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2010-09-01 issue:

Youth conventions pave road for faith journeys

by Laurie Oswald Robinson for Mennonite Church USA

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High school senior Doran Stucky was enjoying worship, service projects and late nights at the 2007 Mennonite Church USA youth convention in San José, Calif., when the Call Wall stopped him in his tracks.

"I discovered the Call Wall, a giant board where people could list the names of young people they felt had gifts for ministry," Stucky says. "I was really surprised to see my name listed three times.

"About that time, I was questioning whether I should go into graphic design. ... But when I saw my name on the Call Wall, it got me thinking more seriously about pursuing ministry instead." Still not sure he should abandon his earlier dreams, he majored in graphic design during his freshman year at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.

But God and others continued to tap him on the shoulder, so he transferred to Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., where he is pursuing a double major in philosophy and theology, with hopes of attending seminary.

Stucky is just one of thousands of Mennonite teenagers for whom youth conventions have paved the way for future ministry and deeper engagement with the wider church.

Rachel Swartzendruber Miller, director of convention planning for Mennonite Church USA, says that 4,000 to 5,000 teenagers—about one-third of the denomination's youth groups—attend the biennial conventions.

"The amazing stories I hear year after year from youth about their convention experience keep me passionate about my work," she says.

The young adults sharing their stories below plan to attend the next youth convention in July 2011:

Shé Hall, 26, a member of Calvary Community Church in Hampton, Va., attended conventions in Orlando, Fla., (1997), St. Louis (1999) and Nashville, Tenn (2001). Prior to Calvary she attended an African-American Baptist church. So the Mennonite-Anabaptist flavor of her new congregation and the conventions was eye-opening.

"Going to convention the first time with my youth group from Calvary opened my eyes to how big and diverse God’s kingdom really is," says Hall, who is now pursuing her master’s degree in communication at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va.

"I saw people had many ways to praise the Lord, even though we were all there for the same thing—to worship God. It didn't matter what roads we took to get there. Once we were there, we were family."

Now on the youth planning committee for Pittsburgh 2011, she’s gained a new perspective.

"I see all the thought and prayer that go into the convention before the youth get there," she says. "Committee members want to ensure we are allowing God to lead us into a theme that will both honor God and engage participants." 

Conventions aren't meant to be job fairs. But Nathan Grieser, 24, discovered at Columbus 2009 that a little bit of community can go a long way in opening doors.

The summer after Grieser graduated from Goshen (Ind.) College he attended Columbus as a delegate. While at convention, he had a phone interview for a live sound position, but they wanted him to start at a date not possible for him.

Grieser had been job searching in the Lancaster, Pa., area, because it was where his fiancée, Kate Derstine, had a job, and they planned to live there after their wedding in October. In addition to looking for work in the music industry, he was exploring options for youth ministry, inspired by his experiences as a summer pastoral intern with the Ministry Inquiry Program (MIP).

"My parents were at Columbus, volunteering with the children," he says. "We happened to run into a family friend, Stan Shantz, lead pastor at James Street Mennonite Church in Lancaster. We got to talking about my distressing job search. Stan was sharing a room with Brian Miller, lead pastor at Sunnyside Mennonite Church in Lancaster, who was looking for a youth pastor. The next day I met with him. I interviewed several weeks later and was voted in two weeks before our wedding."

Three days after their honeymoon, he began as youth pastor at Sunnyside and plans to take his youth group to Pittsburgh 2011.

When Amy Gingerich, 33, attended Orlando 1997, she submitted an idea to the convention newspaper for the top 10 convention pranks. Her prank idea was to rearrange all the price tag stickers on books in the convention bookstore. Gingerich finds irony in the fact that she is now editorial director for Herald Press, which is responsible for the convention bookstore along with its parent, Mennonite Publishing Network.

"What a hoot to be shown that old newspaper," says Gingerich, who will work in the bookstore at Pittsburgh 2011. "But behind the humor is a serious note. Conventions were a big part of my growing up and shaped the choices I’ve made in my adult life."

Gingerich, a member of Friendship Mennonite Church in Bedford Heights, Ohio, has attended all but two of the Mennonite conventions held since Ames 1985. She grew up as a preacher’s kid, the daughter of Firman and Susan Gingerich, and conventions were woven into their lifestyle.

Gingerich, who graduated from Goshen College in 1999, says she believes that families provide important modeling.

"A study on faith formation said the most determining factors on passing on faith are not mission trips and conventions but modeling about faith in the home," she says. "I was doubly blessed because my family modeled the importance of participating both in our local congregation as well as at the denominational level during conventions.

"Conventions link the faith of kids from Kalona, Iowa, with the faith of kids from South Texas or Chicago," she says. "They help youth build faith around friendships and fellowship across the church, rather than in a tight little circle."

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