Here is a picture of the rising seniors who were in my small group last week at Kairos, the Virginia Synod’s annual spiritual formation event for high school youth:

kairos-group

At Kairos, the rising seniors are invited to give faith testimonies to the other 160 youth and adults gathered. Many of these youth talk about how much they have grown in faith at the Synod youth events. One of the girls in my group actually went to an extreme with this theme, talking about how her faith wilts during the months in-between the Synod events.

As it happens, my son and daughter-in-law work with the youth at the church where this youth is a member. So I asked them about her comments. My daughter-in-law, Renee, said, “Well, we never see her!”

And so I thought: “Well, no wonder she experiences a dryness of faith, if she is not part of the community of faith when she is back home.”

The community is so important! It is in the community that the Spirit animates faith, and deepens our love for God, and motivates us for our ministries. The Spirit does that through us — as we support and provoke each other!

I pray that the youth in my small group will fell drawn into her home faith community, so the Spirit can keep working on her!