Service Learning &
Mission in the World

Vocation, discernment, and service often go hand in hand in hand when it comes to young adult and campus ministries. Whether as the result of an active ownership of their faith commitment, an experience of building and joining meaningful community, or a distilled moment in which they experience a clarity of purpose, service opportunities provide young adults the opportunity to engage with their own sense of calling, faith commitment, and relationship in new and eye-opening ways.

This month we have asked ministers to reflect on their own experience of service as it contributed to and altered their sense of vocation. We invite you to consider the way you have engaged service on a local level to create a space for discernment. What other gifts have you, and those you work with, received from serving the world around you?

Also included in this issue is a note from one of our co-workers at the Episcopal Church Center, the Officer for Environmental and Economic Affairs, Michael Schut. In his letter, Mike outlines a vision for his work and invites young adults, students, and all those who minister to and with them, to take a significant role in moving the church forward with regard to environmental and economic justice, through service, conversation, and education. We invite you to engage with the work and resources of this office as we move forward together to heal broken relationships with creation and with one another.

Finally, we have included a number of new resources (to the right). Please take a look at them and send us feedback. We are here to support the wonderful work you are doing and your input is incredibly helpful. We give thanks for each of you and your ministries!

Paz y fuego,

Douglas, Jason & Miguelina

A Soccer Field Made Sacred
Mike Angell, Diocese of San Diego

20 minutes from Dorcas House, an orphanage for children in Mexico, lie a set of pristine soccer fields.  I never would have guessed that the soccer fields would be such fertile ground for discussion of God’s Mission in the world, but there they were, and there we were.  ..... >>>

Life Together
The Rev. Adam Shoemaker, Diocese of Massachusetts 

“Life in community is not easy,” I heard myself say, over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, as I was counseling a teen in my parish who recently spoke to me about difficulties she was having with her youth group.  And yet, as we talked, it seemed clear how much she valued the relationships she had formed with the other young people in our church .... >>>

Called to Serve
Virginia Holt, Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

My year as YASC volunteer changed my views and life in many ways, but within the context of service it altered my career path and goals.   I have a degree in business administration and had always envisioned myself in power suits sitting behind a big desk. Why did I become a Service Corp member one would ask... >>>

Economic and Environmental Affairs and the Episcopal Church
Michael Schut, Associate Program Officer at the Episcopal Church Center

Much of what I see my work to be about is simply to help us all recognize the grace and beauty of all creation, and that our faith calls us to love all of it.  E.O. Wilson, the noted Harvard ecologist, coined a beautiful term for this: biophilia. He contends we are actually hard-wired to love life.... >>>