Class of 2021
Our 2021 Graduating Seniors
Back Row: Mitchell Walsmith, Josh Schilling, Alex Knoshaug
Front Row: Sophie Gauthier, Gabi Miller and Darbi Flynn.
Not pictured: Solomon DeMello, Alyssa Shane, and Catherine Burch.
by Drew Robertson, Youth Director
This past Sunday was Graduation Sunday. We blessed and prayed for our graduates as we sent them off into the world. During the blessing, I mentioned the unique point they are at in their lives. The hope, expectation, and potential that each of these graduates have at this moment in their lives is unlike any other time each of them will experience. They have one foot still in the world they’re leaving, which they’ve called “home” for most of their lives; while their other foot is stepping into a world that, in my opinion, they can never be fully prepared to experience. This, then, begs the question central to the goal of the youth program: How do you build a 21st Century Disciple?
In the youth program, we look at recent age and grade data provided by the Fuller Youth Institute, which tells us that our students are focused on one fundament question each year, as they pass through each grade. In middle school, ending with Confirmation, these are the questions: (6) Who do I like?; (7) Who am I?; (8) Who do I want to be? When students cross into high school, the questions become: (9) Where do I belong?; (10) What should I believe?; (11) How can I matter?; (12) What will I do? These questions provide us a look into student development that, when we add in each student’s personality and needs, gives us a look at how we can meet each of the students where they are, on their journeys. By helping them answer each of these questions, through the lens of faith, we help them build a foundation for understanding the world that is faith-centered. Answering each of these questions, as they grow, makes them into 21st Century Disciples.
The fact is, there is no way that we can prepare every student for every eventuality they will face in the world. We can, however, give them tools to answer the questions they’re presented with. In the next year, each of the students we blessed on Sunday will have to make more potentially life-altering decisions than at any other point in their lives. Crossing into the post-high school world requires a leap of faith. Maybe you remember your own? As you say your prayers this week, please include both the students graduating and their parents, as they transition into this unique and important time in each of their lives.