The Diocese of Fredericton was represented by six capable youth leaders at a Common Ground in London, Ontario in June. They are, left to right, the Rev. Amanda Longmore, the Rev. Canon George Porter, Christopher Ketch, the Rev. Cathy Laskey, the Rev. Chris Hayes and Debra Kantor.
Godbearing is affirmation
accompanied by expectation
by the Rev. Cathy Laskey
Godbearing is the act of helping one another to know God, one who conveys God’s affirmation and God’s invitation — but it is affirmation with expectation. “We all need to grow, we can’t just affirm all the time,” Dr. Rodger Nishioka told us at Common Ground in London Ontario in June. Common Ground was a Canadian Ecumenical Youth Ministry Forum for those whose work, life and ministry connects them in some way with young people in the faith community. Dr. Nishioka, the Benton Family Associate Professor of Christian Education at Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia was a keynote speaker. And I was a grateful participant in this “body building” experience thanks to the sponsorship of our Eccleastical Province of Canada and the encouragement of my parish family in Shediac and Kent.
Dr. Nishioka believes Christian communities find it much easier to affirm our young people than to nurture expectations of them. Our youth ministry models are modeled after a one-eared Mickey Mouse, they are appendages to the worshiping congregation, but they need to grow up in the full life and witness of the congregation.
It was he who encouraged us to tell you we attended a body building conference because we reflected upon building the body of Christ as Godbearers. He told us to be less like Jesus and more like John the Baptist, who helped to point to God at work in the world.
Dr. Nishioka referenced the book “The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul Tending for Youth Ministry” by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster and I recommend it to anyone who is serious about sharing in functional ministry with young people in God’s world.
I also offer an encouraging analogy from Common Ground: To grow asparagus you must dig a row 18 inches deep and plant the asparagus in it, then you have to wait three years to see any sprouts poke through the ground. And as if that isn’t long enough to wait, it takes another two years before it can be harvested. Sharing ministry with young people takes as much patience as growing asparagus.
More than 150 of us attended Common Ground representing Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Saint Benedict’s Table and United Church faith communities. The spirit of ecumenism was alive and well and at its finest as we celebrated Eucharist together.
There were many moments of grace during this forum as well as networking and learning opportunities. Workshops focused on young adult ministry, engaging youth with Scripture, youth ministry as a solo congregational minister, tech teens and liturgy and the theology of play to name a few. It is not practical to share the whole experience in written form but I welcome further discussion with anyone who may wish to reflect further. Contact me at reverendcathy@gmail.com.
The Rev. Cathy Laskey is associate priest and coordinator of the Parish as a Family of Faith Program in the Parish of Shediac Sharing in Ministry with The Parish of Kent.
19 July 2011
Diocesan Communications
