Tuesday Session 1: Minding the Gap
The gap is not about khaki pants or the London Underground. It’s about us, young adults in and out of the church. We are often called the generation in the gap. There is no way to put us in a box, categorize or build the perfect program-in-a-box for us. There are not a lot of gaps of time in our days and sometimes God doesn’t make our calendar. Come and enter into the journey of the Young Adult Festival. With our guest, author Lauren Winner (
Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, and Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity), we will explore who we are, what lies ahead in the week and how to get into the gap.
Tuesday Session 2: What Sabbath?
How can we keep the Sabbath from dying in a world that demands so much of our time and energy? Join us as Lauren Winner takes us on a practical tools journey on how to keep the Sabbath in our daily lives.
Wednesday Session 1: God Happens in Our Everyday Lives
Hearing God above the cacophony of your daily life requires resolve and intentionality. Often God is relegated only to Sundays or the mountain-top moments of inspiration; in this session we will expose this tendency to dismiss God. Come hear how persons from religious orders intentionally encounter God in their lives, as they find the divine in the mundane. God dwells not only in the privacy of your church, but in the ground beneath your feet, the air that you breath, and in the person sitting next to you on the bus.
Wednesday Session 2: The Still Small Voice and the Rule of Life
Does the busyness of your life keep you from truly hearing? Wishing your life had a rule book? God created us with ears to hear, but we have forgotten how to hear. Through a guided auditory experience, we will again engage the still small voice of the divine. After learning to perceive the primal sound of God, we will learn to truly hear and obey through the drafting a rule of life. Members of religious orders will share the role the rule plays in their life and facilitate the composition of your own rule of life.
Thursday Session 1: Living Wi$ely
What do you do with your money? Do you live beyond your means? Are you using your money in the way God intends? Terry Parsons, National Stewardship Officer, will present about stewardship of our individual resources, and how we become intentional about our use of them. The focus will be on the model of "Living Wi$ely" as one way to faithfully respond to God’s presence in our lives by being good stewards of the money we receive.
Thursday Session 2: Responding to God’s call to love justice and do mercy
The world is not a fair place. What injustices do you encounter that make you wish you could change them? What can you do about them? A panel of young adults who are currently engaged in social justice work will present the story of their personal journey with God which led them to their work, and the personal discoveries and transformations that have resulted from their work. Panelists will come from a variety of social justice causes, including prison ministry, fair trade issues, Episcopal Relief and Development, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, and migrant worker ministry.
Friday Session 2: Place in the Church
Are young adults able to lead the church? They already are! Come and found out how. This session will focus on how young adults are offering their leadership in the church and beyond. Hear from some young adults who are leading in different roles within the life of the church in a parish, diocesan, provincial and national way in their ministry.
We will be joined by leaders such as young adults who are General Convention Deputies, Executive Council members, priests, vestry member, musicians, artists, Eucharistic ministers, search committees, altar guild and the list will go on with all of us who share in this session.
Friday Session 2: Be Open to all the Possibilities
During this session, we will dream of and build upon ways in which our leadership can be realized, empowered and serve as an instrument of God’s call to serve the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul".
The Rev. Charles Dupree, Rector of St. Gregory’s, Woodstock, N.Y., will offer a session in which we will experience concrete ways in which we can be empowered to be the leaders we are called to be. Get ready for an engaging session as a young adult who is moving forward in building our church communities through our faith. We will seek ways to model ways in which we as young adults can be involved in leadership. Lead forward as the church!
Saturday Session 1: Living our Faith out Loud
Where does God go when you leave church on Sunday? A panel of five lay people from various walks of life will share how God is present in their life as they live out their faith in the world. Bring your questions and thoughts on this topic.
Saturday Session 2: Roaring Lambs
Jesus calls us to be lambs that roar. This session will involve an open discussion on how to share your faith with people you don't know, including practical applications. We will challenge you to get outside of your comfort zone and learn how to share your story with others.
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