​My deep gladness is lived out at Raleigh Youth Mission (a part of Youth Mission Co).  I began this past August as the Director of Raleigh Youth Mission and in this short time I have experienced pure joy!  I have experienced the joy of numerous agencies that are meeting the needs of those who are experiencing homelessness in Raleigh, NC – filling those gaps that enable them to move through their struggles and temporary situations with dignity and with hope.  I have experienced the joy of young people who become aware of the issues that surround homelessness and the complexity of it all – and not becoming overwhelmed but rather come to an understanding that they can make a difference in the lives of others.  And I have experienced joy to work with a staff that has a passion for youth and for justice systems that give all people an opportunity to flourish – who have the ability to look forward and ask “How can we meet the needs of those we serve with innovation and creativity?”

​For the last several weeks we have been looking at each part of worship and considering how we can “mission” that element of the service.  From being called together to confession of sin, from hearing God’s Word and responding with what we believe, we have discussed how each part relates to social justice and the command that Jesus gives us to “love our neighbor.”

​Typically the end of our services includes some kind of Charge and Benediction.  Often a pastor leads it by coming out to the center of the room, raising her hands, and gives some final words to the congregation.  This part of worship reminds us that God sends us out into the world, and blesses us for that journey with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit goes with us.

​Welcome to Part 6 of our blog series, Mission Our Worship.  We are looking at the different parts of worship and considering how we can engage in related acts of mission.

​In our last post we discussed that after hearing God’s Word read and proclaimed, we are inspired to stand up and say what we believe.  That’s more than some litany read aloud by a congregation once a week– it’s a call for our whole lives.  Whenever we see injustice or strive in the context of our world, we are called to speak out based on our faith and our convictions.

​Welcome to Part 5 of our blog series:  Mission Our Worship.  Week by week, we are looking at each section of worship and thinking about how we can engage in acts of mission that are related to each of those elements.  In previous posts we have discussed how God calls us, not only to gather together in worship, but also calls us to love and serve our neighbors.  We have considered how adoration of the creator leads us to care for what God has created.  Confessing our sin requires us to be aware of the ways that we, individually and collectively, have hurt our neighbors through social injustices.  We’ve also talked about how the Spirit uncovers more of the power and meaning of Scripture when we study the Bible in community… particularly with neighbors who are different from us.  Our collective wisdom and collective experiences of life provide a richer soil for our growing understanding of God’s Word and its application in our lives.

​Welcome to Part 4 of our blog series “Mission Our Worship.”  We are spending time looking at each part of a worship service, and then considering how we can do mission activities related to that part of worship.  Here’s a quick re-cap:

​Call To Worship:  God not not only calls us to worship, but is calling us throughout the week to serve our neighbors.  Be intentional and mindful of what God is calling you to do, and with whom God is calling you to be in relationship.

​Adoration:  In worship we spend time in adoration of God, for who God is and what God has done.  Chief among these is praising God as Creator.  In adoration of the Creator, we can protect and care for God’s creation!

For the last two weeks we’ve been discussing how we can “mission our worship,” meaning how we can take the elements of our worship service and translate them to mission related activities.  We started out talking about mission as a way to live out the command to “love our neighbor.”  We discussed the first element of our worship services, the Call to Worship, as a call coming from God to us as God’s people  We respond to that call through the rest of our worship service.  Likewise, God keeps calling us in other times throughout the week to engage in things that can help our neighbors; be that prayer, sharing resources with those in need, or sharing our time and talents to help others.

​This is the second of a series of posts about how we can take our worship life out into the realm of mission.  In our first post, we talked about YMCo’s definition of mission… which is essentially obeying the commandment to “love our neighbor.”  And, of course, if we want to love our neighbor we need to know something about our neighbor and the life that they are living.

​We also discussed that the first part of worship in many of our churches is typically the Call to Worship.  God does the “calling.”  We do the responding to that call throughout the rest of the service.  Likewise, God is also “doing the calling” for us to engage in acts of mission– throughout the week and throughout our lives.  So every time we read a headline, hear a news story, or see a situation where people are in need, we must be attentive to the call that God is making and consider how we will respond to it.

​Last Sunday I had the pleasure of participating in a video call with the youth group of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Fairhope, Alabama.  The topic was discussing how we connect our worship life with our lives of Christian service.  I very much enjoyed the chat, and it led to some great conversation among the Youth Mission Co staff.  The result of this inspiration is a short blog series where we will break down a worship service into its various parts, and then discuss how each part of worship relates to Christian mission.  We will also give some examples of how we can “mission our worship” through some simple acts of service.

​I feel like it’s only appropriate for me to start out by introducing myself. So, Hi! I am Parker Barnes. I am a rising sophomore at Campbell University where I study Communications and Christian Ministry. I found Raleigh Youth Mission when Katherine Blankenship came to Campbell’s connections, which is kinda like chapel, but cooler, and told us about what she does in downtown Raleigh. I immediately knew that I wanted in. I had, just the weekend prior, been talking to my mom about how I had been praying about what God wanted me to do over the summer. I was pretty much a dead tie between interning at a nonprofit and being a camp counselor. So when Katherine gave her talk at connections I knew RYM was for me. I walked my smiling and joy filled self up to the stage and told Katherine with confidence “RYM is what God wants me to do this summer.” Katherine, probably freaked out said, “well the application will be out soon.” And from then on I knew that I would be spending my summer in downtown Raleigh.

​Last week I had the opportunity to take a group of young people to Church of the Advocate, a regular mission site for AYM throughout the summer. Church of the Advocate is an open-arms congregation, welcoming any and all to come worship, have a meal, and create community with one another. My group and I joined the congregation for worship, and, although most of the service is traditional, part of the sermon includes allowing people in the crowd to share their thoughts on scripture.

Before I go further with the story, I’d like for you to take a moment to visualize what this crowd looked like…physically, emotionally, mentally. The service took place outside in a courtyard. It was completely open, an inviting space for anyone who may be walking down the street. There were people from every walk of life…some live inside, some live outside. Some are healthy, some are sick with mental or physical illness. Some face daily prejudice because of who they are, and some do not. Many of these people are commonly ignored by the everyday tourist-crowd of Asheville because they are, according to most of society, “different” from the rest of us. That being said, for many people in the crowd, this service was the only day this week they had the opportunity to share their opinion with people who care. This led to some interesting and uneasy topics during that day’s worship service, throwing my group off-guard. After everyone had shared, the service soon came to a close, and my group and I had a chance to reflect on what we had experienced.