrinth is set up, the path curves in such a way that a person may be next to you who just started, but you are almost to the center of the map. At times people literally cross your way, still others may be walking in complete opposite directions. However, we are all on the same path. Whether at the beginning or end, we are all traveling to the same center in pursuit of peace. May we continue to be in pursuit of the peace of New Life that Easter brings us. Peace that comes with the hope and completed promise that Christ gives to us in the resurrection.
This past Sunday at Impact, we talked a lot about what it takes to feel comfortable being yourself. We focused most of our time discussing the image we create of ourselves on social media; we discussed how easy it is to post particular things that we know will get a certain reaction out of people. We have to ask ourselves – Why did I post this particular picture? Why did I feel called to say this in my status? Why did I make the comment I did on someone else’s post? Who do I follow on twitter and Instagram?
There are many ways that social media can overtake our lives, through the constant need for our attention, to how we tend to “advertise” ourselves. What do we want to share with others? How do we want people to see us? What messages are we sending?
After considering a lot of these topics, we did an activity where each youth had a turn to hear some positive traits about them. Each student stood in front of a large dry erase board, one at a time, and had the rest of the group write things about them that they noticed were positive qualities. As they turned around, they were able to read the things that make them great, and inside jokes that we have from past memories. The importance of all of this is to remember that we don’t need to put on a mask for others – the people who see us as our true selves already think we are pretty great! And the greatest news of all – is that God always sees our true self, and God loves us just as we are.
This past Saturday, we had our final meeting with our Confirmation class before the big Sunday! We had a very busy, fast, and fun filled day! We had some final discussion sessions to get through, and a few Confirmation traditions to take care of.
After discussing the differences between an ordained Elder, ordained Deacon, lay ministry and licensed local pastors – you would think these Confirmation students were ready to be on the Cabinet! They each asked many questions, cared deeply about how the UMC Connectional Ministries functions, and learned a lot about how the UMC works locally and globally.
We also set aside time towards the end of our time together for a very open discussion. About half-way through our Confirmation year, the students each were able to turn in a question anonymously. They were able to ask anything they had always wondered and had been afraid to ask openly before. Questions ranged from “Is it okay to attend other churches/religious services?” to “How do I know what God’s plan is for me?” and “How do I talk to my friends who are atheist?”
All great questions – all questions that I ask myself daily! What I found most inspiring, is not that they were pursuing these questions to strengthen their faith, but how honest and open their discussion was with each other. You could tell our group has formed a great bond that I hope will last throughout their years here at WUMC.
One of our church’s most favored traditions, is lighting a candle for each Confirmand as they are Confirmed on Confirmation Sunday. We happen to be located right next to The Candle Lab, and as a group we go together to have each youth pour their own candle mixed with scents that they have chosen. A fun process with something meaningful to keep with them as a memento of their Confirmation journey!
wumc IMPACT 