DIOSWVA Youth’s Weblog

I love my job…have I told you that lately? Mass on the Mountain is quickly becoming one of my favorite youth events. What better way to celebrate our diocese than in it’s incredible beauty and with our bishop? This past weekend over 50 members of this diocese, youth and adults alike, came together at Cave Mountain Lake campground outside of Natural Bridge. Our setting was truly beautiful which only amplified our theme of “Leave Only Footprints”. Together we strove to hold a youth event where paper plates, cups, plastic silverware were not used. Plates made of recycled materials were used, organic material was composted, what was packed in was packed out. Throughout the weekend we celebrated the beauty of the creation around us and challenged ourselves to the task of stewardship.

Saturday morning was truly beautiful, especially when you wake to the smell of bacon! Our chief cook, Jim Church woke early to insure that everyone was well fed before the hike. Lunches were assembled, daypacks were made ready and off we went to Bluff Mountain.

The Bishop and his wife Dorothy greeted us at the trailhead with big smiles and boundless energy. We began our hike with a blessing and then began the arduous climb to the top of Bluff Mountain. The trail was not an easy one, but well worth the view.

The Bishop led us in a simple and meaningful Eucharist. Perhaps the most touching moment of the service was when a through hiker on the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine casually strolled into our service, put down his walking poles and backpack and relaxed as we listened to Bishop Powell’s sermon. Our DioSwVa community welcomed him with open arms as we exchanged the peace. He shared with us for a moment that God’s beauty is all around us, but we have to take the time to see what it is. I think that is what we call a God moment!

We began our journey back down the mountain by joining hands and forming a “prayer line”. We passed along our joy and prayers noted by the squeeze of a hand. I am pleased to say that no one was injured on the trail, well, except for me who clumsily tripped over a root, caught air and landed on my knee and elbow.

Back at camp, everyone enjoyed the opportunity to relax and swim at the lake, nap in their tent, or take advantage of the wonderful hot showers at Cave Mountain Lake. Yet there was much more magic and goodness to this day.

The skies were becoming more and more overcast and many folks had referred to the fact that it was going to pour on Saturday night. We prepared for the rain and kept our hopes high. They were definitely lifted when the folks from St. John’s in Glasgow showed up with an incredible feast of tacos galore! The joy on the faces of Courtney and Martha and their families was priceless. All of us compose this diocese and without one of our congregations we would not be DioSwVa. That was evidenced by the generosity of our new friends. Mass on the Mountain II would not have been so wonderful with out their generosity.

The one regret that I had for the weekend was that we were not able to stargaze. There was always next time I consoled myself. We even sang “Singing in the Rain” as the sprinkles fell upon us. Yet, not a moment later, the clouds began to evaporate and no exaggeration- the stars appeared. With a sense of gratitude we spread out our tarps on the nearby field and took our places to let the stars tell their story. We prayed, we cried and we gave thanks for God’s grace.

So, once again a wonderful youth event has come and gone, and I find myself a couple of days later marveling at God’s goodness and giving thanks for allowing my path to lead to DioSwVa.

Mass on the Mountain III will be held in September at Bear Mountain with our Monacan friends. I will post the date as soon as we have it confirmed

Check out the slideshow of pictures from Mass on the Mountain II

Marty Siebken opened Augusta Convocation’s messy games with the announcement that Aimee was not able to attend, to which there was a collective “AAWWWW!” Aimee, you were missed, but as you can see from the pictures, the youth managed to get messy and have some fun!

Now enjoy some pictures from the Augusta Convocation…

Here’s an announcement for those of you who were unable to attend: The Augusta Convocation will be hosting a Stop Hunger Now event in the Fall! Visit this site for more information: Fall Stop Hunger Now Event Tell your folks, plan to help out by volunteering at the event, fundraising, or with prayer! Mark your calendars for September 7, 2008 at Emmanuel Staunton.

Hi! St Marks Fincastle is on board now with this Blog! yippy! WIll post our activities -coming soon!

Mary Claytor,

Volunteer Youth Worker, St. Mark’s Fincastle

Madison Roberts of Christ Church, Blacksburg beams with pride at her messiness!

Last Sunday, April 13th, I had the joy of visiting St. Thomas Christiansburg. Upon arriving I found a group of girls rehearsing the offertory hymn, none other than “Table of Grace”. I offered to play the guitar for them as accompaniment. From that moment on I knew that this day was going to be incredible, and it was! Let me brag about St. Thomas for a moment- every Wednesday night they offer youth group. It begins with youth choir rehearsal with David Jones (”He’s really cool!” according to the youth there) after which dinner is served and youth group begins. I commend St. Thomas for offering a place for their youth to come on a weekly basis, a place that they know is always there should they choose to be there and from what I understand, many of them are there. Great job St. Thomas!

At 2:30 the delegates began to arrive for the convocation meeting, greeted by an incredible spread of food. A few youth trickled in looking a bit unsure of what to expect. The weather was not cooperating with us that day. You have to realize that I am from Alabama and in Alabama come April it is already hot and messy games outside with water and shaving cream is not an issue. Not so here in southwestern Virginia! But, being DioSwVa, the best diocese you’ve never heard of, we pulled through with some messiness even though we were inside. Yes, shaving cream and ice cream were tossed around but thankfully, there was not a trace of it left after we cleaned up. Thanks to some incredible help from volunteer youth workers Bobbie Wines (St. Thomas Christiansburg), Maureen Perry (Christ Church, Blacksburg) and Debbie Norton (Christ Church, Martinsville) I knew all would be well. I couldn’t have done it with you ladies! Thanks for offering us your Sunday afternoon.

As for the youth, thanks for playing along, you were excellent sports!

Here is some evidence of our messiness:

Abbie Priest of St. Thomas, Christiansburg becomes a human sundae!

Micki Stalvey of St. Thomas, Christiansburg is still smiling despite her obvious run in with chocolate sauce and ice cream. This human ice cream sundae was created by her sister Hannah who seemed to really enjoy herself! Ahh….revenge!

We love you Papa Tom. Father Tom Mustard, on the edge of retirement from being Pastor of St. John’s Bedford, was serenaded by the older youth of his church on Sunday April 6. The song was “Table of Grace” which was the theme of Y@C this past year. The youth really wanted to give him a gift from just them and this seemed perfect.

Judging from the tears in his eyes and in the rest of the congregations the idea apparently was right on the money. Their effort has been the talk of the Church. Thanks to Aimee for giving up her time to give us a few pointers.

Peace

Jim Church

Volunteer Youth Worker at St. John’s Bedford

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Next Mass on the Mountain- May 1st-3rd Cave Mountain Lake Campground(click on Mass on the Mountain)

Dates for Summer Mission Trip New Orleans: July 26th-August 3rd (click on Mission Trip for more info)

Meet your YMT for 2008-2009: How May We Serve You?

In light of our new logo, we hope that you will see YMT as composed of all of us- youth, youthworkers, parents, clergy, siblings,
grandparents. We all compose the youth ministry team of this diocese.
Welcome to the team! How may we serve you

The Diocese of Southwestern Virginia is composed of 57 parishes. Although we are a small diocese, our passion for youth ministry and our realization of the importance it holds for our church are large. It is our hope that you will join with us as we seek and serve one another and the world around us. There is so much to be done and so much to share in the meantime. This website is our latest effort to do so.

If you have any questions about programs or how you can become involved on the diocesan level, do not hesitate to call us at 1-800-DIO-SWVA. Ask for Aimee Bostwick, Diocesan Youth Coordinator.