The Eastern PA’s Conference Council on Youth Ministry (CCYM) is working virtually, via Zoom videoconferencing, to plan its second annual “Camping at the Crossroads” Youth Rally. The March 28 annual spring Youth Rally had to be cancelled due to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic and “stay at home” mandates.
The summer overnight rally will happen (hopefully) August 21- 22, from Friday at 3 PM through Saturday at 7 PM. Once again, Covenant UMC of Moore Township will host the rally at the church, located at 2715 Mountain View Drive, Bath, PA. It will be part festival, part tent rally and part retreat, all rolled into one event to reach youth and young adults for Christ.
The event theme is “2020 Vision: We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight” taken from 2 Corinthians 5:7. All Eastern PA Conference youth and young adults are invited to come enjoy fun activities, fellowship, worship, dialogue and music and spoken word from The Autumn, Tom Golly, Egypt Speaks, Dave Berkey and more. More details will be announced soon.
The Rev. David Piltz, Conference Coordinator of Youth Ministry, recently shared his reflections and those of CCYM members from various churches—reflections on not only surviving but also ministering to others in the midst of coronavirus.
“In the middle of this storm, God is operating and loving each of us,” writes Piltz. “In the middle of the fear that is going on around us, God is a calming influence.”
He continues:
“The youths’ emotions run the gamut from happiness in the freedom to do nearly nothing during this time to feeling overwhelmed by being confined to their homes. There are many reactions to leaders who are managing our current world, country and state situations. What’s most important, however, is staying connected with each other through texts, phone calls, Facetime, Skype, Zoom, and other communication outlets.
“In 1971 a drama project of students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh was a hit at an Off-Off-Broadway theatre. That project was titled Godspell. It was a modern-day (1970’s) musical interpretation of parables drawn mainly from Matthew’s Gospel.
“In the summer of 1972, the Godspell song ‘Day by Day’ hit the number 13 spot on the Billboard pop singles list. The entire song is basically one verse:
Day by day,
Day by day,
Oh, Dear Lord,
Three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly.
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly,
Day by day.
“EPA CCYM wants to share this message of how to be the church 24 hours a day, even in the middle of a pandemic. We challenge each person, each congregation and each district, during this time, to see God more clearly, to love God more dearly, and to follow God more nearly.
“Here are our simple suggestions to live day by day during this time while being the church.
To see God more clearly:
To love God more dearly
Follow God more nearly
These reflections were gathered from conversations with Eastern PA’s “CCYM’ers.” Contributing their thoughts were: Nathan Calderone, Michael Revell, Claudia Smith, Luci Chelton, Lydia Burkit, Tyler Santone, Jose Tirado, Isaiah Lynch, Janaysia Costello, Rachel Lynch and Lydia Ermer.
Joining them were other adult youth ministers: Jezerel Gutierrez (Eastern PA’s Associate Coordinator of Youth Ministry), Michael Gold from Covenant UMC and the Rev. Eric Chelton of Christ UMC Lansdale.