Dear Ones,
The season of Advent is the time in which we wait with expectant hope for the coming of Christ. It is also particularly the season that we remember the children and young people in our midst. You may know of our diocesan reinvestment in youth ministry as we stretch and challenge ourselves to fund a full-time diocesan youth minister.
It has been decades since our diocese has had a full-time person dedicated to ministry with our young people and the adults who care for them. I’m writing to ask your support of these efforts. Your gift to the 2022 Bishop’s Appeal will help us make this full-time position a reality.
An article by my dear friend, Jim Hinch, pointed me to research on the importance of church community in the lives of young people. He wrote, “recent studies at Stanford and Brigham Young universities found that religiously involved teens suffered lower rates of depression, anxiety, suicide, family instability, and school setbacks during the pandemic.”
Many of us know the impact that providing safe and loving spaces for youth can make in their lives. I’m thankful that we as a diocese have decided to redouble efforts to show up for the young people among us.
Your gift of any size will help. Whether or not you are able to support the appeal this year, I bid your prayers for the youth and young adults of our diocese and in our communities. God’s divine light shines in each of them. May we never forget the incredible gift we have in the privilege of journeying with our young people.
Faithfully,
Bishop Jennifer
