Looking ahead to Winter Retreat

It has been a very long time since I blogged! But, please don't think that this has been because I have not been interested or engaged in youth activities! Actually, quite the opposite. I have been so active in doing youth work that I have not taken much time to actually write about my activities. Still, I think it is important to occasionally write a little something to make sure that I am communicating with everyone (tweens, teens, parents, youth leaders, grandparents, etc....) interested in youth events and happenings.

What have I been up too? Well, since my last blog, which was way, way back in July just after Convention 2011, I organized a group of six teens to drive out to Almont from the East (Celia, Celie, Holly, Liz, Lucas, Nina) and watched two more Survivors join the ever expanding group. I visited with the Flames at Fryeburg Assembly and met a new teen named Avery!


I helped launch a new youth group in Lansing at a kickoff Almont sleepover in late September (baby spirit, black licorice and nuts!). It was fun to spend time with Bekka, Kalib and Alex. The brownies were delicious too!

In late October I helped lead a tween retreat in LaPorte at Manna House with 13 kids aged 10 - 13! The topic was "Discovering the Beauty Within". We searched for buried treasure in the beach sand, broke open geodes and talked about what it means to be beautiful on the inside and how to find your inner beauty. It was a great theme and I liked it so much that I suggested it to the youth group back here in Fryeburg, Maine. It was selected as our annual youth group theme. We had to cancel our November retreat in Cape Cod. It would have been a fun retreat at a great location, but it was difficult for a lot teens to find time away from school and other activities. We'll go back to hosting a Duxbury, MA retreat over Columbus Day in early October 2012. Hopefully that will work better for most teens.

Now I look forward to Winter Retreat at Almont retreat center. Plans are being made for a great retreat on the topic of Music! We've got talented musicians and music lovers coming to lead wonderful discussions and workshops about music and spirituality. I'm really excited about this retreat and I hope all of you can join us. Please let me know if you are coming and don't forget to register. See you in December!

Convention - Part 2

We all felt so relieved once the SCYL worship service was over. It is a joy to work hard preparing worship and then deliver the service, but it is a lot of work and everyone is exhausted afterwards. But, we all had another treat to listen to before we began our Convention "playtime". Holly, SCYL President still had to deliver her President report.
I introduced Holly after the Youth Director report and she came up and immediately introduced all of the teens at Convention. Then Holly read her report. It was a wonderful report as she unfolded the beautiful story of how Rachel and her met as children, grew apart, then reconnected through youth group and the SCYL. Holly's story emphasized how the church has help her to grow spiritually and how being in the SCYL has introduced her to friends and a community of people she would not have known. And, it brought her and Rachel back into a close and very meaningful friendship that would have likely otherwise been lost. It was a touching and emotional report that ended with an embrace between two dear friends.

After Holly's report, the teens were allowed to exit the business meeting and start planning the rest of our playtime at Convention. We met as a group back in 201 (the girl's suite where the common area served as our hangout place) to discuss what to do. Since everyone (mostly me, I think) was sleepy from the long, exhausting night of worship planning and sitting in the ER, we decided to make the day's outing sort of simple. Also, a couple of teens were interested in going to see the seven Tiffany angel windows at display at the Taft Museum of Art and the buses departed from UC in the afternoon for that. So, we decided to have a big outing day on Saturday and just do a hour or two of shopping around UC on Friday right after lunch. We did two van runs to a funky little shopping district on Ludlow street just north of UC campus. Ludlow street offered some interesting stores including an ice cream shop, eclectic boutiques and a trendy consignment place. The girl's (and Cody) seemed happy with this outing and bought some stuff, while Danny and Jon were pretty much done after 15 minutes. In any event, we all got back to UC in time for the buses to the Taft Museum. Much as I wanted to see the angel windows, I took a much needed nap. Bekka visited the museum and told me all about the windows at dinner Friday evening.

Friday night was the ordination service. Two students were being ordained, Gabriella Cahaley and Steve Sanchez. Although the service was long the teens were very patient and polite. The highlight was the music. Cody (bass) and Danny (acoustic guitar) played with the Convention band and rocked the house opening with an extended "Wade in the Water" and closing with "Day by Day". It was cool to see Cody and Danny jam at the service. They held their own and sounded great with the rest of the more seasoned musicians, Ken (guitar), Laurie (keyboards), Paul (guitar) and Lon (drums).

After the service, we went up to the reception to sell SCYL merchandise. And this year the SCYL sure had a lot of stuff to peddle. Love-Wisdom-Action Tshirts and bottles, potato stamp cards, led hats and custom magic wands made by Holly! The teens worked hard selling goods at the table and Cody, Danny and Jon provided music to draw people in. The teens sold $920 of merchandise at Convention. All fundraising profit goes to teen retreat travel and camp costs.

After hours, we all revisited Nippert stadium field, the scene where the night before we had to call rescue and rush a teen to the hospital, for more light-up Frisbee action. Newly ordained Rev. Steve Sanchez joined us for a high energy game of Ultimate. Whether playing Frisbee, watching from the bleachers or sitting around in the end zone, everyone enjoyed the late night activities on the field. It was great to spend some time running around and getting to know Rev. Steve, who loves sports, especially basketball.

Saturday morning we slept in until 11 am brunch. After brunch we gathered for our big outing to Coney Island Amusement Park. Coney Island in Cincinnati, is home to Sunlite pool, the world's largest flat surface swimming pool (200 x 400 ft). Also there, you can find bumper cars, carnival rides, paddle boats and canoes. The pool was the perfect place to relax on a hot Cincinnati afternoon. They had great slushy drinks and the water was perfect! The teens took lots and lots of underwater pictures as we had two waterproof cameras. I only share a couple here, but trust that many, many more were taken. It was a lot of fun. After Coney Island, we drove around looking for a fun place to sit down as a group and have dinner. After far too long of searching for restaurants and trying to decide where to go (complicated by me I will add), we landed at a Red Robin. This was perfect! Bottomless drinks and fries all around! The food was delicious and the service was extremely friendly and courteous. We all sat together at a big long table and had a fantastic meal.

We returned to UC in the early evening. I got a chance to see the end of the MUSE woman's choir performance and the teens had one last opportunity to work the sales table on this the last evening of Convention. Late night teen activities included a photo shoot of human statues at an interesting place on campus where there were empty stone platforms. The last night of Convention closed with the traditional late night pizza party.

Sunday morning we got an opportunity to see Rev. Sage lead the closing worship service. Then we packed up and Lori took us all to the airport (Jon got a earlier ride). Us travelers from Maine had an uneventful flight home and arrived back safely in the late evening. Thank you Lori Steinhiser for being such a faithful, loyal and hardworking leader. And thank you Lori for putting up with me and all my nonsense. Also, thank you Rev. Dr. Dave for leading the teen group in an opening prayer and for being available to us throughout Convention. Lastly, thank you to all the teen sponsors who make all this possible for the teens to attend such a wonderful event.

Convention - Part 1

2011 Convention was one to remember! Twelve teens, including five SCYL Officers gathered at UC in Cincinnati, Ohio at the end of June to worship and play together with other Swedenborgian and gather in celebration of the theme "Behold, I make all things new". The UC "Bearcat" campus was beautiful, with an open stadium where we were permitted to run on the field anytime, lots of moist grassy areas to explore, and unusual outdoor artworks and buildings abounded. Off campus was a good deal sketchier so we traveled as a group in daylight hours when we left the UC grounds. For the Wednesday evening icebreaker, the teens took old scraps that we found around campus and created new works of art. Then they combined all of the items that they created to make an original skit "Thom Servo". On Thursday, the teens spent most of the first days preparing an amazing worship service following an order of worship from darkness to light which consisted of a series of "pods" (psalm reading, skit, musical performance).

The teens started with an "intropod" with the gloomy psalm 13 read by Rachel, Danny's moving performance of "Where is the Love" with a series of tearful face pictures running on screen in the background, a prayer of despair by Jess and a dark meditation with Cody solo on the bass. From the here the service followed a series of centropods that moved along more and more cheerful. Centropod 1 used troubling psalm 6 read by Anna as inspiration. Ruby, Liz and Danny performed the skit "Stages of Grief" and Celie, Danny and Audrey performed the song "Warning Sign". Centropod 2 used moody psalm 119 read by Liz as inspiration. Jon, Anna and Jess performed the skit "Love Triangle" and Celie, Bekka and Holly performed the song "Landslide". Centropod 3 used hopeful psalm 139 read by Jess as inspiration. Jon, Bekka and Audrey performed the skit "Insecurity Anonymous" and Celie, Holly and Audrey performed the edgy song "Arms" accompanied by Cody on the bass. The teens closed with an "endopod" with beautiful psalm 98, Bekka reading from Divine Love and Wisdom and reading Cody's prayer of happiness, Danny playing a cheery guitar meditation with a series of happy face pictures running on screen in the background, followed by Rachel leading the Lord's Prayer and the whole group singing "A Whole New World". The entire worship experience was moving and filled with the blessed gifts of the talented teen group. I am so proud of you teens. You, once again, worked together to create an original, creative service in celebration of the Lord.

Most astounding of all, was that all this was delivered after three teens, Lori and I spent most of the night before in the emergency room of University Hospital (the number one trauma center in Ohio that lived up to it's name) with an ailing teen who was rushed there by ambulance at 11:30 pm with chest pain. The rest of the teens stayed up until after 3 am rewriting the entire service in case the teen in the ER could not perform in the morning. You are such a fantastically wonderful group. I am so grateful for each one of you and care about all of you so very much.

FNCA FLAMES SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

I've just returned home from Convention. What an amazing experience. I'm sure many of you will want to hear stories and see pictures and that will be coming soon once I get some rest and catch up on other things. In the meantime, please read this important note from Trevor about FNCA...

“One New Flame from each Association of the Swedenborgian Church”

Never been to Fryeburg New Church Assembly? Want to go for free? The FNCA Flames Scholarship Program enables teens throughout all of Convention to attend camp in scenic Fryeburg, Maine at no cost. The Assembly will waive tuition for one teen who has not been to the FNCA before from each Association providing the Association or local church (or the teen's family) will get the selected teen to and from camp. Since participants in this program are chosen by the Associations, teens who would like to participate in this program should contact their local Association.

Please note that through the FNCA's Youth Sponsorship Program, kids and teens may attend the FNCA without their parents or guardian present by having an adult sponsor attend camp with the youth who agrees to act in loco parentis. Parents may arrange for a sponsor of their choice, or contact camp director Debbie Cook before camp and a sponsor will be assigned for them. Contact info and lots of other stuff you'd like to know about the Assembly is on the FNCA website: <http://fryeburg.org>.

FNCA this year runs Saturday, July 30 through Sunday, August 14, 2011. We would love to see you there!

Off to Convention

On this sunny Monday afternoon, I leave for annual Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. Twelve teens are planning on attending this year. The theme is "Behold I make all things new". I wonder what new things will unfold before us this year to behold. It is with anticipation and excitement that I depart. New teens, old teens, leaders, adults and ministers all gathering for a week of fun, worship and meaningful discussions. And a 49 lb suitcase filled with some very cool stuff for you teens to sell this year to raise money for retreat travel. This is something I wish everyone could be a part of. Convention is an amazing experience that I value each and every year. So much to to do and learn and watch. It is indeed something to behold! I'll see some of you very soon. Safe travels.

2011 Memorial Day Retreat

I glanced behind me as I pulled the Aztek out of the Fryeburg Assembly on Monday morning at the end of the Memorial retreat to check that my red Frisbee was in the rear cargo net. Yes, it was there. I hate losing Frisbees and they are usually the last thing I pack, or forget to pack when I depart a retreat or camp. We didn't play much Frisbee this year, as other activities were more attractive and the bugs were fierce, but I did get to throw a bit, mostly with Danny. Having confirmed my Frisbee was properly stowed, my thoughts turned to thinking about the retreat that had just ended. I thought about how the SCYL is changing. With Janice gone, this being Nina and Cody's last retreat, and our President Holly soon departing the SCYL, I see the younger teens moving into leadership roles. And, they are. Celie taking over CBS. Bekka and Mariel traveling great distances to attend retreats as young teens. The League is changing. It always has, and always will. Yet, for some reason, I feel the flow of new teens entering the SCYL and ebb of older teens exiting as more substantial and dramatic. I departed this retreat a bit sad of the significant loss of a couple of wonderfully influential, meaningful and caring teens leaving the SCYL. But as I pondered my melancholy state, presently a new emotion arose.

As I pulled onto route 302 to head home a real feeling of contentment washed over me. And a feeling of how proud I am of you teens. I thought, to myself, "Wow. What a great group." You teens were so incredibly mature and responsible at this retreat. And I want you to know how proud I am of you. You were so wonderful in so many ways during this retreat. Helping with cleanup and dishes, your thought-provoking questions and answers in sessions, your beautiful music, working on the potato stamp cards, making decisions and facing issues straight on. You did all of this without adults nagging you and pestering you. You are truly an amazing group to work and play with!

And the 2011 Memorial Weekend retreat was pretty amazing too. We had a rocky start, with Jon missing his flight and the prom group arriving late, but it worked out ok. Also, the retreat was a bit smaller in numbers then previous years. This I think worked well for the theme, "You're a Sweden-what? Sharing your faith with others". There were some wonderful discussions on faith, what Swedenborgian's believe, and how to answer questions about your religion and your perception of truth. Rev Sage, Rev Susannah, Rev Lee and Rev Jenn all led sessions exploring this topic and helped us discover and strengthen our beliefs and how we might share those beliefs with others. The sessions were lively and engaging, with opportunities for teens to have Q&A time with ministers and express their thoughts on faith with friends, both in writing and talking. Outside of session, the teens worked on making potato stamp cards as a fundraiser to sell at Convention and summer camps. Sunday morning we joined in worship at the Fryeburg New Church. Teens Nina, Audrey and MB sang at worship performing "The Only Exception" and Nina and MB sang a beautiful cover duet of "Dreams" by the Cranberries. Later Sunday afternoon, the teen girls had a temporary henna tattoo party. Sunday evening we all gathered at the parsonage, home of Rev Sage. The teens piled on her bed and watched the video "The Choice is Yours", that was made at the last Memorial retreat. Then, Rev. Jenn led the closing communion service with more music performed by Nina and Danny. The bowling alley was closed, so we watched a movie back at the Assembly late in the evening. We thought about going to the drive-in, but the mosquitoes were too thick and bloodthirsty for that. We packed up early Sunday morning and cleaned up the Assembly. The teens from Portland and Fryeburg did an absolutely terrific job. I watched the Portland teen girls walk to their car from the main porch. Nina, strolling with her guitar swinging by her side. And as I consider my own ways of sharing faith with others, it often comes back to community and relationship. And it comes back to the beauty and wisdom that I find in the teens of the SCYL. I thank God for you. You are a blessing and I am so very proud of each and every one of you.

Love Makes a Person and a Church

The June edition of the Chaplain's corner, by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain

We can think of being human by virtue of our body. That is, we have a head, arms and legs, and a torso, and that is our human form. But in fact, our body is simply a vessel that responds to our soul. Our body is made of material elements, but our soul is made of spiritual elements. And it is actually our soul that makes us human.

Simply put, our soul is what we love. We are human because we can love. In fact, we are human because of our loves. It is love that makes us human. Love is who we really are. What we love is our very life. Take away love, and we wouldn't want to do anything. There are two heavenly loves that make us angels: love for our neighbor and love for God.

These loves are also what make a church. The church isn't just a building and the rituals we do in it. Those things are what we would call the externals of the church. The internal of the church is the same as what makes for a heavenly person. The internal of the church is to will good from the heart and to love God. Without these loves, the church building would be empty.

We are humans because of what we love. And we are a church individually because of what we love.

International Easter Rally: Part 10 - The Journey Home

I woke up Thursday morning feeling very tired. It was an intense few days and I was exhausted. It didn't help that I had only gotten a few hours sleep the last couple of nights. Still, I had a big journey ahead, filled with trains, planes and automobile (not in that order) and I was extremely grateful that I had done the journey before and kind of knew what to expect. This trip would be pretty much the same as the one coming in, only in reverse. After a quick piece of that excellent country toast that I had been enjoying all week and a cup of coffee, we climbed into Andy's school van at 8 am. Andy was kind enough to drive the six of us back to the Nuneaton train station. But we weren't leaving until we got our witchabella! It is a Purley tradition to line up and sing this nonsense witchbella song as people depart. It was great fun and I enjoyed it, although I do not know all the words to it and wish that I did. With that, we said a sad goodbye to Purley and our new friends. The Canadian group would be getting a ride to Birmingham to fly out in the afternoon. We caught the train back to Euston station in London and had time to have some lunch before hopping back on the Tube to Heathrow. The Tube to Green Park station was very hot, stuffy and crowded. There were no seats. I feared that we would be standing in this uncomfortable train for the whole hour trip, but as it turned out, most people departed after a couple of station stops and we were able to get a seat. The train from Green Park to Heathrow was much more comfortable, although still warm. We arrived at Heathrow and saw Cody through his check-in and luggage drop in Terminal 1 before we said our goodbyes to him and traveled on foot over to Terminal 3. We checked in, which took a good deal longer and was hard than I expected. I was glad that we had arrived early as we didn't have that much time before we were scheduled to board. The journey through security was uneventful, with the exception of Holly's airport patdown which prompted a new verse to Cody and my Airport Patdown song that we wrote at Purley. We had just enough time to take a run through the duty free shops for last minute gifts and souvenirs and then grab lunch to go as we made our way to the gate. I love my last minute finds - a "mind the gap" cap (in reference to the constant audio reminder on the London underground) and my London tea cozy. Our flight was on time and boarding was easy. The four teens all got to sit together in the middle seat row, which was nice for them. They actually seemed to enjoyed the 7 hour, 30 minute flight to Boston. And I must put a note in here about how well all the teens who traveled with me did. I did not hear one single complaint the entire trip. They were in all ways helpful, thoughtful and considerate to me and to everyone they encountered. When we ran into difficulties or uncertainties, which we certainly did, Celie, Chris, Cody, Holly and Liz were confident, positive and relaxed. I am very proud of all of them, as well as the three Canadian teens, Ashleigh, Joesph, Jordan. Although I did not travel with them I found them to be very polite, gracious and friendly towards me and everyone else throughout the time at Purley. All the SCYL teens were great companions, good travelers and fun to be around. These are teenagers that everyone should be very proud of. We arrived as scheduled into Boston Logan. The trip through immigration and customs was easy for us on this leg. No searches or delays. After a short wait, Chris' mom Patty and brother Caleb arrived to hug and pickup their safely arrived world traveler. Shortly after that, Steve and Mary Bauer arrived to pick the rest of us up. We were tired, but very hungry, so we stopped for Mexican food on the way home. I couldn't help wondering how many Mexican restaurants one might find in England. I don't remember seeing any, but I am sure that there are quite a few. Still, I wished that all our friends in the UK could be here enjoying the food with us. We welcomed ourselves back to Maine on Thursday evening and everyone was home safely by 11 pm. Whew. What a relief and gift from God.

As a final reflection back on this adventure, I can see some real positive and noticeable changes in our SCYL youth program. The new International Swedenborgian League of Youth has been formed and has an active Facebook page. I know that teens are skyping and chatting with each other on both sides of the pond. Conversations are already taking place about future retreats, teen camp exchanges and other visits. The teens are more aware of the Swedenborgian faith in other areas of the world and likely feel less isolated as members of a small denomination. I personally feel hopeful and actively present to our friends in Swedenborgian community in the UK. I see their struggles to make a youth group function and succeed, but also see the beautiful youth leaders and teens in the UK that are excited and energized to be a part of such an incredible faith and church organization. And it was wonderful for me to be able to exchange youth work ideas and methods with other Swedenborgian church youth workers outside of North America. I learned an incredible amount of information, both about youth work and about the issues facing and successful activities of the British Conference.

I close with gratitute to all those that helped make this trip a reality. There are too many to mention them all and with the understanding that I will surely forget some that should not be forgotten, some need to be called out. In Canada, Pam Kesselring, Rev. John Maine and Rev. Alison Longstaff along with the members of the Church of the Good Shepherd board. In the United States, Joyce Fekete (who assisted with funding) and Steve Bauer. In the UK, Rev. Jack Dunion, Rev. Dave Gaffney, Anne Gaffney and their fine staff at Purley, Andy Leather, and Steve and Jenny Jones. Lastly, Rev. Catherine Lauber, who had the faith, confidence and belief that this event was both possible and worthwhile when we first spoke about it over a year and a half ago at Convention 2009, and then again at Convention 2010 when we really decided to go ahead and see if we could make something happen. I am honored to have been a leader of this International Easter Rally event and blessed to be a part of this exciting new group of international youth that from all perspectives, appears to be quite the glorious and heavenly community.

International Easter Rally: Part 9 - Lifebook, Atherstone and the Closing Communion Circle

It was Wednesday morning that I awoke with the painful realization that this was the last day of Easter Rally. Over so quickly, yet I was amazed at how much we packed into our short time in England. But, it wasn't over yet! We had a full day ahead of us to learn, explore and grow together in community.

The Canadian teens led our last morning matins worship. It was a service of thanksgiving and gratitude. They passed out Canadian flag pins. Jordan played guitar and sang The Lord's Prayer. It was nice.

The morning session was lead by Andy Leather. Andy projected a series of thought-provoking pictures of images and people around different themes, such as natural disasters, being alone and joyous community. We broke up into smaller groups and talked about how "real" we are and how we deal with isolated or difficult people that we encounter. We talked about how we can help others in need and what we can do to make the world better in our own community around us and far away. In our workshop, Andy charged us with a mission to develop our own "Lifebook" artistic profile that represents the real person, not the Facebook person that we all put out there for the whole to see. Andy helped us examine the masks that we wear and discover qualities and traits that we may need to let go off or reconsider. He really helped us apply the theology that we learned about in previous sessions.

After lunch we gathered outside for a walk to the nearby town of Atherstone. The walk took us along a pretty trail and where I discovered my first kissing gate. The path wound and then widened onto a golf course which we followed along into the quaint English village. Atherstone was larger than I expected and had plenty of shops and stores to explore. We set the teens free to roam for an hour while I went to a market to find "exotic" British candy to bring home to my daughters and royal wedding souvenirs for ladies back home in the States. We arrived back at Purley in the late afternoon and the teens had a bit of time to relax and also prepare an act for the evening social (talent show/skit night) to be held after supper.

We ate the potatoes that we hunted the night before for dinner. I met with interested teens from all the representative countries and the SCYL about future international youth activities as well as the formation of an international Swedenborgian youth group. There was much excitement and energy in the group and we agreed it was an effort worth pursuing.
Then, we gathered for group pictures while there was still enough light. After pictures, the teens presented the leaders with cards and gifts. I was given a card signed by all the teens, a Purley Swedenborg mug (which I had wanted ever since I first saw it) filled with Purley tea, and a Derby County football jersey! It was very touching and I was nearly moved to tears by the generosity of so many wonderful people. After a short break we gathered for the social.

At the social we were treated to a variety of acts and talents, including a a funny skit with Pam and Joesph, a card trick by Jordan, a beautiful cover of "Landslide" sung by Celie on the guitar, a song by Abby, and the big closing act of the very talented Miles performing an amazing musical juggling act with glowing balls in the dark. After the social, Steve introduced some fun indoor circle games for us to play. Meanwhile, Rev. Catherine and Rev. Jack were hard at work preparing a beautiful closing campfire worship space.

Once full darkness settled in and the stars were sparkling above, we walked down to the campfire. Catherine and Jack arranged everything so perfectly and truly created a sacred and inviting place. Jordan provided music on the guitar and lead us in the hymn, "Seek Ye First". Rev. Catherine led the service and spoke about how our differences in saying the Lord's Prayer builds united diversity that strengthens our community. Rev. Jack conducted the communion portion of the service. I led a burning ritual where I asked a teen representative from each country to step up and join me around the campfire. The five of us held a paper chain link circle which represented our diverse yet united community. We then dropped it in the fire releasing it to heaven with a prayer to keep our travels safe, our friendship strong, and our love useful to the larger community that we soon will rejoin. After the service, we sat around the fire and sang tradition songs from different countries including national anthems. This was the perfect closing to a great day and a fantastic Easter Rally at Purley. The teens got to stay up late and hang out in the upstairs hall for awhile. Then, everyone hugged, said goodnight, and headed off to bed in the wee hours of the morning to try to get a bit of sleep before our pre-breakfast departure to start the long journey back home.

International Easter Rally: Part 8 - Hummus, Castles and Potatoes

I awoke Tuesday morning to warm sunshine. What a beautiful week of weather. Every day sunnier and warmer then the one before.

Breakfast was wonderful. It opened with lots of coffee, then a hearty English breakfast featuring a new delight - potato waffles. These little squares of yumminess look just like waffles but are potato cakes with holes all the way through. I loved them and SCYL President Holly looked great through them too!

The UK teens led worship this morning. I loved the Bob Marley guitar prelude and the friendship service that they presented. Verses from Proverbs 27:1-14,17 were passed out to the group during worship and read. Songs about friendship were played. It was a very touching experience.

I led the morning session. I presented the four loves; love of self, love of worldly things, love of the neighbor and love of the Lord. Then I talked about how love combines with wisdom to drive useful actions. I mentioned how this concept of love, wisdom and use or in applied terms, desire, knowledge and works, applies to any intention or good. And then I explained that when a love becomes your ruling love or most important passion, it can take you to heaven or become corrupted and pull you into hell. I asked the group for a suggested ruling love and told them it could be anything at all. Cody spoke up and exclaimed, "Hummus!". I answered, "Okay. Fine. Let's use hummus as our love. Let's see how deep love for hummus, combines with profound wisdom and knowledge about hummus, to bring forth a meaningful (and tasty) action. We'll see how our hummus can end up being heavenly or hellish love depending on our intention and use." Then we went through and discussed love, wisdom, heaven, hell and community in terms of hummus. I'm not sure any of us will ever again be able to dip a pita chip into hummus in quite the same nonchalant way. It was fun and I hope it was enlightening and interesting to some of the teens in the group. We did not have a morning after-session workshop as we all needed to quickly pack up our belongings for the day and get ready to go to Warwick Castle!

We gathered outside in the late morning and loaded into vehicles for the one hour drive to the castle. We were all grateful that Andy Leather was able to borrow the large school van from the high school where he teaches. The large van allowed us to transport everyone. We arrived at Warwick Castle around noon, entered the grounds and gathered on the lawn outside the castle to eat our picnic lunch. I couldn't help but think of how peasants, princesses and knights, several hundreds of year ago sat out on this very field outside the castle ramparts and probably ate picnic lunches very much like ours. After lunch, everyone was set off to explore the castle on their own or in small groups. It was a glorious, warm, sunny day and it was great to just have free time to wander around the inner court, traverse the castle halls and passageways, and climb the spiral stairs of the towers. There were demonstrations of battling knights, birds of prey and the Arthurian tale of the sword in the stone. Kings, queens, princesses and peasants were in period costume milling around the castle chatting with visitors throughout the day. The whole afternoon was a delight and after a last stop at the gift shop for a chain mace to take home to my children, we loaded back into the cars and bus to head back to Purley for supper.

In the evening session we gathered to discuss what it feels like to be in a community or organization. We looked at qualities that define the members of a group and how people on the inside and outside of that group might view the members differently. We discussed Swedenborg's concept of how a society becomes more perfect as it is diverse yet united (Divine Providence 4.4).

The Tuesday night activity was a game Steve created called Lost Potato. Two teams crept out into the darkening dusk and collected hidden potatoes to deliver to their home base while sneaking around, running and dodging opposing team players attempting to steal away their potato treasure. When time was called, the team with the most potatoes at their base won. It was spud fun for all!

Abby, an exceedingly pleasant and intelligent teen from England, organized a beautiful vespers service in the chapel to close the evening. We all retired for the night feeling tired and fulfilled after a splendid day of new insight and discovery.

International Easter Rally: Part 7 - Near Death Experiences, Olympics and Discos

The first Monday morning at Easter Rally, we all gathered for breakfast and sang grace. We sang a grace at each meal and had a good deal of fun teaching each other different songs and lyrics. Johnny Appleseed and Hallelu were the only two graces that were common to everyone.

Each morning after breakfast, the teens led a matins, which is a short worship service in the chapel. It turned out that we had 3 mornings and three groups, US, Canada and the UK, so a different group led each matins. Monday morning, the teens from the US led chapel. They played music, led the group in scripture readings, and taught everyone some favorite hymns, like "Sunshine in My Soul" and "Building, Daily Building" as many hymns in the UK are quite different. They also sang "Jesus is Walking on the Lake"!

Rev. Jack Dunion led fabulous sessions exploring different jobs and how we all contribute an individual use to one system in harmony with what others contribute. Jack also showed a short video clip about individuals who experienced near death experiences to illustrate how wonderful the next life is. For the workshop accompanying Jack's session, Pam Kesselring came up with a wonderful activity. The teens were given the freedom to gravitate into various groups based on common interests (music, art, writing, sports, etc.). The teen breakout groups created something artistic or active, then came back and shared their creation with the larger group. We all got to see how we move towards others similar to ourselves and how we surround ourselves with people and circumstances according to our particular choices.

The afternoon involved fun activities that Steve, Jenny and Andy Leather organized including a partner orienteering race and a silly team Olympic games competition with wheelbarrow races (with real wheelbarrows!), an obstacle course, balloon toss, and other shenanigans.

In the evening, the teens had a disco. The Purley sound system is amazing and we all got up for YMCA! Monday evening closed with a calming candle lite mediation.

International Easter Rally: Part 6 - Easter Rally Begins!

I awoke Sunday morning well-rested and full of excitement and anticipation. Sunshine poured in my window when I pulled the curtains back and the lush green grounds of Purley stretched happily into the boarder trees surrounding wood. Stepping out on to the terrace with a cup of fresh coffee, the first thing I noticed was the variety of song birds. Living in rural Maine has blessed me with the beauty of many sights and sounds, including the singing of birds; but never before had I heard this many different birds and their rich chorus of song. Then I remembered the conservatory from last night and realized that the birds that I heard that evening were real and not recorded. The birds back home are never so vocal at 9 pm I thought. Breakfast was made to order omelets. The teens had asked me about the quality of food at Purley early in the trip and I did not have a answer for them. Now I did. Amazing. Hands down the best retreat food I have ever had. Meals were interesting, delicious and varied. Coffee was never stale, fruit, snacks and biscuits/cookies were always available and the large vat of hot water for tea was bottomless. The food quality and attention to detail was remarkable. This was no retreat food. This was gourmet hotel cuisine.


The rest of the Easter Rally teens were not to arrive until the late afternoon, so we had the morning free to explore. I had an afternoon meeting scheduled with adults interested in the youth program but was free until then. After breakfast, the teens and I found the obstacle course and games room. The obstacle course was a series of well constructed, sturdy low rope and wood challenges laid out in a shady grove of trees at the edge of the grounds of Purley. It was fun to watch the teens negotiate the course and ride the zip line.

Then we discovered the games room, with ping pong, pool, foosball, and a soccer/football table. It was nice to see a room set up where the teens could hang out on their own and it was fully enjoyed. A British Chalmers or Teen Storage if you will, but newer and with more table games (albeit less teen ambiance). I got a chance to meet my friend, Sam Kennion (we met at Camp 2003, an international young adult retreat held at Temenos), who came to Purley with his mom for lunch. His mom was participating in the afternoon youth meeting and Sam came to visit and spend a nice afternoon at Purley. I introduced Sam to the teens from the States and they had a great time playing in the game room while I met with folks from the British Conference in the conservatory. It was here that I met youth leaders Jenny and Steve Jones and their wonderful children. I had emailed back and forth with Jenny and Steve for months prior to the Easter Rally as they were the ones who coordinated much of the event and worked as the primary liaisons between North America, the UK and Purley. Throughout the planning process, they were incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and accommodating. Although I doubted it possible, I found Jenny and Steve to be even more friendly and gracious in person. They are a lovely and inspiring couple and their three girls (aged 8, 4 and 2) are simply a delight. I thoroughly enjoyed them and look forward to many years future in their company. After our youth leader meeting, where we discussed the challenges and trials of the New Church in England and how to fund and promote youth programs, we gathered for our opening BBQ supper (later I came to know this meal as tea). Most of the teens were here now and only the Canadian group (Pam with teens Ashleigh, Joesph and Jordon) and one late teen arrival (Miles) were left to join us. The group ate in distinct tables according to countries and I sensed a bit of anxiety and nervous anticipation in the air. Perhaps this was just me, but being an ocean apart can create a bit of unrest in the steadiest of minds. Once the Canadian's arrived and ate a quick supper, we began our first session. I believe there were now 22 teens at Purley. We met in the Olive room, which came to be known as the Common Olive as it used to be called the Common Room in old Purley days (I found the folks who grew up at Purley had a quaint and quite understandable fondness for the old room names, numbers and pre-renovated building layout). Anne went over a bit of Purley housekeeping and then Jenny reviewed the rules, schedule and dos and don'ts. She also led a great icebreaker (that I knew as "people bingo") where we met people and filled in squares on a paper with their traits and talents. To close, I led an opening activity relating the creation story in Genesis of how we are all created in God's image and then asked the teens to create their own paper person collage in the image and likeness of themselves. I also introduced some basic ideas of heaven in the form of a Universal Divine Human. We concluded the evening's program with a simple candle meditation and prayer of gratitude for our safe travels and arrival.