"Train Up a Child in the Way He Should Go . . ."

So begins verse 6 of the 22nd Psalm. The verse finishes,"and when he is older, he will not depart from it." As an educator in the Church, that verse is always floating around in my head, but it was the focus of my thoughts today. At SUMC, we worship this morning was led by our youth. Many of our teens offered their gifts as liturgists, ushers, preacher, children's homilists, readers and musicians. As it always is when youth stand before us in the Sanctuary, it was a special blessing to see the image of Jesus emerging in these young people whom we have watched grow up.

Youth Sunday often reminds us that time passes quickly. Many of us remember these young people's baptisms. Now, they stand before us - tall, poised, literate and accomplished. They have a message to share about their experience of Jesus and where they meet him both in the Church and in the World. They invite us to look with new eyes on the world and the faith we have passed on to them.

We are proud of our young people on Youth Sunday, but I wonder if when we look we see beyond the surface of our pride in them. Our children and youth live in a world many of us could never have imagined. In Sudbury, these young people lead lives of privilege; they play every sport known, belong to drama, choral and musical societies, they learn in an excellent school system with plenty of worthy projects in which they can be involved, they have every recreational device known to God and man, and the opportunity to travel and vacation far from home. When we look at these young people, there lives seem full of opportunity. What could they need from us?

The major task of teens is to form an authentic identity. A common myth of our culture is that teens need to move away from adults into their network of peers to do this work - and so, against our own judgment at times, we let them wander off into the Youth culture, praying they will be safe and make it back to us.

The myth is WRONG. Yes, teenagers need to move away from family for a bit during this time. But it is not only their peers they need to shape their adult identity. They need a constant group of trusted (by both kids and their parents)group of mentors who will keep them company on their journey of discovery. These adults help our young people learn the skills of adulthood; how to plan and carry out, how to make good decisions and what to do when they fall flat on their faces, how to resolve conflict, what questions to ask so that they act in accordance with their own beliefs. And they need Christian, faith-filled adults who will not tell them what to believe, but who will share what they have learned on their own journeys of faith.

It takes a special kind of adult to continue the "training up" our young people. Might you be one of those special folk with the call to mentor our youth? If you are, please let me know.

Faithfully,
Elizabeth