My Faith My Life:A Place for Episcopal Teens and Their Mentors

Home

Teens

Leaders

Prayer

Practices

Tools

The book

Book Plates

Table of Contents

Forward for Teens

Forward for Parents

Leader Guide

Fr. Matthew

About us

Recent Tools....     

Liturgical Calendar: E-mail Jenifer to have one customized for your church.
September 18-20, 2010: Presenter at "Parents in Conversation" at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and the Diocese of KY in Louisville, KY.

Sept 28- Oct 1, 2010: Retreat for Adults Who Work with Youth at Holy Cross Monastery with Br. Randy Greve and singer/songwriter Fran McKendree. Location: West Park, NY.

November 13, 2010: Workshop on New Media and Teenagers with Dorothy Linithicum at Virginia Theological Seminary.

February 3-5, 2011:
NAECED Annual Conference. Location: Charlotte, NC.

April 26, 2011:
Day-long intergenerational event with Sr. BJ. Location: Wilmington, DE.

June 12-17, 2011: Coordinator, for Kanuga's Conference for Life-long Christian Formation. Co-coordinator, Jenny Beaumont. Location: Hendersonville, NC. Keynoter is The Rt. Rev. Eugene Sutton.




Past Engagements
(keynotes, workshops, retreats)
Diocese of Wyoming
Diocese of New York
Diocese of Southern VA
Diocese of Chicago
St. Paul's in Norfolk, VA
Wyoming Wilderness Camp

Kanuga Conference Center
NAECED Annual Tapestry Conference
St. Martin-in-the Fields, Philadelphia, PA

VTS Youth Ministry Conference
Episcopal Church Women, Diocese of Wyoming
   



The book "My Faith, My Life" is available at churchpublishing.org or your favorite bookseller. Also available on Kindle and as an audio book for the blind or dislexic at www.rfb&d.org.
 "This is the fourth group of young people I am preparing for Confirmation and I've never seen a group this engaged in the class material. " ~Kris Forsyth, Director of Children & Youth Ministries at St Christopher's in Grand Blanc Michigan.
Internet Playground Rules

Confirm not Conform
  Favorite stories  


Favorite sites       

episcorific :a web zine for and by young adults in the Episcopal Church
peer ministry: a ministry of the national youth and family institute.
plse: a place to explore your call to ministry in the church
way to live:  explore topics and faith practices important to teens
franmckendree.com
: singer/songwriter who performs at many Episcopal events.
d365.org: daily prayers
Pray-as-you-go: download daily meditations to your iPod.
E4GR: learn about how to work toward the MDGs
Holy Cross Monastery
: a monastery in the Hudson Valley, NY with a commitment to supporting the spiritual lives of youth.
Kanuga: Episcopal conference center with summer programs for youth and WinterLight for young adults
.

Search Site
  Upcoming Retreat 

Summer Poster    
Morning/Evening meditation

Holy Cross Retreat: September 2010
Click to Download
(c) 2010 Fran McKendree: Click "Play" below.
Holy Cross Retreat
Morning >>>>


 
Evening >>>>




Youth and the Way of St. Benedict


Praying into Summer with Teens


           If your teenagers' schedules are anything like mine, their days have been jam-packed since last September with school, homework, after-school activities, PSAT and SAT preparation, athletic games, recitals ... the list goes on.  It has not been uncommon for them to study until midnight, and then sometimes wake up early in the morning to finish before school began again. No sleeping in on Saturday with scholastic scrimmage tournaments, cross country meets, and cello lessons. And Sunday up early for church. Now, don't get me wrong. They love what they do and they do chisel out time to listen to music, read books of their choosing, and socialize with friends.

            Summer comes is a welcomed break from the harried pace of the school year. Even during the summer, however, teenagers today face pressure to continue their achievements at summer college institutes or at study abroad programs. Again, these are not poor choices. But consider helping your teenager to think about summer as a time of re-balancing themselves and having enough free time to explore interests and activities that bring them joy.  Summer is an opportunity to lay aside the drive to please their teachers and earn that A and redirect energy toward unearthing their deepest gladness--seeds that God has sown within.

             A sure way to become tuned into our deepest gladness is through prayer, by slowing down and intentionally quieting our minds and bodies to listen to God. Now, this doesn't mean spending the summer kneeling or in silence! The Catechism defines prayer as, "responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with our without words" (Book of Common Prayer, 856). That definition suggests many options that include resting, playing, creating, and observing Sabbath time.  Here are some possibilities:

 

·      Find an outdoor labyrinth and walk the labyrinth once each week together. You can locate one near you at labyrinthlocator.com.

 

·      Fashion colorful prayer beads for yourselves or for the elderly at your church. If you make them for others, pray for the person while beading. [Bead One, Pray Too by Kimberly Winston is a helpful resource.]

 

·      Create homemade greeting cards for the sick in your church together and talk about God's call to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and comfort the afflicted. [Mailbox Ministry by Sue Banker provides ideas.]

 

·      Doodle prayers on paper either by designing your own patterns or by coloring already-made mandalas. [Praying in Color by Sybil MacBeth explores how to doodle with prayer and Coloring Mandalas by Susanne Fincher includes blank mandala designs.]

 

·      Create a scrapbook of photographs showing of signs of God's presence in your community. [Pages of Faith by Sharon Sheridon shows how to create scrapbooks of faith.]

 

·      Walk together quietly once a week in your favorite quiet place--nearby walking paths in a park or along the beach early in the cool hours of the day. 

 

Prayerful activities can also include the following, which Pepperdine pscychologist David Elkins identifies as often missing in the lives of our hurried children:

 

·      Unstructured time for the freedom to explore.

·      Talking and playing games with immediate family members.

·      Visiting and playing with extended family.

·      Time for self-discovery through reading, writing, dreaming and creating.

 

 ["The Overbooked Child," Psychology Today, Jan/Feb 2003]

 

Praying into summer with our teens will give them a great gift: time to notice, as author Marjorie Thompson calls it, the spark that God has sown deep within us, a spark that once uncovered from the busyness of our lives and given oxygen is ignited by God's desire for us (Soul Feast, 33).  By praying into summer with our teens, they may come to know that they are made in God's image, both fearfully and wonderfully made.

 




A Place for Episcopal Teens and their Mentors