A different focus for youth groups

be committed to a favorite restaurant or a football team. However, “renewing their commitment to Jesus Christ” refers to something much more radical—a series of questions in the Baptismal Covenant culminating in the candidate (or in the case of a baby, his or her parents and godparents) declaring that Jesus is Lord, a proclamation that lies at the heart of Confirmation. To say that Jesus is Lord is also to say that the nation, the pandemic, racism, wealth, and all of the powers and principalities of the world are not. The sole act of preparing young people for such a proclamation during seasons of great difficulty is anything but tame. It’s an act of rebellion and protest. It’s an act of hope. It’s nothing short of laughing at the devil. ✤

HOW WILL YOUTH PREPARE FOR CONFIRMATION THIS YEAR?

Youth will prepare for Confirmation through three major components: • Online presentations and interactive discussions • W eekly small groups engaging the story of Scripture • Mentorship with an adult

Online presentations are scheduled on the following dates: • T uesday, October 20, 2020, at 6:30 p.m.; topic: Baptism • Tuesday, November 17 at 6:30 p.m.; topic: Prayer • T uesday, January 19, 2021, at 6:30 p.m.; topic: Reconciliation • Tuesday, February 23 at 6:30 p.m.;

Instructed Eucharist and tour of the church • T uesday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m.; topic:

Vocation/Identity

To register for Confirmation preparation, the confirmand and his or her parents should attend one of two online information sessions: • Sunday, September 13 at 10 a.m. • Wednesday, September 16 at 7 p.m.

Contact Blake Singer bsinger@ ststephensRVA or Allison Seay aseay@ ststephensRVA to sign up. Over the past several months we have had to answer a call to innovate, to adapt, to discover new ways of being, and working, in a world that requires physical distance. As someone who is deeply invested in the lives of youth I have certainly felt this call. As a church, how should we innovate? How should we adapt to the ever-changing and evermore complicated lives of the youth whom God has entrusted to our care? I’ve started to suspect that the answer may be found in the past rather than the future, in something old rather than something new, in something that does indeed have a precedent: telling stories, and more specifically, telling God’s story.

To modern ears, storytelling as a solution to anything other than how to make your children fall asleep may sound simplistic, but it’s a tradition handed down from our ancestors in the faith, the ancient Israelites. At every major point in their history, from entering the Promised Land to going into exile, they’re called to remember their story, the story of God’s faithful covenant with God’s people. In the seasons when God seemed absent, they consistently looked to the past and retold their story to their children and their children’s children (Deuteronomy 4:9). I think the Israelites understood something that we may have forgotten: that our lives are shaped by the stories we learn and learn to believe about ourselves, and that our past tells us something about our present and our future.

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas has suggested that we live in a time when “we believe we should have no story, except the story we chose when we had no story.” At the heart of such a story is the assumption that we are free to become whatever we want, unfettered by the past in any way. But what happens when entire paragraphs or chapters of the story we chose have been erased? What happens when these stories that define us and give us value are stripped away? What happens to the student who believes he’s loved because he does well in school, when schools aren’t meeting in person? What happens to the athlete who believes she’s enough because she’s the star soccer player, when soccer season is cancelled? There’s nothing wrong with these parts of our stories, no shame in grieving these losses, but allowing them to form us at our deepest level is risky when something like the COVID-19 pandemic can expose their fragility and threaten their validity.

As Christians living in difficult times we’re called to tell a different story to our children and to one another, to become formed and storied by another story. It’s the story of God, the story of creation, and the story of re-creation. It’s the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s the story that tells us that in unprecedented times God has set a precedent of not abandoning God’s people. It’s the story that we are loved unconditionally and that we are enough not because of who we are in a classroom or on an athletic field but because of who God is. In times of physical separation, the call to tell the story hasn’t changed, but the innovative work to be done is to find new and creative ways of telling it.

The task of storytelling doesn’t belong solely to priests or youth pastors. It belongs to all who have been baptized into this story. Whoever you are and whatever connection you do or don’t have to children, I invite you to join us in this call, which is the same as it’s ever been; to remember the story, and to tell it to our children and to our children’s children. ✤

Youth Group Gatherings: Youth groups resume Sunday, September 13, meeting on Zoom, Middle School at 5 p.m. , High School at 7 p.m. Beginning in October, youth will sign up for an even smaller group-within-the-group in the hope that it may be possible for these smaller groups to gather in person for safely distanced outdoor sessions from time to time. Throughout the fall, in addition to playing games, making time for fellowship, and the occasional outreach opportunity, we’ll be talking about our stories, and the cultivation of Christian hope in the midst of hard times. Go to ststephensRVA. org/youth to sign up. Questions: bsinger@ststephensrva.org.