You provide our youth with opportunities our little church cannot. We cannot field a cross country or a tennis team, a marching band or a color guard here at New Joy Lutheran Church. We cannot surround our youth with dozens – let alone hundreds – of youth who share their passion and commitment to athletics or the arts. We don’t have the expertise to guide them in such endeavors. That is your spiritual gift, not ours. We are incredibly grateful for what you do.

This summer is a big deal for millions of Christian youths nationwide, including hundreds right here in Westfield and Carmel. Church mission trips and immersive faith experiences were canceled over the past two summers due to COVID. Summer 2022 is the first summer many of our high school youth can participate in high school church mission trips, faith-nurturing pilgrimages, and religious service-learning experiences. These summer trips are often mountain top moments of faith formation and spiritual renewal that these kids will get to experience just a handful of times in their lives.

Young people and their parents from my congregation (and undoubtedly from others in our community) will reach out to you in the coming weeks, notifying you of their anticipated absence from a week of summer practice or rehearsals because of a church mission trip. It is quite possible that this mission trip is terribly timed to coincide with an intense week of practice, rehearsals, or try-outs.