For the love of God

Lutheran, The, Dec 2000 by Staples, Mark A

Seminary helps youth discover theology in everyday life

"before the academy, I thought of theology as something in a textbook," says student Ben Jones, eagerness shining from his face as he describes a summer program that invites youth to fall in love with theology. "Now I see it as part ot lie, something you can put into practice. I feel like I have a deeper relationship with God."

With a grant from the Lilly endowment Inc., The Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia held the first theological academy this year at Wagner College, Staten Island, N.Y.

One of 17 youth who participated in the two-week event, Jones, a high school senior and member of Lord of Life Tabernacle Lutheran Church, Tabernacle, N.J., said the experience also gave him a deeper sense of Christian community with the other participants, high school youth from ELCA congregations from seven synods in the Northeast, as well as area Episcopal and Mennonite congregations.

Through worship, study, reflection, group discussions and visits to congregations, participants developed new understandings of theology.

"I understand how God through Jesus suffered on earth for us in order to have a closer connection with us," Jones says. "Through that suffering God showed us that God knows firsthand what we go through. God is not up there. God is down here with us.

"God seems easier to relate to now."

High school senior Arianna Griffin, a member of Reformation Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, says the program helped her think more deeply about life. Knowing of her interest in theology, Griffin's pastor, Gordon Simmons, encouraged her to attend the program. "We've discussed all kinds of questions [at the academy]," Griffin says. "What is God's mission for each of us? Is our future predestined? How do we use our gifts to help others?"

Led by three seminary instructors and one Wagner pro fessor, the program also matched youth with mentors wh( are students at Philadelphia Seminary. That, together witt the content, helped the depth of the event surpass what H. William Bixby, the academy's director, expected.

"It had a passionate quality. The scholars dived deeply into the Psalms and into the stories of and theology aboul Jesus," Bixby says. "We tasted the whole meaning of the gospel here ... it was exhilarating ... in a way that captured what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and mind and strength.

"Our goal is to celebrate and amplify the theological and leadership gifts of high school youth of our churches."

The initiative

Theological Education with Youth at The Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia also includes programs at two ELCA outdoor ministry centers-Bear Creek Camp near Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Calumet Lutheran Camp in West Ossipee, N.H.

Funded by a $506,000 Lilly Endowment grant, both the academy and camp programs will continue to be developed and honed over a three-year period. For information, contact Mark Staples at (215) 248-6311 or visit www.Itsp.edu/teyrmdex.html.

Staples is director of communication for The Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia.