If you have not already begun to hear echoes of adolescent voices yelling "Fiesta!" down the halls of Grace or catch glimmers of green, white and red, then you certainly will soon! The youth are gearing up for Fiesta de Mayo, a fundraiser with a catered lunch, a silent auction, and entertainment on Pentecost, May 15th at 12:15pm. All proceeds will benefit the youth pilgrimage to Mexico this summer! (Tickets available at this link!)

 

We hope that soon our youth-led publicity campaign will have all your logistical questions answered. Yet you may still be wondering: "What is our youth program like at Grace?" "Am I donating to a vacation?" "Why is a pilgrimage important for teenagers?"

 

At Grace, we follow a youth program called "Journey to Adulthood" (J2A). Youth enter the program in Middle School and it carries them through High School graduation. As we all recall, ages twelve to eighteen play a pivotal role in the development of our personalities, belief systems, and sense of morality. In J2A these six years are broken up into three rites of passage that mark and celebrate the tremendous growth that happens along the way.

 

Around age 13, youth participate in a liturgy where they symbolically pass from childhood to adolescence, accepting the rights and responsibilities of their creative power. (Join us on June 12th at the 10:30 liturgy as we honor four youth in this way!)

 

Two years later, around age 16, youth prepare for and go on a pilgrimage - a spiritual journey - together. This is the age when there are lots of questions; observation of the world and critical thinking skills combine to the tune of "whys" and "why nots?" Pilgrimage is a sacred time, set apart from ordinary life to reflect and press into the deep questions thoughtful teenagers carry within them about God and the world. In my opinion, it is a great gift of the church to offer such an opportunity to youth at this age because it models for them a life of faith where questions are embraced as gift, not repressed out of fear. There is no faster way to chase a young person out of a church then to avoid their questions.

 

The final rite of our youth program is the journey towards confirmation. After their experiences on pilgrimage, youth reflect together about how they are personally called and gifted, and discern together their place as adults in the parish, and in the wider Anglican community. The rite of confirmation is one final gift we can offer our youth before they move onward toward the world of college and beyond.

-Kendall