The event was held at Galilee Retreat Centre on the shores of the Ottawa river, a beautiful site all year, but especially stunning in the midst of the fall colours in the Ottawa Valley.
The gathering offered several different opportunities for participants that supported their work as youth ministers.
Temporary Community
I am an ENFJ and so surprise, surprise, I value relationships and community very highly (and I like a systematic way to explain how it works). Last spring at Ask & Imagine I was introduced to a valuable tool in the 8 characteristics of community (which I am now using everywhere, all the time, because when I like something I use it a lot - like Myers-Briggs, see above).
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| The characteristics of community on signs drawn (I believe) by Jenny Salisbury. |
One of the things that impresses me most about the gatherings of youth leaders (or youth leaders at youth conferences) that I have been to is how well they are able to begin to build supportive relationships by creating temporary community. Many of these relationships are friendships, though more importantly given the purposes of the gatherings, there are professional relationships and working partnerships being formed which in many cases translate into the creation of new projects, sharing of ideas and support in encountering the challenges of this type of ministry.
In the case of Stronger Together, I know that the formation of this temporary community does not happen by accident. Attention is paid by those organizing the gathering to build community through games, activities, social time, story-telling, shared work and common worship. In the case of each of these things, opportunities arise to build, even if it is temporarily, these 8 characteristics of community.
Retreat and Recharge
Stronger Together has intentionally been held in locations that are in the midst of the splendour of God's Creation such as Galilee Retreat Centre. These locations are away from the usual patterns of work and ministry for participants giving them a chance to step back and reflect. The time away is also an opportunity to recharge - whether one chooses to do that by socializing or sleeping or reading.
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| Nightly social time after worship with refreshments generously provided by the Diocese of Ottawa |
Sharing Successes and Challenges
The format of this year's Stronger Together involved short TED talks about a variety of youth ministry projects happening across the country. As presenters from amongst the group of participants shared their stories, others were asked to think about how what they heard could connect to their own ministry context. What could we glean from these many stories? How can we translate these experiences into wisdom that will help us do ministry in different contexts? In addition to sharing these stories of success, many presenters also offered insights into the challenges they have encountered in these ministries and the areas in which they still seek to grow inviting other participants to offer advice or help make connections that might allow these projects to flourish in new ways.
Adventures in Trailblazing
This year's Stronger Together crew also had the opportunity to beta test a new online education programme for those who work with young people in the Church called Trailblazing. In smaller groups, we ran through the registration process as well as one of the available content modules and had the opportunity to provide feedback on both the content and delivery methods of the programme. Trailblazing is the brain child of several of the National Youth Initiatives staff and content modules are being created on a wide variety of topics by youth ministry experts from across the country. It addresses a current need for training opportunities for those doing youth ministry. Trailblazing is designed to meet a variety of different educational needs - from volunteers who have been working with young people for years, but haven't been provided with any theological training to clergy whose seminary education hasn't taught them about the specific needs and context of ministry with young people.
I am very excited about the potential for growth in youth ministry that I believe trailblazing will help promote in the whole Church. There are already plans to develop dozens of different modules drawing on the wealth of knowledge and experience in youth ministry that already exists within the Church. Modules will range from an introduction to theology to more specific topics such as looking at music or film with young people within the context of their faith. It is expected that yearly subscriptions to the first group of modules will be available for individuals, parishes or dioceses to purchase in the new year with new modules coming out as they are written.
Perhaps most importantly, the Church's support of this new programme recognizes youth ministry as a valuable part of the life of the Church which can be enhanced and promoted by training and education. These development opportunities for volunteers and professionals are one more opportunity to share best practices and acknowledge the specific challenges of ministry with young people.
Together (again) for the Love of the World
Following closely on the heels of this summer's Joint Assembly of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Stronger Together provided yet another opportunity for members of these Churches to explore what it looks like to be in full communion with one another. We are learning one another's acronyms and Church polity as well as hearing about an increasing amount of combined ministry happening across the country. We heard about large scale cooperation on things like the National Youth Project and CLAY (Canadian Lutheran Anglican Youth Gathering) as well as Anglican and Lutheran congregations doing ministry together at the local level. Through these actions, we are living out our full communion relationship in youth ministry.
That was Stronger Together this year. Of course there are many specific conversations and new ideas as well, but it was these underlying opportunities that make this kind of gathering worth investing in for the future of youth ministry.
Final Note
I know I didn't really talk about the worship in this post - this is because I spoke about it in an earlier entry on worshiping in creation. I should just say that I was honoured to be able to lead this group of people in worship. It is pretty much a liturgist dream gig. One little anecdote from that experience really sums up my feelings about this gathering.
On the final morning we had a sending Eucharist before heading home. As a part of the service, I was supposed to lead a number of musical elements, but after three days of completely indulging my extrovert tendencies instead of doing things like sleeping or not talking, I woke up with almost no voice. After I shared this with the group at the beginning of the service, a number of people stepped up and read or sang or drummed for parts of the service which I had intended to lead. This was a really important illustration for me of how we really are in this ministry together. The group gathered in Arnprior was full of those people who I know I can turn to for professional support. The nature of youth ministry right now is such that one can at times feel isolated in one's own work, but more and more we have experiences like this of support and collegiality and they are changing what it's like to do this ministry for the better.
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| This bowl with sand, water and candles served as the focal point of our worship for several services. |
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