Transcript:
Greetings, beloved in Christ. I hope that you’re well on this day and I hope that you are continuing to enjoy the resurrection grace of this Easter tide. Today I’m taking an opportunity to let you know how grateful I am for the Ministry of the Youth of the Episcopal Church in Colorado. It is graduation season and many of our faithful youth are graduating from high school and going on to take the next steps in their journey towards adulthood. I’m grateful for all of those youth who serve our diocese. You may not have youth in your congregation, but I promise that you have youth in your region and those youth have been faithful, not only in serving in their congregation, but serving the Episcopal Church of Colorado. They have engaged in mission trips and they’re going to take another mission trip, their last for our seniors to Alaska this June.
They have engaged in pilgrimage, they have engaged in service in the church and outside the church. These youth have shown me a resilient faith, and they’re going to need that faith as they go forth into a broken world, as they go forth into an uncertain economy, as they go forth into a world that is experiencing the terrors of climate change. It is an inspiration to me when these youth come forward to be confirmed. When they come forward, to take the next faithful step to which God is calling them as they live this life of faith. I’m grateful for them, and I’m grateful for all of the clergy and lay leaders who inspired and encouraged them, who accepted them, who heard their doubts, who listened to their questions, who prayed with them, and reminded them always of God’s faithfulness.
I find great hope in the youth of this diocese and I hope that you will continue to support those who are coming after these seniors who are leaving. I hope that you’ll support them with your prayers, with your resources, with your understanding that they’re not just the future of our church, they are our church. I ask God’s grace on them as they step forward with resilience, with courage, and with faith in Christ Jesus. Blessings.