Church listens to voices of young people

For the first time, youth and young adults were actively involved with the proceedings at General Convention in gatherings designed around faith, fellowship and firsthand experience in ECUSA legislation.

From across the nine provinces, 250 high school students had an opportunity to voice opinions to legislative committees as part of “Count Me Faithful,” a 5-day event that included worship, games and guest speakers.

The first Young Adults’ Festival gathered 100 18- to 30-year-olds from the nine provinces, Tanzania and the United Kingdom in a special ministry with an age group that is often neglected.

“I really liked being at the hearings,” said Molly Beth Shafer of Lookout Mountain, Tenn. “I loved (speaking) on behalf of campus ministry ... something that’s very important to me.”

As ECUSA begins an awareness campaign on the importance of youth, CMF and YAF participants have made it clear that they care about the future of the church.

• Go to General Convention round-up story
• Youth report from Convention