Weave Week Wins!

Dispatches from Weave Week

I cannot tell you how grateful I am to God for the gift that has been Weave Week, thus far. I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that the future of the church has both arrived and is in good hands. I wish everyone in the presbytery could experience just a taste of the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love that these kids are displaying to each other and everyone we have welcomed into our number. From service, to learning, to worship, to fellowship, the youth of the presbytery have been rockstars.

Our week together started with a deep and meaningful sermon from the Rev. Inho Kang, the pastor of Harrisburg Korean Presbyterian Church, about our mandate from God to take care of the earth and all the creatures in it. We then began our weaving through Central Pennsylvania with a trip to City Island in Harrisburg where we acknowledged the land that we were on while naming the indigenous tribes that lived here before we have, had lunch together, and had a worship service led by the Rev. Kevin Long, pastor of the Intertwined faith community who taught about ecological justice and our responsibility to be a voice for those without a voice. We then headed back to Messiah University and spent the afternoon learning about their ecological commitment to sustainable living on campus.

Our second day started with a challenging sermon from the newly ordained Rev. Destini Hodges on Jesus’s welcoming love for everyone. Then we heard a keynote address from Dr. Drew Hart, Associate Professor of Religion at Messiah University about the relationship between historic racial challenges and Christianity. After lunch, we spent a couple of hours serving at the mission Gather in the Spirit in the Allison Hill neighborhood in Harrisburg. We concluded out afternoon with a walking tour of the Capital grounds that looked at the racial history of the area around the Capital and the former eighth ward. We finished off our day with a meal at Monaghan Presbyterian Church and discussion time in our small groups.

Today we are looking at issues around immigration and finishing off our day serving dinner at a migrant farming camp in Apsers. In between the beginning of the week and now there have been singing, and energizers, and games, and swimming, and more laughter than you could measure. We are truly grateful to the synod for making this week possible and cannot wait to see the relationships that have formed and continue to grow in this space. And thanks for all the prayers that have surrounded us this week. The spirit is definitely moving through here. Peace, y'all.