What is YouthFest?

"It is an invitation to begin the life-long process of asking questions, listening for answers and becoming the person God created them to be, " says Doni Driemeier, Director of Youth Programs for Eden Theo-logical Seminary. She and her staff organized this innovative UCC high school youth program, funded by a $1.2 million Lily Endowment grant.

Ohio Conference leaders hosted 160 young people at two YouthFest weekends in March at Pilgrim Hills Camp.

But what was it like to be there?

Picture a young woman in jeans and a long shirt standing in front of 75 of her peers to read a poem she wrote that tells of her faith in God and her place in the circle of life.

Imagine another young woman volunteering to tell this same group of high school students her deeply personal life story.

Then envision a 50-something man, blind since birth, relaxed before a double keyboard, his fingers moving with assurance over both sets of keys at once. He could not see the poet or the young woman in pain. But he heard their words and sensed the feelings behind the words. He began to play and sing, and the poem and the story became unique, personal songs. The lyrics Ken Medema created on the spot wove together the young people’s stories and the theme of the YouthFest weekend—Start Something, God’s Calling You.

The audience listened thoughtfully to the poet and to the song Medema created from it. Many of them wept with the young woman as she told her story and as it was translated into music.

Dan Carey, youth leader from Westerville Community Church, was surprised by the depth and openness of the stories that were shared with Medema. "Ken really connected with the young people," Dan said. "I was overwhelmed by the emotional response to Ken’s songs."

"Ken is a wonderful, gifted man," said Driemeier. "He uses what is said, wraps it all up into music, and takes it to where the kids are. He ‘gets it’ and they know that he gets it."

Susan Towner Larsen, Ohio Conference Minister for Church and Education, was one of the organizers of Ohio’s YouthFests. She was impressed with Medema’s ability to create songs on the spot. "Ken hears their stories and takes them a step deeper. He always uses pastoral words to help with the healing. I couldn’t have done that if I had 50 years to think about it, and he did it in 50 seconds," she said.

Eden professor Clint McCann used music videos produced by today’s performers–Everlast, Alanis Morrissette, Garth Brooks—as a springboard to study Biblical themes. Said McCann, "Music is the soul of this generation. If music is engaging their souls, their lives, their priorities, then one way we can engage them is with their music."

Graffiti was encouraged. Walls and windows were covered with brown paper to create a giant writing space. Sample thoughts: "Check it out. Ken has 20-20 insight." "God will lead you. Don’t be afraid to follow." "Someone delights in your presence." "Don’t forget to play in the snow." Many Bible verses and poems were added with the rainbow-colored markers. This is part of one young woman’s poem: "Here I am, somewhere inside this circle of faith, of spirit, of life, of breath. . ."

Adult visitors were introduced as they arrived and were cheered and applauded by the group of students, for no reason other than the fact that they were there.

In addition to Eden staff, volunteer leaders came from Ohio Conference congregations. They were youth leaders, youth ministers or just people with a heart for helping young people hear God’s call.

The small group discussions were favorites for a lot of the participants, both youth and adult. "We had some very good talks," said Jody Czako, a youth leader from Westerville Community Church. "The kids were very comfortable and open talking to us and each other."

Kristin Wallick agreed. "The discussions in the small groups were very good, and I got many different perspectives, but I was also encouraged to share, which was fun because everyone had something worthwhile to say," said this active member of the St. John’s, Dover, youth group.

Kyle Minnis, a Dover youth who plans to become a minister, commented, "I knew what call was because I had already made the choice to go to seminary. YouthFest just completely solidified my decision even more. [But]YouthFest isn’t just for prospective ministers, because everyone has a call to do something. "

Twenty-five pairs of feet stood in a large circle and thrummed wooden floorboards in the "yes dance" to encourage each other to unhesitatingly shout "yes!" to someone asking permission to dash across the circle.

Teenagers were comfortable enough to cut loose in free-wheeling pantomime, each following a rapid-fire instruction from the person ahead of them in line: "Do the splits!" "Waddle like a duck!" "Cross your eyes and stick out your tongue!"

YouthFest leaders used drama to set in motion the discussion about call. Professional actors presented original one-act plays written for YouthFest that portrayed young people in situations where they had to make decisions concerning the direction their life would take.

The improvisational theater exercises were frequently noisy and hilarious. Nevertheless, the improvisation had a serious purpose. Experimenting with different roles "is not dissimilar to what young people go through in their real lives," said Johnny, one of the actors who led the group. "It is interesting to play against type in your real life, to really look at people and see what they are inside. For me, that has a lot to do with call," he said.

Young people sat at laptop computers arranged around a room painted with bright blue sky, moons and stars to create individual web pages containing digital photos they took themselves.

In creating a personal web page, participants were encouraged to think about and include the people who make up the ‘web’ of their lives. The individual pages will be downloaded onto the Start Something website and linked to pages created at other YouthFest retreats (30 are planned across the UCC over the next 3 years). When the weekend ends, technology will allow the discussion and connection to continue. "One of the things that distinguished YouthFest . . . was the amount of technology and modern media used. . . The fact that the leaders would just give you a digital camera to take pictures for a while was really cool," said Minnis.

Students created and conducted innovative, reverent worship on Sunday morning. The adults present, many of them ministers adept at creating worship services, participated only as worshipers.

For Margaret Mills, Western Reserve Association’s Associate Minister, this experience pointed out how capable our young people are. "The worship taught me that adults take far too much charge. We just need to sit back and let them do this," she said.

"The message was presented in a way that the youth are used to listening to," added Jody Czako. "You could tell from the Sunday morning worship that they understood."

YouthFest was all these things, and more. The activities, designed to communicate with young people in ways they were most likely to hear, were enhanced by the warm, caring atmosphere created by the Eden staff, Medema’s music ministry, and the adult leaders. The response from the students, and from the adults, has been overwhelmingly positive.

"The people there were so accepting and full of love," said Betsy Remp, youth member of Old South Church, UCC, Kirtland. "I was much more outgoing than I usually am, and I liked it a lot," she added.

Program organizers are hopeful that the experience will have a lasting effect. Susan Towner Larsen commented, "I think as a movement it is going to have an impact on the UCC. It is not insignificant that the weekends had an effect on 160 youth."

The young people, volunteer leaders and the Eden staff members all seem to agree that the weekends were worth the time and effort invested in them. Explained Dan Carey, "’Calling’ is a very important concept that youth don’t get anywhere else, not even in church or Sunday School. They talk about vocations and colleges in school, but this is different. I believe that many of them did ‘get it’ and left with new things to think about."

"This was the best weekend I had in a long time," wrote one young woman on the Start Something website. Eden has created discussion groups for participants to use after each YouthFest. The ‘chat rooms’ give the young people a means to stay in touch and talk about their experiences.

"I’m sure many of the kids left knowing that all of us are called all through our lives. That is a very awesome thought and something I think we many times forget," said Belinda Lentz, volunteer Youth Leader at St. John’s, Dover. Kristin Wallick agreed. "I realized that you get more than one call in your lifetime. . .that my call is going to change and that I must . . . be ready and accepting of that call," she said.

David Greenhaw, President of Eden Seminary, summed it up this way: "This has been an exciting opportunity to come to our young people and help them have an experience where they might know that God—who is the creator of the ends of the earth, who gives them their first breath and will be with them to their last and beyond—has something in mind for them."

United Church News On Line                      

Clippings from church newsletters around the Ohio Conference

From United Church News, page 3, May 2001

St. John’s UCC, Newport KY, will host The Celebration Singers on June 4, 7:30 p.m. The 60-member youth choir from First United Methodist Church, Tucker, Georgia, will be on their annual U.S. tour, presenting the program To Look—To Listen, A Celebration of the Life of Christ through singing, bell ringing and drama. The young choir members have taken their music ministry to Washington DC, Disney World, England and Canada.

Highwater Congregational UCC, Newark, sponsored a cyber-Bible study group during Lent. More than 25 members prayed and studied Psalms together through daily email messages led by Gale Green, Highwater’s student minister.

Bethany UCC, Cuyahoga Falls, hosted the second annual CUE Ball on March 3 to raise funds to support Chicago, United and Eden Seminaries.

The women’s group from Christ Church UCC, Orrville, is sponsoring a luncheon on May 11 where Kathy Tschiegg, organizer of Central American Medical Outreachwill speak. CAMO is a non-denominational Christian organization that provides medical education, equipment and supplies to impoverished regions of Central America. Participants can bring newborn baby supplies that will be given to new mothers in Honduras.

Part of the Easter celebration at First United Church of Christ, New Philadelphia, is a Flower Cross. Members bring flowers to church on Easter morning, they are inserted in the cross, and the completed cross is carried into the sanctuary just before the beginning of Easter morning worship.

The Growth Board of First Congregational UCC, Lorain, sponsors Pastor David Wheeler’s 30-minute radio show at 7:30 a.m. each weekday. He gives the "Good News" on WEOL to church members and thousands of others in the listening area.

Pilgrim Congregational UCC, Cleveland, celebrated the Great Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday evening, April 14, at 10:30 p.m. The Vigil is an ancient liturgy of the church, in which people gathered at dawn on Easter day to celebrate Jesus’ passover from death into life.

Members of Spencerville UCC shared the joy of Christ’s resurrection with shut-in members living at Roselawn Manor by going Easter caroling following breakfast at the church on Easter morning.

Burton Congregational Church UCC now has a hearing enhancement system in their sanctuary. Ear pieces (to be kept by each person) and receivers (to be returned after each service) are available to members who need them.

First Church of Berea sponsors two thrift shops. Second Mile has clothing; and Second Mile West has sewing machines, gardening tools, exercise equipment and gently used furniture. Second Mile recently sent all its winter clothes to Ukraine. Members support the stores with donations and purchases.

St. Peter and St. Paul UCC, Cincinnati sponsors "Eldercise" exercise classes on Wednesday mornings. The current session runs until June 6.

On April 29, Trinity UCC, Columbus, celebrated the beginning of their 13th year of serving Columbus’ homeless with an open house at their Trinity House Mission.

Faith Community UCC, Toledo, celebrated Holy Humor Month in April. The highlight was "Bright Sunday" on April 22, with a special service celebrating the joy of being a Christian. A church library open house featured materials from the Fellowship of Merry Christians. Their monthly newsletter, "The Joyful Noiseletter" contains cartoons, anecdotes and feature articles which are available to churches free of copyright restrictions.

Bethlehem on Broadway, mission program of First Congregational Church UCC, Columbus, was selected as a finalist for the 2001 Columbus Dispatch Community Service Award, "Volunteers Light the Way." The award dinner was held on April 23.

Betty Eberle, member of Faith UCC, Cincinnati, was nominated by Volunteer Services of University Hospital for the national Jefferson Award, recognizing ordinary people who do extraordinary things. She has been an active volunteer at the hospital for 37 years.

One of the ways HAF.com, the Handicap Accessibility Fundraising Committee at St. John’s UCC, Germantown is raising money to install an elevator is the HAF.com dinners. Tickets sold for the dinners--monthly events since October 1999--have raised nearly $11,000.

Youth and adults from Sylvania UCC spent May 4-5 at Pilgrim Hills building picnic tables for the camp.

The Sunday School classes of St. Paul’s UCC, Bellevue have a new "brother," five-year-old Nixon Figueroa from Honduras. St. Paul’s is sponsoring Nixon through Compassion International. Donations are collected to accumulate the $28 a month that will help give him new opportunities to learn and grow.

Suffield UCC’s Church Growth and Outreach Committee sponsored a video scavenger hunt on May 12. Teams of adults and teens, supplied with camcorders and lists of "possible scenes," accumulated points by filming as many of the scenes as possible. Everyone gathered back at the church to watch the tapes and enjoy refreshments.

Send news clippings from your church to Editor, UC News, Ohio Conference, 6161 Busch Blvd., Columbus OH 43229. We look forward to receiving your news.

United Church News On Line                  Top

Living These Days in Loving Ways
The Ohio Conference Annual Gathering

Article from United Church News, page 4, May 2001

Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio will be the site of this year’s Ohio Conference Annual Gathering, "Living These Days in Loving Ways." The two-day event, Friday and Saturday, June 8-9 will be a mixture of fellowship, worship, thought-provoking discussion, music, liturgical dance, learning opportunities and just plain fun. Special pre-Gathering activities are planned for Ohio Conference youth.

Opening worship will begin at 1:00 on Friday, but participants will be able to register starting at 11 a.m., spend some time in the exhibit area, and have lunch on their own before the gathering starts. Several vendors will offer books, liturgical art and gift items. Two very popular vendors from past Annual Gatherings will be back this year: Eden Seminary Bookstore and SERRV International, a nonprofit organization selling quality products handcrafted by people in developing regions of the world. Other exhibitors will include UCC-related organizations, missions and institutions.

Ann Weems, best-selling author and poet, liturgist, worship designer and seminar leader, will be involved in many parts of the Gathering. She will present the sermon at closing worship and will lead a forum, Different Minds, One Spirit, where participants will explore "the grace of God that is so profoundly freeing that we can disagree and hold hands at the same time." Participants will be invited to share their thoughts and feelings about the spirit within the Ohio Conference and the United Church of Christ. The theme of the Annual Gathering is based in part on ideas from Ms. Weems latest book, Putting the Amazing Back in Grace.

Worship at the Annual Gathering will be full of music, drama, celebration and inspiration. All details are not in place at this writing, but plans are to include a liturgical dance group, a dramatic presentation or two, a bell choir, a guitarist, jazz worship music and contemporary singers, as well as traditional hymns, scripture, and a communion service including the Service of Remembrance. The poetry of Ann Weems will be the basis for some of the liturgy.

School funding in Ohio will be the topic of discernment to be included in this year’s Gathering. Workshops will be offered on Friday and Saturday to present background and current information, and Annual Gathering participants will be led in the discernment process to attempt to determine God’s leading on this issue so vital to Ohio’s children.

After Friday evening worship, participants will be invited to an outdoor ice cream social where they will be able to make their own sundaes, relax, enjoy Ohio Wesleyan’s campus, and visit with old and new friends. If the weather is ‘unwelcoming,’ the festivities will be moved inside the OWU’s Campus Center.

Friday afternoon and Saturday morning will feature a series of small group sessions on a wide variety of topics, from contemporary worship to resources for youth leaders to guidance on how a congregation can deal with difficult issues. Leaders from our national organization will lead discussions about church publicity, developing a stewardship program, racial stereotyping, the importance of language in worship, and strengthening the community of your church. This is just a sampling of the topics from which participants can choose. Pre-registration for these sessions will be requested. Annual Gathering organizers hope that the discussions, especially those about topics controversial within the UCC, will help members move closer to understanding and accepting their differences and recognizing their common mission as a community of people striving to do God’s work in the world.

End-of-life issues will be the subject of a round-table discussion on Saturday morning. A number of experts have been invited to talk about different aspects of this difficult subject. Participants will hear from a physician, an attorney, the chaplain of the UCC’s Fairhaven nursing home, and a representative from Riverside Hospital’s hospice program in Columbus. After the speakers have given their remarks, participants will have a chance to ask questions and make comments.

Ohio Conference young people are especially invited to attend the Annual Gathering. It will be a chance for youth to get together with friends made at previous events, make new friends, get a taste of dorm life and a chance to participate in the business of the wider church. Youth will be welcomed at a pizza party on Thursday night, will help welcome the adult delegates on Friday morning and will participate in preparing a slide show highlighting recent Ohio Conference youth activities. Young people interested in attending should talk with their pastor, church educator or youth advisor. Special youth registration materials are included in the registration packets sent to each church.

Annual Gathering registration materials were sent out in late April. If you are interested in attending, check with your pastor, or call the Ohio Conference office at 800-282-0740 or 614-885-0722. 

UCC Executive Council handles national business

You would have to love church meetings in order to appreciate the Executive Council meeting, March 14-18 at UCC Headquarters in Cleveland.

The Executive Council has 74 members including one representative from each of the 39 conferences and the moderators of the upcoming General Synod. There are also representatives from organizations such as The Coalition; the Council of Racial and Ethnic Ministries; the Council for Theological Education; Ministers for Racial, Social, and Economic Justice; and the Pension Board.

Every day, we worshipped together in the Amistad Chapel. It is worth the trip to Cleveland to see this chapel and hear the wonderful organs. I recommend sitting on the side where you can look out on the city street while you worship. It brings the church and the world together.

As a full Council, we voted on budgets, setting the percentage guidelines by which Our Church’s Wider Mission giving will be divided among the covenanted ministries. We unanimously affirmed the nomination of John Thomas to a second term as President and General Minister and gave him a standing ovation. We did the same when we were addressed by Joseph Evans, the second president of the United Church of Christ. And we prepared for the upcoming General Synod/General Assembly, primarily by deciding which resolutions will be assigned to committees of delegates and which resolutions will be processed in different ways. It will be a very busy synod in Kansas City this July.

As you might expect from any large organization, much of the work is done in committees. For the Office of General Ministries Board, I serve on the Financial Development Committee. For the Executive Council, I serve on the Finance & Budget Committee. With my background in business and economics, these are typical of the kinds of assignments I get in various church organizations. I believe that even those who make budgets can be ministers for Jesus.

I am honored to represent the Ohio Conference on the Executive Council.