This summer was packed with new opportunities for families, including a Diocesan Youth Mission Trip led by Saint Philip’s volunteers, and the parish’s first Vacation Bible School in eight years!

Mission Trip

written by Br Alex Swain, Assistant for Intergenerational Ministries

“Jesus answered, “The first [of the commandments] is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

The central crux of the cross-shaped life which Christians are called to, as followers of Jesus, is to love God with all our being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Practically speaking, then, what does it mean to live out the Christian commitment to serve God and others? To live out the baptismal covenant, where we pledge before God and holy Church to “seek and serve Christ in all persons,” loving our neighbor as ourselves (BCP 305)?

Well, sometimes it looks like this:

You’ve slept on a floor in a room of a church building with no air conditioning (but there are ample fans blowing air around!). There are about 10-15 other people in that room. Luckily, the drone of the fans drowns out the deeply deserved snoring.

6:00 am rolls around, the lights come on, as the entire church stirs to life – about 40 youth, 10 adults, and 6 staff members. You get ready, eat, do chores, and prepare for a day laboring in gardens under the hot sun. Lunch is peanut butter and jelly. Showers are quick and cold in the late afternoon. You arrive back at the church by 4:00 pm, tired, ready to eat. Chores come after dinner, maybe it’s cleaning the bathrooms, maybe it’s doing the dishes of nearly 60 people. We gather, we reflect, we sing, we get ready for bed at 9:00 pm.

And we do it all again the next day!

Oh, did I mention, there are no phones?

This was the schedule of the Youth Mission Trip from June 29-July 5! And though the schedule may have sounded intense, it was an incredible and joyous experience! It was a time where youth and adults came together and lived into the great commandments given by our Lord. It was a time when we stepped into the practical implications of our life-shaping and world-changing faith.

11 youth (1 of whom was from an Episcopal church in Phoenix) and 3 adults ventured to San Diego to participate in the Diocesan Youth Mission Trip! We partnered with Sierra Service Project, where we stayed at First United Methodist Church in National City—alongside about 30 other youth from Methodist churches throughout Arizona and California to engage in a week of service learning, spiritual growth, and making connections with one another.

We spent most of our time at the Tijuana River Valley Community Garden. It is a vast swath of land with dozens upon dozens of plots where people learn to grow their own food, steward the land, and harvest the bounty of the earth. Our work included the cutting down of invasive Castor trees, clearing out abandoned plots to be used by new people, and learning what it means to give our time and energy and focus for people we might never meet.

We met some of the people who grow their own food, and they shared with us from their abundance: fresh snap peas, carrots, and raspberries. One man even had an avocado tree that produced upwards of 300 avocados a year! We spent some time at various nature reserves too, clearing out invasive ice plants and helping to ensure local flora and fauna would thrive for the people in the area.

It wasn’t all just hard labor, though. We had plenty of fun, too! We learned how to use power tools—very useful. We went to the beach one afternoon and enjoyed the sun and the waves of the Pacific Ocean and had a grill out. We sang songs most evenings. We played card games (there are some serious cardsharks here at Saint Philip’s!), we supported one another, we laughed, prayed, reflected. The theme of the week was “building bridges,” and while on the mission trip we thoroughly experienced what it means to build bridges of relationship among one another, with the community, and with our loving and life-giving God.

The mission trip was so much fun, such hard work, and a profound way to incorporate and live out our faith. It was a connecting link between our weekly rounds of worship, it was a way to give back. Friendships were deepened, joy was had, and the beauty of creation was relished in. It was an AMAZING experience!

We are hopeful to offer something like this next year, so stay tuned for more information! And for any questions, please email cyfm@stphilipstucson.org!

A picture of all the youth and adults who participated!

Vacation Bible School

by Mtr Taylor, Associate for Intergenerational Ministries

This year we were grateful to be able to offer VBS to about 30 children between age 3 and grade 5, and to welcome youth and adult volunteers to make it happen! Some highlights included:

Each day the three age groups rotated through three sessions adjusted for their age: Making lunch for the whole gathered community, preparing songs and a skit for the final day focused on the story of Joseph, the Dreamer, and related crafts.
Our days started with a morning gathering with music provided by Mo Owen. Mo volunteers as our StoryMakers leader for Sunday School/Christian Formation during the school year, and we’re so grateful for her creativity as a musician with the children at VBS and her care throughout the year with the 4th and 5th grade cohort! She also worked with the teen volunteers to do a skit of the Joseph story each day.
Feeding about 50 people day to day was no small feat, and I am so grateful to Karen Dresback, Angel Sanchez, Amanda Ruboyianes, Kristen Randall, and youth volunteers for their support at the kitchen station!
Leading songs and preparing for the end of week play, Brian Hays and teen volunteers in the theater rotation, used the StoryMakers’ version of “The Dreamer”. Our 4th and 5th grade curriculum, StoryMakers is very creative, and makes local expression extra fun! Many thanks to Brian for working with the script to make it accessible for our older two groups, and introducing everyone to new skills in our old story!
Our crafts were wide-ranging to lift up elements of the complex story! From making owl houses, bee houses, pipe-cleaner animals and plants, “making” and exploring papyrus, weaving cloth, to painting owls, made possible by many gifted volunteers!

Themes of care, relationship and restoration, God’s care for us, stewardship, forgiveness and more were lifted up throughout the week. The intensity of the experience of building intergenerational community throughout the week offered opportunities to practice our community covenant, to notice and celebrate the diverse gifts of those gathered, and to joyfully pray, sing, and play together.

I look forward to observing how this opportunity enriches relationships throughout the coming year across generations and within age cohorts.

Here is a really neat resource from VBS, created by Mo Owen using our StoryMakers resources and local creativity—with lots of thanks to Karen Dresback for the recipes and their facilitation day to day!

Each day, we made crafts, made food, and sang together. In these memory cards, you’ll find an image, a memory verse, a place to write or draw a memory from each day, a recipe we made, and a blessing.