Many years ago (well…not that many, I am only 30 after all), I was part of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska‘s delegation to the Episcopal Youth Event, a huge gathering of kids involved in the Episcopal church. Not merely a local event, the EYE works on a three-year cycle: one year locally, with Diocese level gatherings; one year regionally; and every third year, the EYE is a national event that often becomes international, with attendees coming in from all over the globe. If I’m remembering correctly, I was about 16 at the time (I think this happened the summer after my sophomore year in high school), and the EYE that year was in Missoula, Montana.
That trip has always been one that I’ve looked back on fondly. It was a lot of fun, it affected me fairly strongly in a few ways, and there were three key events that helped both to shape me, and contributed strongly to my continuing to stay a part (if, admittedly, not a very active part in recent years) of the Episcopal Church.
The first thing that impressed me was the level of devotion that some of the attendees had. I don’t mean that to sound like they were ultra-conservative “Bible Thumpers”, either — merely that the church was a strong enough part of their life that they were willing to entirely transform their lives in order to attend this event. There were two or three people there who had come from Jordan (I believe) to this event, and because of the political climate in the world at the time, they were not going to be able to go home afterwards. Quite mind boggling to me at the time, and even still to this day.
The second impression that made a huge impact on me was how wonderfully inclusive the atmosphere was. While the Episcopal church, like all large organizations, encompasses people across all walks of the conservative/liberal spectrum (for instance, I and my family are all quite liberal “West Coast Episcopalians”, while George Bush Sr. is a far more conservative “East Cost Episcopalian”), I had always gotten the impression that the Episcopal church was very open and accepting. This was driven home during the EYE for me. One of the adult RA’s for the EYE was an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous girl who went by the name of Xena (or possibly Zena, this was years before Xena the Warrior Princess was on TV); dressed all in black; wore whiteface and impeccably applied Egyptian-style eyeliner with deep, blood red lipstick; and had her head shaved on one side and long on the other with her hair dyed an incredible iridescent emerald green. I figured if someone like that was not just a member, but was put in a position of authority for the event, than this was likely an organization that I could stick with.
I also think that my life-long attraction to Goth women is based partly on Xena, and partly on Mia Sara in the 80’s fantasy movie Legend, when she’s dressed in the black dress with the plunging neckline — but I digress. ;)
The third thing that has always stuck with me was when the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church addressed all of us in a huge gathering at the amphitheater. While most people would have an immediate preconceived notion of nearly any Bishop as a somewhat dour, stuffy man, the PB was anything but that. Striding back and forth across the stage as he talked, laughing and joking with all of us, and keeping us all involved with what he was saying. During his talk, he was speaking about how so many people tend to look down on the youth of the church, discounting them because they aren’t adults yet.
“Many people say that that all of you are the church of tomorrow,” he said, and we all applauded. After the applause died down, he strode toward the front of the stage. “Well, I say that that’s bullshit!” he yelled. Then, barely pausing while we were all processing the fact that the PB of the Episcopal Church just cursed in front of a few thousand kids, he went on to declare, “I say that the youth of today are the church of today!”
The place damn near exploded.
Here we had someone very high in the church who didn’t talk down to us. He didn’t treat us as if we were inconsequential to the church at large, only to be paid attention to because someday we’d grow into good, responsible, tithing Episcopalians. Rather, he wanted us involved, wanted us to take an interest and be a part of the church we’d all grown up in, and in many cases, had more or less taken for granted. It was a wonderful moment.
What put all this into my head was a report from a Generation Dean rally at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH that was posted on the Dean blog today.
Dean says, “People say you [young people] are the foot soldiers of the campaign. Baloney. You are driving this campaign… and you are the driving force who are going to inherit this country after this election. And the kind of country you inherit is very much up to you….”
[…]
The Governor ends by telling the more than 1,000 students and young people and people of all ages that “you have the power to change this country,” and now as the music starts up again he’s down in front, being mobbed by people who want to shake his hand, surrounded by photographers snapping pictures for the wires and the local and university press. It’s incredible.
Also, this bit from a wrapup post at the Generation Dean blog:
Dean opened his speech thanking the young people in the room for driving his campaign. UNH has received or will receive every single presidential candidate, but it was clear that Dean’s message of not using young people as campaign “footsoldiers” was a point not made before on this campus. That message clearly resonated with everyone in the room.
It is incredible. It’s always incredible when people can stop and take the time to recognize that if you can talk to today’s youth rather than at them, if you can take them seriously, and if you can tap that enthusiasm, energy, and initiative, that you can muster a force that is truly one to be reckoned with. The PB knew that at EYE, and it looks like Dean and the people at Generation Dean know it and are doing everything they can to put that boundless energy to good use, and to knock Bush on his elitist little keister in 2004.
Keep it up.
