At a Glance
Theme:
Living into God’s Call
Faculty Speaker:
Dr. Amy Laura Hall, Associate Professor of Theological Ethics
Lectionary Texts:
Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3-4:1; Matthew 10:1-14
Dr. Fred Edie anoints
Ben Jones to take up
his baptismal ministry. |
A mentor group enjoys
a hug and a prayer
during evening worship. |
Taylor Coil and Hannah
Barnwell enjoy ice cream
after evening worship. |
Reflections on the Lecture
Dr. Amy Laura Hall opened her lecture by challenging the idea that “youth are our future.” Contrary to the popular rhetoric of the day, she argues, students must learn to see that Jesus is the future. How does this generation learn to be driven not by achievement or success, but by serving the risen Lord? How do we begin to ask difficult questions about where and how we ought to be investing our time and talents?
In small groups, students discussed two articles by Jonathan Kozol and Anna Quindlen concerning the pressures and patterns of youth culture today. They also considered the call to faithfulness rather than the call to worldly success as they prepared to return home.
Quotable Quotes
“I don’t even know what I would begin to say to them, because youth today are defined as a cohort. They are a group with their own language, their own music, their own clothing, their own way of being. That is foreign to me. I have no idea what to say to these who share my baptism, who share my tub and my table.”
— Dr. Hall, paraphrasing the response of a Duke faculty member seven years ago when approached to speak to DYA students.
“You think it is your job to save the world. That position’s been taken.”
— Dr. Hall, during plenary
“You need a posse. When you go back home…and try to see yourself as a treasured child of God…you’re going to need a posse to help you.”
— Dr. Hall, during plenary
“Chicks dig Godly men.”
— One male DYA student to another
“I don’t know where God is going to lead me, but as long as I stay in Christ, it’s gonna be OK.”
— DYA student Hannah Barnwell
Other Activities
Students spent the afternoon packing, playing and preparing for our final evening together. The DYA artists-in-residence held a panel for students to ask questions about sacred art and art as vocation. In the evening, the DYA staff led our closing worship service, in which students celebrated Eucharist with their mentor groups. DYA Assistant Director Elizabeth Ingram Schindler preached on Matthew 10, reflections on the DYA experience, and the ways in which Christ empowers us to live out our baptismal calling in the world. After worship, we surprised Elizabeth with a vase filled with blessings and prayers for the next steps of her journey, and then we enjoyed ice cream sundaes together before turning in for our last night in the dorms.
What’s Ahead...
Go in peace. We’ll see you at the Reunion in February!
« Day 11 | 2007 Journal »
Duke Youth Academy
for Christian Formation
The Divinity School,
Duke University
Box 90966,
Durham, N.C. 27708-0966
919-660-3542,
DuYouth@div.Duke.edu |
