wfn.org | Wisconsin UCC youth find God still speaking,

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United Church of Christ
Newsroom
Friday, July 11, 2003
newsroom@ucc.org
http://www.ucc.org

By Alice Foltz

MINNEAPOLIS?Collecting shirts full of buttons and heads full of memories,
youth from Evangelical and Reformed UCC in Waukesha, Wis., described their
first experience of a UCC General Synod as "great!"

The group stopped by the denomination's national church meeting in
Minneapolis to find inspiration on their way to a work project at the
Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in Bridger, S.D.

The youth were hard to miss on the city's streets and in the halls of the
Minneapolis Convention Center as delegates and visitors gathered for
Friday's opening session. Gabby Polster, a member of the group, wore a huge
comma sandwich-board placard that symbolized the UCC's identity emphasis
slogan, "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." Other members
wore bright red "God is still speaking" t-shirts, the theme of this year's
General Synod.

The Rev. Wayne Adcock, interim pastor, remembered being inspired when, as a
young person, he attended meetings of the larger church. That's why he
wanted members of his youth group to experience the transforming spirit of
a General Synod as part of their summer mission project. "This is what will
stop the 'post-confirmation disappearing youth' problem that churches
have," Adcock says.

While in South Dakota, the youth will help with the construction of a new
church activity building, dig a water line and help to install a bathroom.
Through participation in the expansive mission of Christ's church, God
continues to speak to these youth and to those whose lives they touch.