Day 10- Life in the Spirit: The Church as Witness
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | Uncategorized
It’s hard to believe we are drawing so near to the end of TYA! We began our “Life in the Spirit” series with which we’ll finish out the week. Dr. Ted Campbell of Perkins School of Theology joined us this morning and gave an engaging and thought-provoking lecture that even included sound effects! We began by talking about definitions of the Church, looking to the creeds and the Articles of Religion in the Book of Discipline to understand how “Church” has been defined. We then talked about what that means for us and brainstormed exactly what WE think makes up the Church. We then looked to Acts 2 to discuss Biblical definitions of Church, particularly looking at the 5 elements of Church we can see in verses 41-42: the the Church is marked by the Apostle’s teaching, baptism, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer. The students also all read (repeated) Greek and Latin today!
We had another day in the Arts Village–the students have now visited each artist and have created some amazing things and learned a lot. They have applied much of what they learned to the worship services they have been planning. Speaking of that, the group that planned a contemporary worship service were up tonight. We had an amazing service at FUMC Georgetown. The students led music, prayers and read scripture. They also provided space to us to remember our baptism when we came for communion. Rev. Josh Hale preached about how the Church bears witness to God in the world and reminded us that remembering is a primary task of the Church. We have to remember what God has done for us so that we can share it with the world. It was a beautiful night.
The students are coming back in from mentor groups and we are participating in a different kind of sacrament-watching the end of the All-star game! Tomorrow, Dr. Elaine Heath will come and continue the “Life in the Spirit” series by talking about the Church as a community of reconciliation. Stay tuned for more!
