| The 2013-2014 program year, in St. James' Parish, has been a busy one for Christian formation, for children and youth, and the leaders that guide and nourish them. Last June, for the first time, we experienced and hosted a multi-church Vacation Bible School with incredible theatrical skits and music, teaching more than sixty children how to "stand strong for God." Our program year began last September with the Celebration of Womanhood and Manhood, a servicefor the youth leaving the Rite-13 class and entering the J2A class. The celebration was the first in nine years at St. James'. We had three young women and five young men participate, along with family and friends who came to support this rite of passage. With the beginning of the school year, we blessed backpacks, tote bags, briefcases, and even a few purses! Each one of the blessed items received a laminated tag that stated it had been blessed at St. James' Church, "where I am loved and where life-long learning is important." The tags are a great reminder to those that carry them into the world, that we are loved by God and our St. James' community. We also had our annual acolyte training followed by a cookout and hike on Portland Manor Farm. Our confirmation classes began in September, with five youth and three adults. Confirmation classes met monthly and will end when the Bishop visits and lays hands on our confirmands on June 15th. The youth confirmands ended their time together with a celebration of dinner and a movie at my house. For Adult Forum, facilitated by Dean Lewis, we studied What's So Amazing About Grace? by Phillip Yancy, and have just completed The Meaning of Jesus by NT Wright and Marcus Borg. Along the way we are learning more about God through the lens of Scripture and the person of Jesus Christ. We had a fairly regular group of open-minded and open-hearted seekers. The Ven. Kerry Smith facilitated a twenty-eight week course based on the book, The Bible  for DUMMIES. Don't judge a book by its cover. The book is full of thorough theological, academic, and historical information written for the average person to understand. This concise overview of the Bible provided a launch pad for lively discussions about the messages in the Bible and how they apply to our everyday lives. Although the Bible for Dummies book provided an easy to read and enjoyable approach to the Bible, it also allowed many of the group who had tried to read through the Bible but were unable to complete it, the opportunity to see the entire book in its overall context and appreciate many of the deep and complex stories as they apply to our lives today. A devoted group of thirty regularly attended the weekly discussion and enjoyed it so much they have started a new course, facilitated by Dean and Nan Lewis. The new group call themselves, 3D (Dummies Dig Down), and is reading William Barclay's The Gospel of Mark. In October, we saw the return of the Women's Breakfast and Bible Study. The Women's Breakfast took place on the first Saturday of the month. Each month, Linda Rines prepared wonderful crafts for the participants. I, along with several volunteers, helped facilitate discussion that centered on a different woman of the Bible every month. We enjoyed fellowship and lively conversation.  Atrium Fellowship for children pre-K through fifth grade also began in October with a trip to the Greenstreet Gardens' Fall Festival where we got lost in the corn maze! Atrium Fellowships took place the first Sunday of the month after Church school and focused on a particular theme appropriate to the season in the Church.
October also ushered in the annual All Hallows' Eve party for the young children, and the Youth Lock-in. The party was a huge success, with great food, music, games, and a photo booth, followed by the Trunk-n-Treat in the back parking lot. Many of our parishioners and families decorated their trunks with spooky decorations, lights, animated creepy things, and of course lots of treats!  For the lock-in our middle and high school youth went to Heidi's Haunted Hills for a walk on the haunted trail, followed by a meal and then a movie in the parish hall. We spent the night in sleeping bags, on the floor of the parish hall. Our lock-in ended with breakfast in the morning. In December, I facilitated the Iona Advent Quiet Day. Seventeen participants came to St. James' Church to experience a morning of reflection and silence. Our morning began and ended with worship from the Iona Community Worship book. Many forms of meditative and contemplative practices were available to the participants, as well as resources for developing spiritual practices. My intent was to share my experience of pilgrimage on the isle of Iona, Scotland, with our community. During Lent, we had a Lenten Dinner Program. Every Wednesday for five weeks, we gathered for a meal of delicious soups and bread followed by the video program, Embracing the Prophets in Contemporary Culture with Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann. The program fostered great fellowship and discussion. Each month through the program year, the youth had at least one or two youth events to enjoy. The Christian Formation Committee decided to go with quality, rather than quantity, with our youth fellowships. Instead of meeting regularly for a "youth group" we planned events that brought us together for something fun and had a meaningful message.  Sometimes, this did not always work out the way we intended. One month, we had the plan to see a Christian rock concert only to arrive to an empty venue (the concert was canceled without any notice), so we ended up at a movie theater watching Thor: The Dark World in 3D! The youth did manage to see a Christian rock concert a month later.  Other fellowship events included taking a trip to Sight & Sound to see the Miracle of Christmas, the Bishop's Bash, and ice skating at Quiet Waters  Park.  In February, the Senior High youth went to WiSP Ski Resort for Presidents' Day weekend. The conditions for skiing could not have been better. While there, WiSP received a foot of fresh powder! We had wonderful fellowship together over hot chocolate, games, food, movies, and worship every day. In addition to all the St. James' sponsored youth events, many of our youth participated in all the diocesan sponsored events with Wes Wubbenhorst+ including the Nightwatch in Philadelphia, the Nightwatch at St. John the Divine in NYC, the Province III Senior High Retreat, Happening #7 (youth version of Cursillo), and New Beginnings #1. And, we have two youth participating in the triennial National Church event, EYE: Episcopal Youth Event in Philadelphia in July. They will join over a thousand youth from all over the country. Our youth demonstrated excellent leadership abilities in several youth sponsored and  organized events including the Pancake Supper that changed things up a little by going with a buffet style dinner. This year's Pancake Supper received excellent reviews, many people saying this was the best one to date! The youth raised $1220 to fund youth programs and events. For a second year, the young women of the Senior High organized and hosted the Prom Dress Give Away, helping 30 plus young women from five surrounding high schools. In addition to gowns, shoes, accessories, and makeup, a set of prom tickets were given to five young women. A set of prom tickets were purchased from each of the five high schools through donations received. Our J2A class organized and operated a Car Wash & Bake Sale to raise funds for their 2015 Pilgrimage. They raised $600 that has been put into a fund designated for their pilgrimage to where - we don't know yet, but they are dreaming big, as they should!  Again, this year our youth did a Supermarket Sweep to buy groceries for the SCAN Food Bank as well stock the shelves. Our youth have volunteered for helping with the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter baskets, not to mention they have served on Sundays as acolytes, readers, and ushers.  
In April, we had our very first Baptism Workshop designed to prepare candidates, family, and sponsors for the Sacrament of Baptism. The morning long event began with a welcome with breakfast foods, a lesson on the symbols of baptism, a review of the Baptismal Covenant and the Catechism, rehearsal in the church, and making keepsake banners for each candidate. The workshop was well received by the participants and ended with wonderful fellowship.  In May, we sponsored a Christian Formation Field Trip to the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, located in N.E. Washington, D.C. Twenty-five parishioners took a tour of the monastery that includes full scale replicas of the holy sites found in the Holy Land. In June, we will celebrate our youth who will be moving on to the next chapter of their lives as they graduate from High School. We will not see them as often and they will be greatly missed, but we hope that they will carry with them the love, encouragement, and nourishment they have received from God and from St. James' Parish, and will return to us when they are able to visit. We will keep them in our hearts and in our prayers. In addition to all events for our children and youth, nothing can replace regular worship in  church and participating in church school. Our church school leaders have put in countless hours of nurturing and leading our children and youth. Although you may not always see them in the pews, children and youth are in the classrooms. Recently the leaders (catechists) of the Atrium classrooms (pre-k through 5th grade), officiated the Liturgy of the Light and had record attendance, twenty-four children!  St. James' Parish is blessed with children and youth, and with the leaders who have given so much of themselves to care for them. My prayer for the 2014-2015 program year is that we will continue to grow in our formation as Christians and as a parish family that supports children and youth in forming a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. May your summer be full of blessings and a lot of fun. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Alleluia, Alleluia!! The Rev. Dawn A. Campbell Assistant Rector | 
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