by Derick Kelly
My grandparents have always been some of the best storytellers that I know. I do not know if this is because they have lived so much more life than me and my friends or because the very art of storytelling is something that is practiced less and less today. Whatever the case, the stories they tell are powerful reminders of where I come from. I come from a long line of hard workers on a farm. I come from a long line of courageous military veterans. There is within me a desire to live into those stories myself. That is the power of story.
This fall in the Youth Ministry we will be walking through the entire Bible looking at and hearing the stories of the Bible. Together our leaders and the students will engage the stories to find what they tell us of who God is, who we are, and what the purpose for all things is. Big questions to be sure, and important ones for young people to be working through. It is amazing to me how powerful a young person’s reflection can be concerning these questions. A friend of mine tells a story about working with elementary age students. He shared the story of the prodigal son. After the story one kid remarked, “That dad is too good!” To that we say, Amen! In a world full of stories in movies and songs that are often lacking in depth, we need our young people to know the true stories of our faith. These stories shape us. They tell us about where we come from, inform who we desire to be, and most of all tell us to Whom we belong.
I am going to also be encouraging the students to read the Bible outside of church on their own. It is a pitch for spending about five minutes with the text most days. In this time they would be engaging with the same texts we discussed at our group meeting. The hope would be that they see more of the story and catch some of the nuanced details that may have been missed in the first go around. Through this I hope our young people will become familiar with the stories, as if the stories are in some ways connected to them, much like my grandparents’ farm and war stories that I always look forward to.
It is with eagerness that I ask for your prayers as I join your faith community. My wife and I have been invited in with such great love and acceptance. This is no small thing for us. For that we thank you. I look forward to sharing the word of our Lord with the young people among us, and ask that in whatever way you can that you do the same. To God be the Glory!
