Leading Today
FUMC’s youth at a Trailblazers game.
Long partners in crime, Brent Tanaka and I were on deck to preach. We’d known each other since we could remember, having been raised up week after week in the comfortable wooden pews of First Church’s 1908 Beaux-Arts sanctuary. Seattle First Church, that is.
No longer toddling around the nursery, we were now part of a small-but-mighty group of youth who descended upon this old downtown church each Sunday with powdered sugar donut holes in one hand and Starbucks coffee in the other. To jazz it up, we painted a labyrinth on the wall of what we affectionately called “the Crow’s Nest”: a random, disconnected room in the corner of the upper balcony that served as the youth space. It was a long stair climb down to the main floor of the Sanctuary and an even longer climb down to the Blaine Room - notable, as it held more snacks.
No powdered sugar on our hands today, though. Today was Youth Sunday.
It was not unusual for us to participate in worship. We’d been in the regular liturgist rotation since elementary school, shared music through choir and bells and a special jazz ensemble when All Saints came around each year. This Sunday, though, we got to do it all. Our own musical choices, dropping a beat under some spoken word, and the obligatory skit. The adrenaline-fueled exhilaration only paused after all the congregation had poured through our handshake line, thrilled to see these no-longer-little-ones now large-ish and in charge (this was before the growth spurt that got me to my current height).
I have no memory of the content of my first sermons. What I do remember is the response of the congregation. Far from an empty church from folks ‘taking the day off”’ because the senior pastor wasn’t at the pulpit, they were present and engaged with every bit of enthusiasm they could muster. This communicated a clear and poignant message that as youth, we were not waiting in the wings to be the leaders of the church of tomorrow; we were leading the church today.
With no coincidence, it was also on that Youth Sunday that I first had the whisper of a thought of what ministry – and what life in the church past youth group – could look like for me. That taste of the Spirit’s movement through worship whet my appetite for a lifetime of liturgical love.
The folks in the Sanctuary that day may not have known how significant their willing participation in the creative, sometimes wonky, always heartfelt youth-led service was. Perhaps they did, which is why they showed up how they had. That church’s knack of ‘showing up’ got me through childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, transforming me into the church leader I am today. Their presence meant the world!
Sunday, May 18 is Youth Sunday at First Church (Portland’s First Church, that is). This time, I am the senior pastor who gets to take a front seat while our small-but-mighty youth descend upon this old downtown church this Sunday. They’ve pondered the scripture, picked the music, prepared their homilies, and rehearsed the liturgy. They are ready to lead us, not hanging out in the wings to lead some future church, but to lead us the church today.
To learn from and respond to the Spirit moving through those in our midst – no matter how old or young – is a gift of the rare intergenerational space that is church. All these years later, I am thrilled to experience this gift with you again each Sunday, and especially this Sunday.
Even more exciting, this Sunday is also the youth Spaghetti Fundraiser and baked-and-make goods silent auction! Join me and the rest of our community in Collins Hall after the 10:30 service to continue to witness to the leadership of our youth as they raise funds for their summer service-learning trip to the Yakama Reservation.
Cheer on these no-longer-little-ones who are now large-ish and in charge (some really are quite tall). Come ready to learn from their wisdom, eat their spaghetti, bid on baked-and-made goods, and delight in their creativity.
Your presence means the world!
With joy and gratitude,
Pastor Karyn