Digital Disciple

“Remember, we can’t separate the danger from the opportunity; we can only hope to trend toward the opportunity while trying not to ignore the nature of the danger.”

This morning as I ate breakfast I put aside my computer and phone and picked up an honest to God, paper and ink book. I had only a few pages left in the Rev. Adam Thomas’ Digital Disciple: Real Christianity in a Virtual World. It’s a fairly quick read and seemed particularly appropriate as I returned from a week of in-person meetings with my colleagues in New York and prepared to step back into the virtual world of my remote office in Seattle.

In the book Thomas explores the implications of our virtual lives, the familiar potential for both isolation and connection. From online dating, to World of Warcraft, to texting in public, he provides an in-depth look into the ethical and theological implications of the technology-saturated life of a twenty-something.

The text has a geeky wit and is accessible to Silent and Millenial alike as Thomas provides numerous footnotes explaining everything from Twitter to the Decemberists to the theological concept of Incarnation.

While I’m not sure that the book successfully sells the virtues of the virtual to the skeptic, it definitely provides a much-needed moment of reflection for those of us immersed in the world it describes.

Thomas doesn’t argue that technology inherently disconnects us from God or ourselves, but instead he proposes that it has created a new dimension to add to Paul’s Trinitarian Body, Mind, and Soul. We are no longer only physical, mental and spiritual beings, we are virtual beings, and in this new dimension we have the potential to serve God and live a life in the Spirit just as we do in the others.

Exploring the ways our online lives provide easy opportunities for knowledge and connection, Thomas wonders how we might linger long enough with God in these spaces for that knowledge to deepen to wisdom, that connection to communion. When it is so easy to outsource our memory to Facebook photo albums and our knowledge of other people to the avatars of email and chat histories, how do we internalize and incarnate the experiences and relationships the virtual makes possible? How do we balance the breadth of our connectedness with the depth of our communion?

Thomas offers some possibilities for personal practices, but leaves the question very much open. The reality is that we as the church are still exploring how we can be together in meaningful Christian community when separated by miles and machines. Young adults (and all ages) across the church are pushing the limits of what is possible virtually and discovering new ways to be church to one another with little concern for geography or proximity.

I’d invite you to take up this book and read it alongside the young adults in your community, or read it for a peek inside a young adult world you’re struggling to understand. These are conversations we are in desperate need of having and I thank the Rev. Adam Thomas for so thoughtfully and artfully providing us a point of departure.

Check out Adam’s blog here.

Support Episcopal bookstores! I purchased my copy of Digital Disciple from the Cathedral Shop at St. Mark’s, Seattle. If there’s not one close to you, order from an online Episcopal Bookstore like this one.

World Student Christian Federation EcoJustice Symposium

Check out this ecumenical event hosted by the World Student Christian Federation’s North American Chapter, a body of students from across the globe united in Christian solidarity. Read more:

WSCF EcoJustice Symposium 2012 flyer

WSCF EcoJustice Symposium 2012 Concept Paper

The SCM-USA/WSCF-NA Northeast Regional Symposium on the theme of eco-justice local activism will be held on November 9-10, 2012 at St John’s in the Village Episcopal Church and the Center for Spiritual Life of New York University in New York City. This gathering will be an opportunity for students, young adults, senior friends and partners at large living in the Northeast of the USA to come together to discuss one of the key working areas of the Strategic Plan of the WSCF, to reflect theologically on how Christian faith informs social and political engagement on this topic and to engage in strategic thinking on how to support the strengthening of the work of SCM in this geographic area of the USA and nationally. A solidarity delegation from the SCM Canada will attend the conference!

For registration: http://scmsymposium.eventbrite.com/

Reading the Budget

The 2013-2015 budget passed by General Convention this summer contains some major shifts in funding for Young Adult and Campus Ministries. (We invite you to follow along with that budget on page 15 of this document) First of all, the funding for both young adult and campus ministries (previously two distinct budget headings) have been combined with Youth Ministries, Children’s Ministries, Older Adult Ministries and Lifelong Formation under the heading “Formation and Vocation Ministries” (line 63). This heading falls under the second mark of mission, To Teach, Baptize and Nurture New Believers. This move was made in order to encourage coordination and collaboration between these age-specific networks as we strive to bridge the gap. Funding in this area is divided into seven lines:

Episcopal Generations/Lifelong Formation – this line is primarily focused on developing intergenerational resources and ministries and bridging networks. Of particular interest within this line is the transition from youth to young adult and campus ministries. Some funds will go toward the Chaplain’s Conference in 2013, however new funding models and expectations will need to be explored for subsequent years.

Formation and Vocation Networks – This line will be used to facilitate our continually improving internal communications within both the young adult and campus ministries networks. This will include new web-based resources and connections, the continued work of the Provincial Coordinators for Campus Ministry, the creation of a new Young Adult Ministries Council, and a leadership team comprised of both students and young adults.

Campus Ministry Grants – This line will be used through a grants-based program to continue to strengthen campus ministries on the local level. Due to a General Convention resolution, these grants will have a preference for community college based models for ministry.

Events and Gatherings – This line will help fund the Young Adult Festival at General Convention in 2015 as well as a churchwide gathering for students during the course of the triennium.  Additional funds will go toward regional and topical gatherings for young adults, students, chaplains and young adult ministers.

Other departmental costs/Staff Costs – This line makes the four staff persons of the Formation and Vocations team at the Episcopal Church Center and their diverse set of skills more readily available to all of our networks.

Several current projects of the office are not explicitly funded in the current triennium, including the Why Serve conference, Peer Ministry Training, and the Episcopal Leadership Institute for Young Adults. We will engage in continued discernment with our partners and the network at large as we explore new ways for this work to continue.

Additional funding has been made available to ministries with young adult in two other lines of the budget. Line 79 includes one million dollars to be allocated by Executive Council for opportunities for young adults to engage in Mission Mark 3, to respond to human need in loving service. This line will fund the continued work of the Young Adult Service Corps, a program our office oversees in collaboration with the office for Mission Personnel, along with new initiatives targeted at specific subgroups of young adults. In addition, Line 81 allocates a one-time $200,000 grant to the Episcopal Service Corps as an independent network of domestic internships sites.

Though the budget represents significant cuts in program funds, it does maintain current staffing and looks toward new ways of engaging in our common mission. We look forward to our continued discernment of how best to make use of the resources made available to us in partnership with Executive Council and with all of you in our network.

Anglican Women’s Empowerment seeks young adult board members

Anglican Women’s Empowerment, AWE, is calling for 2 or 3 young adults to serve 1 year terms on our Board.

We are a growing non-profit organization working for the empowerment of women throughout the church and the world.  Acting as the bridge between the church and the global women’s movement, we serve grassroots women through our program at the UNCSW, by publishing resources, and by raising awareness about the issues of the Beijing Platform for Action.

As we near the end of our fiscal year (June 30) we are reaching out to the young adult (under 35) community for people who would be interested in serving on our Board.

We are looking for young adults who:

Have a passion for human rights

Are interested in learning more about how a non-profit works

Can meet by conference call once a month

Have experience working in or with other cultures

Are knowledgeable about or want to learn about the global women’s movement

Would consider attending the UNCSW in NY the end of February for 1 week.

Are connected in their church or other communities

If you are potentially interested, email Kim Robey at krobey1@gmail.com  by July 4

Why Serve Conference 2012 – Christopher Palma

This conference has made me understand so much more about being Episcopalian and learning the history of how our cultures got involved and where we are now.

From this experience I can see that young adult ministry is so important to the growth of the church. The way I see it, being a youth you learn about who you are and the love that is all around you. You have events that teach you about your spirituality and the identity of the church.

But as young adults, we are thrown into the world with a new sense of freedom that you can do anything, but you lose your spiritual side because you lose your guidance from your youth ministers.

We have to put as much emphasis in the young adult ministry or even more because this is the age that we can DO something. This has been a great experience and we need more of this in our church.

Chris will be entering Missouri State University in Springfield this fall as a freshman. He will also be working with the Episcopal Campus Ministry at MSU.

Culture Night at Why Serve 2012

We closed our time together at VTS with a final liturgical celebration of our cultures. Here are a few highlights.

A Church Called to Action – Rebecca Ogus, Diocese of Ohio

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is held annually at UN in New York City. Of the 193 UN member states, 45 send representatives to the CSW, on the basis of geographical location. Each year the CSW has a theme; this year the theme was, “The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.”

As one of the Episcopal Young Adult (EYA) Delegates at the CSW, I had access to most of the events hosted by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), many of which centered on the theme of empowering rural women. I attended events ranging from the use of Theatre of the Oppressed (in which a scene, usually based on a true story, is acted in front of the audience and the audience is asked to participate in the scene and change parts of the story, challenging the audience to find new ways to change their realities) to identify and combat how multiple oppressions (for example, race, gender, or class) impact rural women; a panel Q&A with Liberian activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee on, among other things, the importance of mentorship between women and girls, religion as a stumbling block for girls’ education, and the mobilization and radicalization of churches to fight for peace and women’s rights; impacts of sex trafficking on Native American populations in Minnesota; and a panel discussion on Hip Hop and Diplomacy put on by the US Mission to the UN.

As Episcopal Young Adult Delegates, we were also a part of Ecumenical Women, which brought together the various Christian groups (mostly Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, and members of the Anglican Women’s Empowerment, or AWE) that had sent members to the CSW. Each morning there was a chapel service in the UN Church center, led by a different group. The EYA Delegates led a service along with the other young adults that were part of Ecumenical Women.

The EYA Delegates also had the chance to spend time at 815, the Episcopal Church Center in New York, right around the corner from the UN Church Center and the UN. There we interacted more intimately with various members of AWE and had the chance to see the many kinds of social justice work the Episcopal Church is engaged in. We met with Chief Operating Officer Bishop Stacy Sauls; the Rev. Margaret Rose, the Episcopal Church Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Collaboration; the Rev. Canon Charles Robertson, the Canon to the Ordinary of the Presiding Bishop; and participated in the Words Matter Project.

I’ve come away from the CSW with a sense of hope. It can be so easy, sometimes, to despair. There are awful, horrible things happening in the US and globally, and often they seem too vast to even begin to combat. But meeting women who are working to stop war, hunger, violence, environmental degradation, and all kinds of oppression domestically and abroad, and seeing their strength, their dedication, their passion – it gives me confidence. People are creating change in their communities and connecting with each other to share their stories and work together across borders, they are making a difference.

The Episcopal Church is one of the many groups tackling these problems. I went into the CSW with the knowledge that, sure, the Episcopal Church is dedicated to social justice. But I didn’t really know the extent to which that was true. At 815 I witnessed the many, diverse ministries of the Episcopal Church – from Domestic Poverty/Jubilee to Global Justice to Ecumenical/Interreligious to Eco-Justice ministries – and met people engaged in them. It’s empowering to know that my spiritual community is not only dedicated to ending oppression, they’re out there working to do so right now.

However, there is still work to be done, especially within the Episcopal Church. I’m lucky – I’ve been welcomed and given responsibility in my church, mentored by older community members who have taught me so much, supported in my endeavors, including attending the CSW. But not everyone is. One of the most common sentiments I heard in our delegation (this was not the case for everyone, but it was an issue that was raised many times) was that as young adults, we could not find our position in the Church. There is a desire for community, for some kind of spiritual connection, but young adults are having a hard time finding it.

As the world changes, the way we structure the Church must change. Young adults have to be involved, since it’s our generation that will be sustaining the Church as time passes. Unless young adults are accepted into decision-making bodies on local, diocesan, and Church-wide levels to contribute their situated opinions and knowledge, and to learn from and be mentored by older members, the Episcopal Church will sit stagnant. We are in a position to enact the social justice work that, as a Church, we are committed and compelled to do. But we must make these connections and build these relationships to do so.

Thank you to all of the people who made this experience possible for me: Bishop Daniel, the Diocese of East Carolina, and the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of East Carolina; Bishop Hollingsworth, the Diocese of Ohio, the Rev. Helen Svoboda-Barber, Greg Stark, and Harcourt Parish!

Young Adult Festival 2012: Meet Indianapolis

Young Adults at the UN Commission on the Status of Women

Each year several thousand women and men from all across the globe come to New York to spend two weeks advocating their individual governments and the international community for women’s rights and gender justice. From February 24-March 2, twelve young adult Episcopalians are joining in this amazing experience through the Episcopal Leadership Institute for Young Adults as part of the Episcopal Young Adult Delegation to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Pray for their work and read their stories below!

The Diaconate of Young Adulthood

by Jason Sierra Three years ago this Pentecost I found myself worshipping at an open-air church on the Garden Island of Hawaii: Kauai. I had flown down to interview for the position of youth and young adult minister at one … Continue reading →