Special Advent group for parents of teens and 'tweens

I am very delighted to tell you that coming this Advent we are stepping up our ministry for parents of teens and 'tweens. Please let me draw your attention to this terrific opportunity for parents from our Associate Rector Ann Willms, who is also a parent of two 'tweens.

Please consider joining her for this while your teens are meeting in the youth group on Sundays following our 10 am worship:

It's a conspiracy! Advent Conspiracy, that is.

Beginning Sunday Nov 28, the first Sunday of Advent, we will be offering a gathering for parents of middle and high school age youth to engage in a parallel discussion of the book Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World? While your 'tweens and teens engage the book in youth group after the 10am service, parents may gather with Associate Rector Ann Willms for a casual time of fellowship, coffee, and conversation about how to reclaim Advent and Christmas for ourselves, our families, and our world.

For more information, call Ann at 295-2156 ext 103 or email her at ann.willms@stpaulsmemorialchurch.org.

Our youth: This I believe

This past Sunday we celebrated our youth -- and the ministry of The Rev. Janet Legro. Our church rocked. I am so incredibly proud of our teens and their leaders, and I am especially grateful to Jonathan Schyner for organizing the worship and all he has given to our young people, and to Janet for her leadership and hard work. She is stepping down at the end of the school year but will stay among us to share her inspiration, energy and wisdom.

For the sermon on Sunday, our youth shared with us statements of faith that they wrote this past year. I am sharing all of these statements with you, and I hope you will take the time to read them. Maybe these will inspire you to write your own?

Sam Campbell

I believe in the goodness of mankind.

I believe that God is present in all people, whether they believe in Him or not.

I believe in the ability and desire of people to do the right thing, given the chance.

I believe in the possibility of world peace.

I believe that God has His greatest presence in the untouched beauty of nature.

I believe that everything created by God is holy. This I believe.

Joy Carveth

I Believe God is a spirit that guides us, noticed and unnoticed, praised and not praised - a shadow in our life.

I believe we are all God’s children and no matter what sins we bear, we are always pure in his eyes.

God is described in scripture, but is unique to each individual.

He helps us in different ways and we show our faith in different ways, but through God we are connected.

This I believe.

Katherine Buckner

I believe in the energy and light that comes from the sun, that warms the skin and puts a smile on my face; the sun, which brings a new season and a promise of long days and happy memories. Much like the light from the sun I believe in the love from God.

Walking outside in the sunlight brings feelings of joy and when eyes and hearts are opened, God's love can be felt. I believe that we can go through life taking things for granted until God's love sparks in one person and spreads to others. Love is what binds us altogether and is the source of unity between all people.

I believe that two of the greatest feelings are giving love and receiving it. Spreading love and lending a hand are what makes the world turn round. I believe in making goals and having the will power and faith to achieve them. With faith, one has the ability to give love and share light and happiness.

This I believe.

Willis Bocock

I believe that in life, everyone deserves a second chance. Nobody is perfect, and so everybody makes countless mistakes as they live each day. Not one person on the planet can escape the fact that mistakes are always made, and so because of this, everybody has the right to a second chance. On the other hand, nobody has the right to deny another person a second chance either, or else take away their own right to another chance.

In Christianity, Jesus teaches everybody to give second chances. A story of this is when Peter denied Jesus 3 times, Jesus still made Peter a head of a church, which really confused Peter. Peter didn’t think Jesus would want him but Jesus was giving him another chance. It is important to learn from Jesus and see the good in people and always help them by giving them another go at it even if they don’t believe in it.
This is especially important for young children who learn by example. Children who are not given second chances will not learn to expect them and so might become discouraged and pressured. Because of this, we should all give everyone another chance who needs one. This I believe.

Johnny Little

I believe in one loving God, who created heaven and earth. God sacrificed his only son Jesus for our salvation. We are redeemed from our sins because Jesus bore our sins on the cross. God could justly send everyone to hell but instead He saves people who have put their faith in Him.

I believe in the perfect bliss of heaven and the love and care God has put into sculpting our bodies. I believe God will unite all things in Him in heaven and on earth. I believe all communities and denominations of Christianity to be one and that they worship and glorify God. When we are judged and God asks, “Why should you go to heaven?” one should say, “I do not deserve to go to heaven, but because my faith is in Christ I am saved.”

In the beginning, God and man were together but when sin entered the world, they were separated. As God loved the world, He sent His only son, Jesus, to bring God and man together again. Thus Jesus says: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” This I believe.

Christine Bushrow

I believe in the power of love. The love of family, the love of friends, the love of a significant other, the love of an activity, the love of food, the love of anything! I believe that the power of love really makes a difference in our every day lives. If you are feeling sad and your love for someone or something surrounds you, it makes you feel better.

Without love, the world would be a very sad, lonely and dark place to live. Love brightens our days and makes us excited to wake up in the morning. When you are doing something you love people can always see a lovely glow surrounding you which is beautiful no matter what. Also, when you are in love or surrounded by people you love, you also have a spectacular glow. I think the whole world needs to experience the feeling of love, whether they have love for another person/people, or an activity. This I believe.

Maddie Legro

I believe that God is a spirit that moves throughout the whole world and is available to all people without exception.

I believe in people.

When it’s hard to find faith in any other aspect of my life, I turn to the people I love for support.

The gospel reading for today said “God’s home is among mortals” and truly, the only way we can find faith is through each other.

I believe that we find God in the places that we are happiest, and that God is a sense, and not knowledge.

We can imagine and experience God, but we can’t define God.

We can only continue to search and grow and be open.

This I believe.

Wesley Conner

I believe that God gave us all, every last soul on Earth, a power beyond anything imaginable. I believe that He gave us the ability to forgive.

I believe that we have mouths to say “I’m sorry”. I believe we have ears to receive apologies. I believe we have eyes to see pity. I believe we have fingers to comfort the sad in spirit. I believe we have hearts to witness love.

I believe, like Jesus, that we set examples of ourselves everyday to show others the ease of love and the power of second chances. I believe God will lead us hand and hand in our journey.

This I believe.

Our youth group brings love and pies

Our youth group last Sunday baked apple pies and delivered them to places and people who needed the cheer of a pie. Janet Legro, our youth director and associate rector, sent along this email this morning to the youth group and I share it with you...

These are the words I hear from so many people for the apple pies you made and shared last Sunday. Here is a review of where your baking work went:

11 Apple Pies were shared with the people of Midway Manor on Sunday night (while we also enjoyed music from Joy's CHS Quartet - thanks Joy!)

5 Pies were saved a Midway Manor for the Wednesday Bible Study led by Mary Lee Webb from St. Paul's.

6 Pies were delivered to people who have been sick at St. Paul's (see a thank you note below)

One hug apple crisp was shared with the Wednesday Community Night.

Thank you all for your hard work and sharing. It might not seem like a big thing at first - but your pies were an important expression of God's love to many people. Here is a thank you note from one parishioner:

Dear Members of the St. Paul's Youth Group:

What a lovely surprise it was to receive the apple pie -- a real gift of love. You are terrific bakers! The pie is really delicious. And this surprise was a great cheer-up gift for my husband David and me. David has not been able to walk since July 17, when tendons in both his knees ruptured; you should see the huge casts he has on both his legs (soon to come off, we hope). Acts of kindness such as yours are helping us keep our spirits up.

Thank you so much for your care for your fellow St. Paul's parishioners, for using your time and your skill to help others. Your gift will be long remembered.

St. Paul's Youth Events this Sunday

9:45AM Breakfast for all in the lounge Rite 13 (6th & 7th Graders) will leave by 10AM to help in the community garden and learn about the goodness of creation. Parents can pick up youth at the garden at 11:30 and are welcome to stay for the celebration we will have there. If are a few parent drivers who can help out please reply to this email -- we would love help getting everyone to the garden. The address of the Garden is 421 "10 1/2 Street" (near Grady Ave.). Drive up Rugby Ave. away from the church. Turn right on Grady Ave. and then another right on 10 1/2 Street. You can't miss it.

My Faith, My Life (High School): Meets upstairs after breakfast. Topic: Belief: What is it and how do we talk about it? We will look at various creeds and covenants of the church and talk about the ongoing task of putting our beliefs into words (and actions). We will also begin the process of articulating our personal beliefs.

Pilgrimage Slide Shows SPY Evening Youth Group: 4 - 6:30PM All 8th Graders - 12th graders are invited to the parish lounge for the unveiling of our Pilgrimage slide shows. Both the So. Dakota and Mississippi groups will show photos. Parents are welcome to stay for the first hour, then the youth will have pizza and prepare for the worship service on Sept. 27th. We need to meet at 4PM to have access to the TV in the lounge. If you participated in one of the pilgrimages, you need to attend this meeting.

***6th & 7th Graders -- the older youth will also share these slide shows with you at a later date.

Save the Date: Next Sunday, Sept. 27th Youth will be leading the 10AM worship service, sharing stories from their pilgrimage to South Dakota and Mississippi. There are no classes and all youth and invited to worship.

Our Youth Group sharing prayers from many traditions

This past fall, our teenage youth group embarked upon an incredible spiritual adventure: they set out to visit a different congregation each month. Associate Rector Janet Legro, our youth leader, called it "Church on the Road." 

The youth visited not just congregations from different brands of Christianity, but congregations from other faiths as well. Our young people came away with a deepened appreciation of how human beings find and worship God in many languages, cultures and customs. This spring our youth group completed their visits, but by no means finished their spiritual journey.

This past Sunday, our youth group led our worship, and we were treated to a series of "Prayers of the People" that borrowed from the congregations our youth group visited. Here below are those prayers, and a few photos of the youth leading our service Sunday. Blessings to all.

Prayers of the People by St. Paul’s Youth

The prayers of the people this morning come from those prayers we experienced when we visited other religious communities in Charlottesville and a Lakota prayer from the communities we will visit in June.

Lotus Prayer from the community at Yogaville 

O Lord, the Light of Lights, Kindly lead us to that Light of Wisdom and enlighten our hearts. Help us experience that Light within and without. Help us see the same Light, the same Spirit dwelling everywhere in everything. 

Lord, in your mercy, hear our Prayer.

Help us recognize the central unity. Help us realize we are Your image, Your children, no matter what the differences are. Let us behold Your Spirit running through all. Give us the strength and courage and capacity to experience that Peace and Joy and share that experience with everyone.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our Prayer.

Help us to get away from these selfish temptations with which we are creating all the differences, all the fights, and all the wars. We have suffered enough due to our ignorance. Please guide us to know our brothers and sisters and to know we are all parts of your family.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our Prayer.

Buddhist Prayer from Tashi Choeling Buddhist Center

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness;
May all be free from sorrow and the causes of sorrow;
May all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too much aversion,
And live believing in the equality of all that lives.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our Prayer.

Muslim Prayer: by Aminah Sharif Goling

In the name of God, the Beneficent and the Merciful, We pray to You peace. Peace that comes from within our hearts, which is authentic. Peace that radiates through out the whole of humanity that brings harmony. Peace that is rooted in understanding one another and sustained through times. Peace that recognizes not only the similarities but also the differences between and among people. Peace, in your Name.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our Prayer.

Christian Prayer from Mother Teresa

Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our brothers and sisters throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give peace and joy.

Lord in your mercy, hear our Prayer.

Lakota Prayer from Black Elk, Oglala Lakota

Great Spirit, you are everywhere. You hear whatever is in our minds and hearts, and it is not necessary to speak to you in a loud voice. You lived first and are older than the prayers that are sent to you. All things belong to you. Thus we now send up a voice on behalf of everything you have made.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer