High School
High School Youth Group
This gathering of St. Luke’s high school students is way better than your usual high school church group. Each Wednesday we get together to check in about the events in our lives, then we spend some time connecting the stories in scripture to what’s happening in our lives here and now. Our conversations are fresh, relevant, and fun, and instead of shying away from the hard questions, we tackle them head-on: How do we know the Bible isn’t just made up? What good is prayer anyway? Just how can I be faithful in the midst of high school? Oh, and you’re never required to “share” – we welcome the talkers and the quiet ones just the same.
High School Youth Group is a great way for high school students to nurture their faith and connect themselves to peers at St. Luke’s. Come join us for food and conversation Wednesdays from 6:30 till 8:00 p.m.
Confirmation
St. Luke’s gathers a group of young people for confirmation every other year. It has been our custom to gather 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students to participate in the Confirmation process entitled I Will, With God’s Help. The Regional Confirmation for the Episcopal Church in Minnesota is set for Saturday, May 19, 2012 at the Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour in Faribault. (see 2012 schedule)
2010 Confirmation
Praying shapes believing…believing shapes praying…How many times did I hear this phrase repeated over and over again during my coursework in seminary? On Saturday, May 8th, 2010, though these words became flesh as each of our candidates for Confirmation made their way to stand or kneel in front of Bishop Brian. Lay and ordained people, 4 years to almost 90 years, parents, grandparents, god parents, sponsors, catechists, other candidates…gathered to lay hands on each person as they were confirmed. There was a palpable sense of god’s Spirit in our midst as we circled around each candidate…in silent and soft spoken prayer. The candidates spontaneously moved forward when the first person walked forward from the congregations of St. Peter’s and St. Luke’s…and they remained throughout the laying on of hands by Bishop Brian…making room for others who came forward from the assembly.
Where did they learn to do this? How were they compelled? What kind of theology of the church is this proclaiming? These candidates from St. Luke’s and St. Peter’s have been together in the formation process…from the beginning. On Ash Wednesday, it was they who imposed ashes on those who came forward, having promised that evening to set an example for us of the turning towards Jesus Christ which marks true conversion. On Maundy Thursday, they washed the feet of those who came forward, which is a sign of the servant-hood to which all Disciples of Christ are called. They’ve learned this theology of church when a sick or ill person comes forward for anointing and the laying on of hands and the members of the assembly are invited to come and pray with and for them.
What a wonderful witness these young people are, who made a mature public affirmation of the promises made for them at Baptism. The church of our present and future will grow and thrive to the extent that this theology of Church is born out again and again in every Faith Community. These 18 young people who were confirmed on that Saturday and The Episcopal Church in Minnesota…along with Bishop Brian…and the young people from Messiah in St. Paul and Calvary in Rochester and those older adults who were received into the Episcopal Church from other traditions…along with their parents and godparents and siblings and mentors and everyone else gathered to witness and uphold them in their life in Christ!
Praying shapes believing…and most importantly…believing shapes the way we pray as Faith Communities in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota.
