July 11, 2008
By Joe Bjordal

Following a day of arrivals on July 8 and an evening welcome program that included a challenge from the Presiding Bishop, more than 850 youth attending the 2008 Episcopal Youth Event (EYE) in San Antonio began an intensive, five-day program on July 9 that focuses on faith and mission.

The high school-aged student delegates are joined by more than 300 adult sponsors and resource persons for the 10th triennial youth gathering of the Episcopal Church on the campus of Trinity University. The gathering includes participants from all nine provinces of the Episcopal Church, including delegates from Central America and Europe.

Jimmy Grosso, from the Diocese of Central New York, said EYE is truly a global gathering.

"It's been incredible to meet people from all over the country and the world," he said. "I've met people from the Dominican Republic and even Europe. It's been so cool! It's definitely going to change me."

As a result of the experience, Grosso says he is going to seek service beyond his own congregation and even beyond his own diocese. He said he now wants to be involved in the larger church he discovered at EYE.

Being ‘sown in the heart of Christ'

Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, told EYE delegates on July 9 that relationship is at the core of being "sown in the heart of Christ," which is the theme for EYE 2008.

"God has made us to be relational people, to be in community and in relationship with each other," she said. "We worship, we pray, we celebrate and we grieve together in community, in relationship with other people."

"The theme of this event, at its very core, is about relationships. It's about us, as disciples of Jesus in relationship with him and in relationship with each other. It's about the seeds that have already begun to grow in us as individuals and in a Christian community."

Betsy Boyd, associate program officer for congregational learning and youth ministry of the Episcopal Church and chief organizer for EYE, said the gathering is focused on faith and mission and it's a unifying and empowering experience.

"These young people are focusing on what's really important. They're not here deciding ‘who's in and who's out.' Everybody's in," she said.

A complex set of program offerings began on the morning of July 9 with a service of Holy Eucharist and invitation by Jefferts Schori to be "sown in the heart of Christ." Jefferts Schori was both the presider and preacher at the service.

She said the process of "being sown into the heart of Christ" begins by "losing the husk which protects the seed until it is time to germinate." The husk, she said, keeps us intensely self-focused.

"It takes courage to let go of the husk and to risk dying to its protection," she said. "But when we lose our intense self-focus, we begin to discover that life is larger and more abundant and we being to fall in love with ‘that more' that is God."

"If we don't die to self, we can never become anything more."

The Presiding Bishop said that the process of dying to oneself can occur in practical ways in many aspects of people's lives – not just in church. She said it is about seeking justice and "living simply so that others may simply live."

"Losing your husk is about realizing that winning, or collecting all the toys, or reaching the top of the heap is not what life is about."

"Lose your husk!"

Building relationships, growing in faith

The routine of the daily program offerings that followed – community gatherings with music, drama and daily theme videos; small-group discussions; workshops and forums – have all been designed to offer participants an opportunity to grow beyond themselves in faith and explore new avenues of mission and ministry.

Michael Sahdev, from the Diocese of Southeast Florida, found the small-group discussions to be meaningful and helpful. The small groups each consist of representatives of different diocesan delegations.

"I really love the small group because it makes is easy to interact," he said. "You really become like a family with your small group. We get to talk and worship and express our feelings."

He said it has been very helpful to interact with other Episcopal youth in his small group at EYE, to share "stories from back home about our experiences of growing in Christ and to build new relationships."

Megan Rosevear, from the Diocese of Oregon, says she has also formed new relationships with people in her own delegation.

"We really did not know each other very well," she said. "But we have bonded and now I have friends I can connect with all over the diocese."

Lauren Belland, from the Diocese of Western Michigan, says the large group sessions, with worship and singing, have been exciting.

"You feed off of each other's energy and, I guess, feel closer to God just because you feel like you are sharing with all these people."

Kat Turner, a youth leader from the Diocese of Oregon, hopes to capture some of the energy and enthusiasm of the large group sessions and take it home with her, especially to boost a new youth worship she has started at St. Barnabas Church in Portland.

"I just love seeing this many kids get together who are excited about their faith and excited about sharing it and building new relationships," she said.

Exploring a call to ministry

House of Deputies President Anderson reminded EYE participants that they are part of a community called the Episcopal Church and that the majority of people in that community are lay persons. She said the Episcopal Church was founded on the belief that all people of the church – laity, bishops, clergy – have been given gifts by God to be used for the building up of God's kingdom.

"Our call through baptism is to honor and use our gifts in the service of Christ, believing that nobody's gift is better or more important than anybody else's," she said. "As lay people, we are called by our baptism to God's work in the world."

She said that a "call to ministry" is not just for deacons and priests, but that lay people are also called to ministry, and together "all of us are ministers of the church," citing the Catechism (Book of Common Prayer, page 855).

"We need to keep watching for how God is acting in our lives and what God may be calling us to do."

Another invitation to explore and discern a call to active ministry – either lay or ordained – was made by the Rev. Miguelina Espinal, associate program officer for young adult ministry and recruitment in the Episcopal Church's Mission Leadership Center. Espinal heads up the Pastoral Leadership Search Effort (PLSE), which seeks to identify young persons who might have the skills and interests to pursue an active role as lay or ordained leaders in the Episcopal Church.

PLSE seeks to promote and provide conversations, occasions, and resources for vocational discernment and leadership development opportunities among the 16-30 year old constituency of the Episcopal Church. It seeks to facilitate conversations around the church, facilitated by a group of mentors.

PLSE offered a panel presentation by lay and ordained people and those currently in formation for the priesthood. The presentation was facilitated by Bryan Krislock, operations director for the Diocese of Spokane and a member of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council. The panel included the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, Bishop of the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, the youngest bishop in the world.

It also offered the "PLSE Café," where EYE participants could come to relax and have conversation with PLSE mentors.

Having fun along the way

EYE has its lighter moments, as well. Planners have included ample time for fellowship and fun through a large variety of free-time activities from sand volleyball tournaments to salsa dancing to yoga to knitting.

A variety show was staged on the evening of July 10.

Humor has also been present in the daily large-group programs, which among other things has included a student-produced daily newscast, called "EYE Live News." Anchored "in character" by communication team members Ryan Benitez and Austin Roe, the programs have left many laughing. The programs are available through the EYE website at http://www.eye2008.org/.

A "Fiesta" on the evening of July 9 also provided a time for fun and fellowship. It was a "cultural fair" where each delegation had a booth to display and give away items unique to their diocese.

The second full day of EYE concluded on July 10 with a service of Holy Eucharist completely in Spanish. EYE continues through Sunday morning, July 13. Activities during the final days include a healing service, provincial dinners, a walking tour of downtown San Antonio, including the Alamo, and a celebration Eucharist.

Episcopal News Service
Joe Bjordal is Episcopal Life Media correspondent in the dioceses of Provinces V and VI. He is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is on special assignment reporting on EYE from San Antonio.