MLK Weekend Youth Retreat Reflection
Last weekend a group of teens from St. Cross and All Saints, Beverly Hills partnered together for an MLK Weekend Youth Retreat. We spent time visiting each other's churches, playing games, and generally having a lot of fun. But, our youth groups also got to spend time engaging in the work to which we are called as Christians. On Saturday afternoon, our teens traveled out to Echo Park to work with Seeds of Hope -- a non-profit organization whose mission is to address food insecurity by growing and distributing fresh food in the LA area. Our teens got their hands dirty by weeding and making berms around fruit trees in one of the Seeds of Hope gardens. Later that night we got a sneak peak of the documentary A Case for Love, which led to some awesome discussion about what selfless love looks like in our lives and why it's so desperately needed in our world today. We marked MLK Day by attending a Sunday service at Church of the Advent where The Rev. Vanesa Mackenzie invited our group into the congregation to share in song, sacrament, and a delicious soul food potluck. Rev. Mackenzie reminded our group that we are called to be Drum Majors for Justice, as Dr. King preached in one of his sermons. As we were wrapping up the weekend, one of the teens said, "Let's do this every month!" It was an incredible weekend of building relationships across the diocese, and knowing and making known the love of God. I'm deeply grateful for the youth, the parents, and the volunteers who made it all happen.
Peace,
Stephen
