Transitions If one thing can be said of young adults generally, it is that their lives are marked by transition. Young adulthood is the time when big choices are made, when loyalties are formed, dissolved, and reformed and when vocation becomes the central question. The moments of transition marked by these realities create way too many opportunities for folks to slip through the cracks and lose connection with their faith tradition. Earlier this year the Office for Young Adult & Campus Ministries became part of a ministry team at the Episcopal Church Center called “Formation and Vocation” along with children, youth, adult, and older adult ministries. This move marked a renewed emphasis on Christian vocation as a life-long process. It is our duty to see that individuals are not only supported at our various way stations but that they are fully supported in moving from one to the other. This month’s writers explore what it means to be ministers in the gaps. How might we better support individuals as they transition from youth to campus or young adult ministry, from campus to parish, from peer to intergenerational community? What is our duty beyond the borders of our specific age groups and how might we facilitate safe-crossing? We invite your thoughts and responses. How are you helping to ease the transition?
Paz y fuego, |
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The Six Years That Got Lost For several years now I have been working with youth and young adults in the Diocese of Texas. Every year I volunteer to teach a few courses for the annual Christian Leadership Conference for high school aged youth from around the diocese. These students are the ones who have shown an interest in their faith and spirituality as they progress through high school... >>> |
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Home Is Where the Heart Is People say the one constant in life is change. This is apparent in the seasons, in our own life experiences, and as we transition from one stage of life to another. I think one of my most difficult transitions (one that I am still working on) is the transition from adolescence into adulthood, aka “being a grown up.” I have learned over the years that when change comes we need to be flexible and allow the Creator to work…in us, with us, and through us. ... >>> |
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There Is A Season As I graduated college in 1995 and began the job hunt I felt that I was driving aimlessly without a license or a map and suddenly felt I was lost again. I had an instant loss of identity and had no idea where I fit in. I went from 4 years of searching and forming who I thought I had become and then to not having a clue. I constantly found myself talking to God saying “hello God, it’s me Emily, Help, what is next?... >>> |
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Seek God Since graduating in 2002, I have gone from single to married, renter to owner, unemployed to a career, active part of a congregation to church avoidant, independent touring musician to experiential worship leader, and from relationship seeker to house church facilitator. One thing you, or at least I, never realized or fully understood in life is how present and shaping God is... >>> |
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What I Learned at MIT This is my last semester as Episcopal Chaplain at MIT. After nine years for which I am outrageously thankful, it is simply time for me to move on to whatever God has in store for me next (which is TBA -- a good lesson in trust.). The corridors of a world-class engineering school is a fascinating vantage point from which to watch for the Holy Spirit. So before I go, I want to share some of the most important things I’ve learned at MIT... >>> |
