Episcopal Youth Event 2011
A Sermon by Maggie Behringer
Below is an excellent sermon given by Maggie Behringer of Immanuel on the Green, New Castle, at the Episcopal Youth Event in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sixteen youth from the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware attended, joining a delegation from Province III. Bishop Wayne Wright and many chaperones also attended.
Good morning, everyone.
For those of you who don't already know, my name is Marguerite Elizabeth Behringer. I've been a member of this church since childhood, and I am a fully baptized and confirmed youth group member, as well as a singer of eight years in our Ross Choir.
Oftentimes when I'm speaking with friends or family members about their extracurricular activities and organizations, we will feel the hovering bond of being involved in church community.
Then of course, when we go into detail, more than once I've offered the incredulous questions of, "You have RECORDED music at your services?", or "You say 50 people in church, in the SUMMER?" or finally, "You have TEN WHOLE youth group members? That's so ritzy!"
Still, I remain proud of my historic, ancient, beautiful, and eclectic church community.
The quaintness of our church has always been a source of affection for me, but our size doesn't hinder us from being extraordinary. We execute A Day in Old New Castle with phenomenal results, and perhaps what I take most joy in is our involvement with Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity in West Virginia.
My ideals of our small but driven congregation was first challenged when I attended "Wintercamp" two years ago, a session run by Young Life in upper state New York. Years previous, I blindly enrolled in Wintercamp to go meet other Christians and embark on the journey of furthering my faith, even if I didn't know anyone.
This past winter, however, our own Youth Group got involved and we sent 5 youth and 3 adults to the camp, where I once again met with Teri Valente, the Youth Minister for the Diocese of Delaware. While there, she mentioned in passing some tri-annual event in the Midwest, open to the 109 dioceses and 3 regional areas of the Episcopal Church, to gather for 3 days of worship, food, and song.
Intrigued, I researched online and, with grateful permission from our Vestry Board, I challenged the ideals of small faith once more and I engaged on the trip I first called "Eye" 2011- more prestigiously known as E.Y.E., or the Episcopal Youth Event.
This year, EYE was hosted by Bethel University in ST. Paul, Minnesota, approximately 1,300 miles away from our take-off point in Dover. To put this in perspective, this meant that the Diocese of Delaware, with a total of 12 youth and 2 female adults, had a 34 hour bus ride, including rest stops, picking up the Diocese of Central PA, PA, and Bethlehem, stopping only to switch out our weary bus drivers.
Although I was the only delegate from Emmanuel, I knew a few bus members from Wintercamp and school… still those 34 hours sealed a bond between the people on that bus, which kept us glued in fellowship for the total six days of traveling and boarding.
Still, even on the dawn of our trip, I didn't know what to expect from EYE. For one, I got the date wrong and nearly missed the bus itself. Secondly, I only knew that it was a giant conference style event. Furthermore, even with descriptions from Teri herself and even Mrs. Stoneseifer, I was in a state of anxious ecstasy.
Our very first night, our diocese, weary with less than 3 or so hours of sleep, attended an optional session about Episcopal Relief and Development, more commonly referred to as the ERD, a part of the Church that plays on a grand scale in the US as well as internationally.
Did you know that the Episcopal Church is one of the 10 leading organizations which help charitably overseas?
That very first night implanted the theme of this year's EYE into our heads, which was the idea, institution, and effect of MISSION. Not merely spreading faith, but helping others and bettering our community. While EYE's official Collect spoke of aiding one another and spreading God's glory, Matthew 10:40 was also focused on, which struck me particularly deeply. It was:
"We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God's messenger. Accepting someone's help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing."
From that very first introductory night, after a gas leak at 2:00 am (which pulled us out of bed and into the rain, thankfully all safe and accounted for), our three days commenced according to their schedule. Each day had two services, one in a communion-inclusive style and one which was mainly comprised of upbeat band music in dedication to Jesus, personal stories, and keynote speakers.
[Photo: The Rt. Rev. Wayne Wright and the Delaware Delegates.]
After our morning service, there was our small "Reflection Groups" — groups that divided our own diocese and plunged us into groups with members from across the United States, as well as Hawaii and Puerto Rico. I happened to sign up to lead my own Reflection Group, in fact. We also had workshops with options ranging from a Leadership seminar to Tai Chi through prayer or even Dorky Dancing. I even got to participate in a "Mission Possible", in which I, along with others, made puppets for a local Children's hospital.
Our first service was led by the Most Rev. Katharine Jeffert Schori, Celebrant and Preacher, who spoke of uniting churches and ministries and having a grand effect on our communities. Later in the evening we got a speech from Luke Fodor, telling us about ACT out: Empowering Youth to Heal a Hurting World, a program to help youth help the world.
The other speakers each carried their own building messages about the Episcopal effect, community, and our duty as Christians. If I were to explain their breathtaking speeches, even in brevity, I could not possibly capture the effect and meaningfulness which they carried.
Roger's own speech ended in a youtube video where 2052 people individually sang a song called "Sleep" by the composer Erin Witacre, but each voice made up an extraordinary chorus to the song. Even thinking about it now, his message gives me goosebumps. He preached such quotes like, "You may be by yourself, but you are never alone," and left us with the reminder that "The Church doesn't lack people striving for power, but it lacks true servants."
Our final speaker spoke about shor- term mission and what should come of it. One issue she focused particularly on was the question of dedication to a mission, and especially what people take away from their mission: was it worth it?
I never considered our church's involvement with Habitat for Humanity as much of a Mission trip before; I saw it as participation, volunteerism, and especially a source of affection and fun.
Most important, she reminded us that after any kind of mission or volunteer service, you must evaluate your "post-field" stage while adjusting to 'real life' again. Have you taken anything from your project? Do you bear fruit from your experiences and spread it, or was your trip one of mutual using: a check-off on your guilt list, a college essay, a mere bleep on your summer or yearly activities. Would it have been better to send your own traveling money to an organization instead of sending you?
It was a striking accusation but one that left the audience of 730 youth in awe of her passion.
The Diocese of Minnesota, along some other youth in attendance, actually were working on their own Habitat for Humanity project during EYE, and with their work they produced the first net zero-energy Habitat house in their state, if not the nation. Two delegates from each diocese on the last day went to bless the house. It made me homesick for West Virginia.
Still, at the time, I didn't see Habitat as much of a mission trip.
Days later, I was reflecting on the entirety of E.Y.E and evaluating its meaning. Even hearing the name "Habitat" or the fullness of "Habitat for Humanity" draws a goofy grin to my face. I've attended our West Virginia escapade four times, although without breaking my leg two years ago it would've been a consecutive five.
My first year on our Habitat trip I felt like a loner, being such an awkward young girl, going through my own troublesome angsty roller coaster. As our years progressed, I barely noticed the shift I made in my own personality and faith. I was most honored and blessed when someone in our group affectionately told me last year that I'd grown up a lot since my first trip. Still, I believe Habitat assists in my own growing.
Each year we'd go to the same house full of rickety bunk beds and group bathrooms before our workday which would go from 9-2 or so, sometimes with work sites a half hour away. Working rain or shine for the most part, coated in dirt, paint, and insulation, has born a true love of the manual work and the satisfaction of seeing a house progress for someone who couldn't afford it themselves.
The difference in scenery itself is enough to shock any individual who attends… these people aren't in a third world country, but they're our neighbors. They're full families with low incomes, but children and pets and desires of their own. As you're on the work site, even spending time with their affable dog, it reminds you of how grateful these people are for the aid you're giving.
Even though I raised some trouble at Habitat in years previous, I wouldn't give up the memory or opportunity for anything in the world — my memories of us there are stored in such a safe and precious spot in my mind.
There was no way to not experience God's grace and call when there where such good people surrounding you.
These two amazing events blend seamlessly into a few things: my own head, my own faith, and of course myself.
EYE's main goal, it has seemed, was to show youth the effect they have on the world, their community, their church. One of the ideas that resound from the lessons of EYE is that we as individuals, young ones at that, may in fact be small and numbered, but God has a destiny for us. As Christians, it is our duty to reach out. We, as youth, have more potential for effect, for faith, for hope and for change than any other organization.
We young people may have a muted voice in our own communities, towns and even schools at times, but God has given us, above all, potential. Potential: having capability, possibility, or power, not only in spreading Christian love to our neighbors, to the poor, the friendless, and the needy, as we say, but to anyone we come in contact with. We come back to the idea of offering a cup of cool water to someone who is thirsty. When you enter someone's home, you give them the gift of your presence, your company. They offer you water so you may have a reciprocal relationship of giving and receiving.
This is the kind of relationship, I've learned, that should be your faith life. Jesus died to release our sins, to give us the gift of eternal salvation and life.
God has born us more beauty and joy than we ever can fully grasp. Still, we are given thousands of opportunities to give back to the world, back to our faith, our neighbors, families, and friends. No person can forever give to others, and no person can only receive from other: the balance between the two is what creates a true relationship with God, a true relationship with your community and with everyone you come in contact with.
I couldn't truly EVER fully describe to you, as a congregation, or anyone — my family, friends, even myself — the true effect that our Church, our faith, our events, our contribution and our lives have on my own self.
While my eyes have been opened hundreds of times to new levels of God's effects and love, the Episcopal Youth Event 2011 further broadened my horizons.
Spending approximately three whole days with 730 people from across America who shared my faith, my beliefs and, for the most part, my morals, dedication, hope, and of course — Potential — hit me deep in my heart and mind. I may still be young, I may still lack organization and sometimes commitment, I may make countless wrong decisions and may miss out on the examples of God's grace in my day to day life, but I am growing. I am learning and experiencing. I am further getting inspired and motivated. I am finding new sides to my faith and new ways to explore it, and what effect I hope to leave behind on any individuals I meet. And to me, whether by myself in faith or together with hundreds of Believers, that is how faith should grow.
That is my fruit, and it only gets riper.