Tears and Goodbyes and a Never Ending Story

Today was our last day.  :(.  For all of us it was a day full of amazing things, and for two of us it was the end of an era.

We started our day with our keynote speaker.  Her name is Becca Stevens.  She founded the Magdalene House and Thistle Farms.  The goal of these to organizations is to transition woman who have worked as prostitutes and woman who have suffered sexual abuse from the streets to successful lives in the world.  She spoke to us about starting a movement, and how the love of one person can heal another, and another, and another.  She is truly inspirational.  Personally it was my favorite part of the week.  If you want more information you can go to Thistle Farms website, www.thistlefarms.org.

Then we had lunch followed by workshops.  During the first workshop, about half of us went to Energizers.  Which is basically dancing in funny ways that gets everyone involved at an event.  A few of us on the Diocesan Youth Council, wrote down our emails so we could receive a set of instructions on a list of a few Energizers, and the music that goes with them to practice for upcoming youth events.  For the most part, many of us didn't attend a second workshop.  This was due to the fact that they were not as interesting to us.  Instead we played cards, explored, and reflected on our time together.

As it was the last night, there was a special banquet for all the juniors and seniors.  The basic idea is that this is a banquet to honor the people who won't be returning.  I personally felt jipped, because as a rising junior and not a completed junior, I still won't get a chance to return to EYE unless I am a chaperone later in life.  Instead most of us went to dinner a little earlier, and went to the open mic and just had a good time.  If you want to hear about the banquet, I would suggest asking someone who was old enough to go.

Lastly, we had our final Eucharist.  This was emotional for all of us.  There are seniors, we won't get to see as much.  There are friends we made from across the country who we may never see again.  However, no matter what we had an experience worth celebrating.  We danced, we laughed, we experienced an amazing sermon about spreading the love of God using the 5 Marks of Mission, which was the theme by the way.  Sorry for not mentioning that before.  Most of all, we all felt the love of the people around us.

So goodbye EYE.  Hello the journey home.

For the last time...

-Sophie

Anglo-Catholicism and Jesus Camp Dancing

So today was a bit interesting.  Today was our pilgrimage into the lovely city of Philadelphia.  For most of us this was a seeing of sites we had all seen on school trips, with our families, or just already seen.  However we did get the chance to journey to a few sites that many of us had not seen.

We first went to a benediction of the blessed sacraments, at a Anglo-Catholic church called St. Marks.  The service was quite nice and we had a chance to take photos afterwards.  The choir even sang in Latin!  The thing I found to be funniest was that the bulletin dictated that everyone kneel at the entrance of the ministers, but being the good faithful Episcopalians we are, we all stood up as soon as they entered.  The parish gave us lemonade and pretzels afterwards and we got a chance to meet a few of the members of the Diocese of Connecticut, who were on the bus with us.  I met a woman whose daughter was baptized with me so many years ago.  Mom, she days hi!

After this we went on a quick walking tour ending up at Independence Hall.  We were then given 12 minutes to eat lunch, and we weren't even allowed in to see the Liberty Bell.  I was so disappointed.  I am a very sarcastic person for those of you who don't know me.  We then went to Christ Church, where we learned the history of Episcopalianism.  It was very interesting, but we were all getting to be pretty tired.

Then we got to go to the St. James School.  This is a converted church, that no longer has a congregation.  It receives kids in grade 5 and then they leave in grade 8.  Once they leave they are given a full scholarship to one of the most competitive prep schools in the area or into a very good vocational school.  It is an amazing school.

Then we went to St. Luke's in Germantown, which is another Ango-Catholic church.  They actually told us what Anglo-Catholocism is and that made everything a whole lot less confusing.  Basically they are Episcopalian but they have incense and stuff like the Roman Catholics.  Most of what we did here was explore.

Lastly we had cheese-steak party at the Philly Art Museum.  There was dancing, partying, and plenty of cheese-steaks.  It took place on the landing of the Rocky Steps.  A few of our number raced up, I laughed at them for their unnecessary use of energy.  Regardless, we all had an amazing time and ate some amazing food.

Once we returned, we had an amazing evening worship, with awesome music provided by a gospel choir and another band.  So needless say, we all have showered and are ready to sleep.

-Sophie

Pyramids and Inflateable Races

So today was an interesting day.  We began our day with breakfast, obviously, and then we headed down to Eucharist.  This was probably the most fun I have ever had at a Eucharist.  The sermon was amazing, and the entire service was bilingual to help all of our friends from the Spanish speaking countries.  We even started a thing when we all decided to sway together.  Right after we did, California, who was sitting in front of us, started to sway too.  Then everyone around us was, and then random diocese across the room were.  It was awesome.  After Eucharist, we had a group picture, and we made pyramids.  We here in the Diocese of Bethlehem are very big on making pyramids for photos.

We then had like an hour of free time, and afterward it was already lunch.  Which was delicious.  After lunch we had our first round of workshops.  There were so many options it was hard to choose.  The options ranged from dorky dancing to a session of "Grill the Presiding Bishop".  This was fun.  After workshop one, we had workshop two, which had another wide range.  The great thing about the workshops, is that if you don't feel up to going you are allowed to hang out in your room, nap, etc.

After workshops, we had structured free time.  Basically, most of us went and played cards, and other people went and played the amazing game called lets make friends.  Then it was dinner, and as it turned out structured free time was bounce house racing things.  So a few of us did this after dinner.  It was sooo much fun.

The last thing we did today was evening plenary.  Basically evening prayer mixed in with some slight sermony speechy stuff.  Still a lot of fun.  So that was our day.

-Sophie

Succesful Start

So today was the first day of a new adventure.  For a good number of us, the day started at the Cathedral with a send off performed by my very own mother.  Yes for those of you who don't know, I am a PK.  My mother is our current Canon for the Ordinary.  She said few lovely things, and then proceeded to bless us with bubbles.  That was very enjoyable.

We picked every one else up in Douglassville, and prayed again.  Took more group photos and then continued on our way.  We all talked, got to know one another, and for those of us who already knew each other caught up.  This quickly ate up the rest of our bus ride.

Once we had arrived at Villanova, we found out that we were early, and had to wait like an hour to check in.  I think this was a first for all of us.  But we found a lovely and air conditioned spot to relax and eat our lunch.  We also got to talk some more and get to know each other better.

Once we actually had checked in, we all got to unpack and relax before having our first real group pow-wow.  We in fact had to wait even longer for this, because the dorm that the boys are staying in wasn't ready for them.  Once we had all actually gotten into our rooms, we pow-wowed and then got a chance to explore and hang out.  Basically, we played the lets make friends game, and then proceeded to play cards for a few hours.  At least that's what I did, other people explored more, and hung out, and took naps etc.

We have the latest meal time and met for dinner at 6:30.  After dinner, we went to this big field and played giant bowling, giant croquet, dorky dancing, soccer, played with bubbles, and got a chance to meet and hang with some amazing people from across the world.  It was amazing.  We ended our day with a glowstick evening prayer without glow sticks, and then got milk and cookies.  It was awesome.

-Sophie