Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry - Part 2

Welcome back. Wednesday ended up being tourist day. We decided to stick to downtown Princeton, the Seminary and University. Here is an interesting way to view the dynamics of Princeton academia. In one of the libraries, we came across history at its finest. Two microfiche machines, one old computer, and one modern computer. A blending of the old with the new. It seems to be a reflection of the struggle for the seminary that is so steeped in tradition. There are walls everywhere with paintings of former donors to the Seminary, or past professors. I was wondering when digital pictures would be taking the place of these oil paintings.

The next set of pictures are from the University Campus. It's a much larger place. We only scratched the surface of the buildings that could have been toured. The stone buildings and architecture were simply amazing. So much history is contained in this small city of Princeton.

Stone work like this reminded me of the stonework of our own parliament buildings here in Ottawa.

A courtyard where students roam and study.

Another amazing building with precise stone work. Many of the sayings are in Latin.

Apparently there was a famous battle that took place here. Not sure about all the details though. This is a monument erected to commemorate it.

Joycegina and this "person" enjoying an afternoon of reading. This bronzed statue was humorous. The "paper" has actual news on it.

It seems that Einstein studied at Princeton for at time.

More wonderful building architecture.

A library/study hall. This reminded me of the Parliament Hill Library, though this was smaller.

The stained glass ceiling of that building.

This is known as the University "Chapel." Yeah, Right! More accurately labeled a Cathedral.

See what I mean. Amazing stonework and stained glass windows.

A mass was being held as we walked in. I watched. Joycegina stayed outside as it was hot in the "chapel."

We were privileged to be able to hear an afternoon organ concert with Kathleen Scheide. She put the huge organ through it's paces. We just sat there and drank in the sounds. The organ is off to the left, behind the staircase.

Notice the ornate woodwork on the staircase. It was everywhere.

One of the doors into the "chapel." Amazing.

Soon it was time for lunch. Princeton's shops are many, and quaint. This place was just perfect for lunch.

Here is a quaint square filled with expensive shops. There seems to be lots of $$ in Princeton.

After walking around some more, touring a small museum about the city and women's rights in America, we came across this little store. The Bent Spoon. A place that gets its patrons by word of mouth mostly.

It's known for it's ice cream. Boy was it good. The flavours were very unique. Here's a link if you want to know more about the store.

www.thebentspoon.net

We ate at a couple of places while in Princeton, but this place, right beside our hotel, was the best. I'll end this entry with my last two seminars and some closing thoughts. The first seminar was entitled, "What Jesus Will You Teach?" I wasn't sure what to expect from this seminar, but I was pleasantly surprised. We spent a good deal of our time watching a Rob Bell DVD from his NOOMA series (which I happen to have in my office, but haven't gotten to yet). This DVD was was about walking in the dust of the Rabbi. How the Rabbi chooses his disciples based on their excellence. Only the best of the best became disciples of Rabbi's. Who did Jesus Choose.... those who had not been selected. But they were willing to follow in the dust of the Master. If you want to see that DVD, I would be more than happy to let you watch it. It's powerful. Jesus chose young men to be his disciples. If they could do it, why can't we as church leaders be choosing the same to be in more key ministry roles? That's something that Calvin has been working on. We certainly have more youth involved in places than we did before, but again, there is still more work to be done. Already now we need to be figuring out what young people's passions are and then help them to work them out in ministry contexts. Yep, he's right! Why do we think that only adults can minister out of their gifting. Young people certainly can. His closing thought was that many people don't want to get covered in the dust of their Rabbi (Jesus) because they'd then have to go where He did....... The Final seminar I went to was called, "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" FYI, I'm not thinking of leaving Calvin CRC just yet : ) but it's always good to know when it's time to leave, or how to stay well. That was the motivation behind taking this seminar. The one thing I took away from this seminar is that my leaving from my former position was done well for the most part, and that any decision to leave this ministry position has not raised itself yet (not to my knowledge anyway :). Conclusions: So, here's the overall summary of learnings I've gleaned from my time at Princeton. 1. Relationships are VERY important in the life of the church. : ) 2. Calvin is doing pretty good in the area of relationships, but there's always room for improvement. What can you and I do to help facilitate that? 3. God honoring worship comes in many different ways. 4. I have a cause/effect relationship in Calvin's many different systems and I need to be more aware of my influence on, or detraction from them. 5. Teens want communion. The church needs to be a place of "the face." The church needs to embrace the technologies of the day to minister to teens. 6. I love my job, but maybe a bit too much! : ) 7. Sexuality, teens, and the church needs more attention. 8. Young people are able to and want to be part of the community of faith sooner than later. What does that mean for Calvin? 9. Family ministry is very important. What does that look like at Calvin? 10. I'm content in my ministry life right now at Calvin. I hope you who read this, and are from Calvin, can concur. : ) So, there you have it. My reflections on a great conference. I know it was long (I've been accused of being wordy you know: ) ) but I hope it proved thoughtful for you in some places. It certainly has for me. . .