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student in Godly Play since Kindergarten and an active member of the Youth Group before it dissolved.
“A strong Youth Group,” states Rob “depends on kids and their mothers who are invested in having their kids stay in church.” A strong Youth Group also needs dedicated leadership. The Rev. Beth Wheatley Dyson was the Youth leader while Rob was in high school. Before entering the ministry she had been an assistant principal. When the Rev. Cliff Cutler was called to his new parish, Beth became our Interim Rector. Then she was called to her own church. No one really succeeded her as a Youth leader even though there have been many wonderful and earnest lay-led attempts to do so. These have been four years of turmoil for the nascent Youth Group at a critical time of formation in teenagers’ lives.
Three Youth Group activities that they did over the years really stand out for Rob: the Rock-athon, the Church Lockdown, and the Common Cathedral. The Rock-a-thon was a youth outreach project. They would ask parishioners to pledge, and then on a designated Saturday evening, they would rock away the night (5-8 hours) in rocking chairs in Walton Rodgers Hall. They would take shifts rocking, while watching TV and listening to music. They invited friends to come. “It was a fun, shallow event,” according to Rob. So was the Church Lockdown. In the evening, they would go off together to play Laser Tag and then return to the church, where they would spend the rest of the night. If anyone has participated in the Maundy Thursday prayer vigil, spending the night in the church is a very Holy experience. Participating in Common Cathedral was a very powerful experience. Youth and adults from suburbs go to Boston Common across from St. Paul’s Cathedral to worship with Boston’s homeless parishioners and then serve lunch. One church would bring the soup, another would bring sandwiches. The Youth Group served the homeless.
Rob has just completed his Sophmore year at University of Richmond where he is majoring in Religion. Of all the courses offered, Religion is the one that most interests him. “People’s beliefs, in many cases, are the ‘why’ that they do things. Sometimes it doesn’t seem rational,” said Rob. He has studied History of Religion, mostly Christianity, but also Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. He sees religion
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as part of our culture. Kids who give up on it will come back in a slightly different way. Rob sees that faith can be easily damaged but not removed, as in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community. Their faith has been damaged by religion, yet they still believe in God.
Rob has had a good experience at University of Richmond. It took most of Freshman year to make friends. He took general requirement courses and an honors class. He got lucky with his roommate. Freshmen are placed randomly as roommates, but he and his roommate got on so well that they have become close friends. Rob said the key is to be very courteous, especially about volume—of the computer, music, and TV. My roommate loves to sing, but he doesn’t at 2:00 am.
Rob is home for the summer doing odd jobs. He was found for this article’s photograph up painting in the bell tower.
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