Rejoicing in Hope
I had the privilege of attending the 2025 ELCIC National Convention at the University of Manitoba earlier in July as an under-30 delegate. With this being my first National Convention, I sure was in for a treat.
We had two sessions with the consultants of the new ELCIC Facing Today—Dreaming for the Future initiative, where we had the opportunity to have meaningful discussions about what worship looks like in our home congregations today, and how it might look in the future. One topic was “where do we see signs of life in our congregation?” My table members discussed community outreach, member involvement, and their pastors.
Without a pastor, my congregational community has stepped up to plan and lead worship services, have community events, and comfort each other in times of struggle. To me, this was a huge sign of life in our congregation.
This National Convention marked the closest the ELCIC has come to reaching their goal of having 20 percent of the delegates 30 years old and under, where there were 29 out of the 150. We had time as a group to connect and share stories of our personal faith journeys—realizing that it is never a straightforward path. Bishop Susan Johnson addressed the under-30 delegates on Thursday: “I invite you to continue to be brave, be courageous, speak out, call for justice like you do, and I invite you to continue to pray for our church. It’s our church, it’s your church. We need you.” We did, in fact, use our voices, bringing our opinions and perspectives to table discussions and debates during motions. We even submitted two motions to encourage the voice of young adults.—Caitlin Kostna
The importance of Biblical literacy
One week, I was asked to give the Sunday school lesson provided by the curriculum aimed at Grades 5 and 6. The curriculum compared the temptation of “playing video games” and “activities with friends” with Jesus being tempted by the Devil. The suggested activity was to create temptation tiles with my students and write prayers asking for help to avoid fun things that I didn’t consider evil.
I did not teach this lesson. I decided to write my own lesson in the 15 minutes I had before class started. As a young adult who chooses to stay involved in the church, I began teaching Sunday school as a way of expanding my contribution and connection in my local congregation. But the more I reflected on the experience I was having as a Sunday school teacher, the more questions I began asking about my overall perspective on children’s ministry. What lessons were we teaching our kids? In my own faith journey, I remember being a student who felt abandoned by the church.
When I became a Sunday school teacher, I promised myself I wouldn’t use guilt and fear to force my students to believe. I wanted to use grace and mercy to inspire a desire for justice, which is what I found compelling about the Biblical stories. I wanted to teach my students that they can change the world, defeat giants, disagree with kings and leave fiery furnaces untouched.
My plea for the church is to make better spaces for kids.
I’m grateful to be in a congregation that is inviting me to share my ideas and passions as a Sunday school teacher. I am encouraged by the ways I see the synod and church invite young adult participation. But I hope we continue to take what Jesus said seriously:
Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs (Matthew 19:14).
—Cyan Gargol
Loading ...