Youth Fellowship Meetings in 2023

People who grew up in a context similar to mine almost certainly will have memories of attending these Youth Fellowship Meetings as young people.  Today, at age 71, I attended such a gathering.  I went to hear our middle son speak.  He was one of three keynote speakers for the weekend meetings.  The last time I attended, Shane was the moderator for the meetings when they were held locally.  In the middle of carrying out this duty, he was scrambling madly to prepare for his wedding a week or so later.  Last night, when he had no other duties at the meetings, he attended with all five of his children--ages almost 2 to almost 12.  His wife was ill and stayed home.

Much has changed since I went to that first away-from-home fellowship meeting in Indiana at age 17.  The main thing that is different is that the size of the gatherings are much smaller.  This is due to having subdivided the Eastern and Western districts into multiple smaller districts.  I remember, for example, that when Joel (our first child) was five months old, Hiromi and I served on the church food committee, and we prepared to serve multiple meals to 850 people. I haven't heard how many registered for this 2023 gathering, but I'm sure that the number is far smaller--maybe less than a fourth of that number. 

In another unthinkable-earlier development, many of the local young people are gone for a wedding 20-some hours of driving time east of here.  Young people would more nearly have planned their whole summer around fellowship meetings than to risk not being able to attend because of a conflict.  A few are occupied this year with a disc golf tournament in another state.  I should probably refrain from stating what I think of this reason for being absent.  

Another major difference is that the audience included many more families and elderly folks than are present these days.  They came for the inspiration and because they liked being around young people.  I'm still a little bitter about this change.  I learned about it the year that everyone in our church community was told that if you're the parent of a young person above the age of 16, you're welcome to attend.  Otherwise, no.  I went, but I felt like staying home in solidarity with all those who would have loved to attend but were "uninvited."  The meetings were held at the same location as the one when Hiromi and I helped cook.  That time we had the meetings outdoors, under a big tent.  The weather was hot, but people with appropriate foresight and ingenuity had rigged up sprinkler tapes south of the tent.  When the sprinklers emitted a fine mist, the cooling of the evaporation process helped make the temps bearable. Everyone had access to ice-cold water from the spigot on a bulk milk tank that had been brought in on a trailer.  Today's audiences seem to demand more creature comforts than that, and we've complied--at the price of being less welcoming to all, as I see it.  I'm not convinced that it's a good trade-off.  

I won't belabor the theme of change indefinitely, but one other obvious change is that the meetings are apparently now considered a "casual dress" occasion.  We always dressed in our Sunday best.  

I sat in the back row this morning, along with other not-young people who attended.  I did manage to talk to one young person though in the break between Shane's two sessions, a friendly young woman from Paris, TN.  Her last name was Nissley.  This interaction is the part of Fellowship Meetings that probably has changed less than any other.  It is a meeting place par excellence.  

The inspiration that is possible and spiritual growth that is encouraged is still intact as well.  It's true, of course, that probably no one has ever applied techniques learned from Kansas Leadership Center training in a context like this (on the topic of "Finding Your Place in Church").  But trying to help each other make a connection between what we know and how we live, and doing so with integrity and authenticity--all while seeking to glorify God by it is still alive.  The rapt attention I saw this morning from many young people gave witness to this.