Dear Friends,
Next week the final session of the Synod Journey “Deeply Rooted” curriculum will come out. It is aptly named for this season: Renewed in Hope. We are using the same theme for the Camp SJ curriculum (which will be available in early July). In the curriculum, Joy Hensel, Project Coordinator for the NE MN Synod Youth Ministry & Mental Health Initiative, writes this about hope:
Hope is a want, belief or desire that change can occur, that a situation will work out, that an individual will get through a challenge, that something will happen. Hope is also the confidence we have in God’s faithfulness and promises to us. Hopefulness feels like a positive attitude, optimism, it might feel like nervousness or anxiety about the unknown or about uncertainty, it can feel exciting, and it can feel like a deep breath or a sense of calm and peacefulness. We experience hope through our connections, relationships, our faith and community. We also experience hope through actions of kindness, thoughtfulness and love.
I looked up the meaning of “renew” on Google – “to resume an activity after an interruption.” This year has certainly interrupted our sense of hope. Now with vaccines allowing restrictions to ease for those fully vaccinated, summer camps welcoming back campers, VBS and mission trips returning to church calendars…we can feel hope being renewed.
Hope is not easy. I love that Joy includes that hope "might feel like nervousness or anxiety about the unknown or uncertainty." At our weekly Network meeting with youth ministry leaders, we have talked how this season of the pandemic is in some ways harder to navigate than the beginning. How do we move forward in this new phase when our young people might not be - and under 12 cannot be - vaccinated? How do we continue to safely do ministry in our intergenerational settings that often include older adult volunteers, who might not be vaccinated?
I wish I had answers for you on those questions. New guidance from the MN Department of Health is expected to come soon for summer programs with youth. It is helpful to consider the vaccination rate in your county and continue to monitor the current infection rates in your community or county as you plan. Your local school protocols might also give guidance.
But I wonder if the most helpful framework is Joy’s reminder that “we experience hope through actions of kindness, thoughtfulness and love.” For youth and families who might be full of anxiety as restrictions are eased, what is kindness? For youth and families who might not have access to vaccines or health conditions that prevent them from getting a vaccine, how can we be thoughtful in our planning? For youth and families who feel overwhelmed and stressed as they navigate these new guidelines, what do they need to experience the love of Christ?
Kindness. Thoughtfulness. Love. May we all be renewed in hope as we generously share these actions with each other.
Together in Christ,
Catherine Anderson
Synod Minister for Discipleship and Christian Community
