Paving new pathways…

I am in Louisville getting ready to attend the General Assembly Council meeting with other REYWT (Racial Ethnic Young Women Together) members.  First, a bit of history.  In November REYWT lost its associate in the denominational office.  It was a HUGE loss to our ministry and has inhibited our work quite a lot; we’ve been at a standstill trying to determine what the next move is for our group.  We are now having to face the future under a complete restructuring of our ministry office overall as well.  It’s a daunting time…and it has pushed us to look at the crossroads before us.

I will be the first to admit that I am still stuck back in our conversation from last week about power and priviledge.  As someone involved in the national church, it is hard to hear how “we” want young people in our church and yet acting in a completely different way (i.e. cutting our associate’s position and restructuring the ministry office without regular consultation with our leadership team).  Those in positions of power within the denomination are the ones who hold the keys…kind of like my last post about those in power and priviledge making decisions for us.  It will be interesting to see how this General Assembly Council conversation plays out!

All of this to show how the local congregation can also be disconnected from the larger church.  LVPC is packed with young adults and there can be much to learn about how our context draws them/us.  At the same time, racial ethnic young people’s issues and challenges are different and add another layer (or even more than just one layer) of significance.  How we explore this tension in the national church level can, in the end, have an impact on the local level.  If it doesn’t, then what’s the point of our ministry together?

Hopefully once this meeting is over I will be able to explore the Eastertide chapter with you all!