Feeding Five Thousand Youth
Imagine communion Sunday in your congregation. All of the little details that make it come together so well; the elders who volunteer to serve, preparing the meal, making sure you have enough on hand, setting the table, and selecting the music. Whether you use wafers or bread, pass cups or line up for intinction, it is a holy moment, a sacred act we share together as a community of followers of Jesus.
Imagine that one week, you decide to get creative and worship outside. Just a few more details to add to the normal to-do list for preparations, but still manageable. Now imagine, there are 5,000 congregants, and you planned only one song to sing while serving the Lord’s Supper to the throngs who have come to the table.
Presbyterian Youth Triennium
If you can stretch your mind that big, you are just starting to scratch the surface of the planning and preparations that go into Presbyterian Youth Triennium. (Did I mention that the majority of the congregants in this communion scenario are high schoolers between grades 9 and 12?!) It happens every three years, and is happening in just a few weeks, July 16-20, 2019, at Purdue University in Indiana. The theme for the 2019 event is “Here’s My Heart”.
Triennium is five days of conversation, recreation, learning, worship, and fun! Drawing from the rich and diverse theology, history and education of the Presbyterian tradition, the Triennium experience is packed with information students long to explore. Youth have the opportunity to dig into their faith through a variety of activities and experiences – all focused around the theme “Here’s My Heart” (Recognize the line yet? Hint: It’s a lyric from a classic tune / hymn we sing). Participants at Triennium will re-enter their lives at home inspired and grounded in the context of personal and communal worship”.
Los Ranchos Presbytery Represents
Rev. Leanne Strommen, Interim Pastor at Community Presbyterian Church of San Capistrano, along with her co-coordinator, Susan Thornton, have been busy preparing the logistics for the group from the Presbytery of Los Ranchos. There are 18 students, 5 adult advisors, representing 5 churches in our area, as well as 4 EMT volunteers and 2 small group leaders. This is Strommen’s second time coordinating and attending Triennium.
“I think the biggest take-away is the opportunity to get outside of our own churches. To see that the Church is so much bigger than our own congregations, and that we are connected to all of these different people through our faith.” Strommen said. “That and the music. The sound of that many people worshipping together is very moving.”
Keep an eye out for a future article where we hear directly from some of our delegates about their experience at Triennium.