Nexus: Students Gain First-Hand Look at Harsh Reality
CHICAGO, IL (July 12) - High school juniors talked late into the night over several nights as they processed their experiences during a Youth Nexus event at North Park Theological Seminary, an event they say has changed their lives.The event, held June 25-July 1, brought students and their youth leaders together to inspire deeper theological thinking through learning experiences, worship, talks by professors, and recreational activities. Students were chosen by their youth pastors as potential ministry leaders of the future. The seminary operates the program through the Making Connections Initiative, which is funded by a Lilly Endowment grant.
"It's been amazing," says Laura Carlson of the Evangelical Covenant
Church in Lindsborg. She, fellow youth group member Lizy Janzen, and
other students were up especially late after visiting the Cook County
Jail earlier in the day.
The students were shocked by the harshness of life at the jail, which serves the City of Chicago. No matter what may appear on television, the depictions don't compare to the real thing, they discovered.
"It scared me a lot," says Janzen. That fear also yielded to empathy as two inmates told their stories. "They didn't have a lot of hope for change," she observed.
Carlson says she was moved by the fact that many of the inmates were incarcerated at an age younger than her own. "It has really made me think of how I have taken things for granted."
Both girls say they are excited to share what they have learned with the rest of their youth group, but doubt the likelihood of being able to fully communicate the emotion of the experiences. The students added they are returning with a lot of ideas about worship and integrating faith and action.
Shelly Manhart, who attends Zion Covenant Church in Jamestown, New York, says she learned the importance of seeing the Bible as an overarching story and hearing the stories of people. "If you get people telling their stories, you can always see God at work," she explains.
Hearing stories of people from different walks of life has changed Manhart, who says, "I'm much more sensitive to people now."
The students say they were fascinated with the professors - John Weborg, Kazi Joshua, Soong-Chan Rah, and Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom. The four focused their talks on the metaphor of water. On the last day, the students reconsidered their baptism during a worship service that included having them dip their hands into a common bowl of water.
"The professors have done a great job," says Sahaan McKelvey, a youth leader from Irvington Covenant Church in Portland, Oregon. "The students definitely paid attention."
The students spent one day at the Great America Amusement Park and a day at the Cenacle, a spiritual retreat center in downtown Chicago. The students also visited Willow Creek Church and Lawndale Christian Community Development, which operates in an impoverished area of Chicago.