Tag Archives: Youth

i love my church

this isn’t a new phrase. i’ve been saying it since i moved here, but friends in baltimore know i used to say it there too. what can i say. i’m a church lady.

but really, my church is amazing. last sunday was parish day, when we celebrated the beginning of the church program year. we had blue grass, fried chicken, games, face painting, and of course… a climbing wall.
seriously? yes. and if that’s not cool enough, the wall was donated in thanksgiving of… me. i mean, some people get altar flowers donated in their honor, but what says “we’re glad you’re here” like a rock climbing wall? pretty much nothing. my church is awesome.

i found myself thinking the same this morning, as trumpets heralded the start of the worship service, a string quartet played during eucharist (the music just about made me cry), john preached a great and thoughtful sermon, and everywhere there is a sense of “we are so glad you’re here…” whether you’re a kid or an old man or a youth minister. and the altar flowers smelled nice too. i love it.

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dc by storm

last thursday 29 9th graders, 5 adults and i all made our way to our nation’s capitol via the overnight train. a little “urban adventure” of sorts. all 35 of us crammed into a youth hostel, toured the holocaust museum (after hearing a survivor describe his experiences the night before), rode a bus to the national cathedral (that was an experience… you try cramming 35 peeps onto a city bus during rush hour on a friday!), and then ate at the very chic “marrakesh” moroccan restaurant… complete with belly dancing… which the kids joined in on. of course.
the following day, we split up into 4 groups and sent the kids on a scavenger hunt… where they had to find various points of interest using only a map and public transportation. the boys started off “surfing” in the metro, thinking it was fun to be thrown around… but later were too cool for such childish games. i gotta say, i was impressed. the kids mastered the maps and metro, they walked for miles, the saw tons… they even protested in front of the white house. (that’s one of my kids behind the bush mask). all in all, it was an extremely exhausting but very awesome 48hr trip!

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