Three options
EDITOR’S NOTE: The offertory collected at this year’s Christmas Eve services will benefit children in three different ways. Information about each is provided below.
By Erika Johnson, Vestry member and Chair of the Creation Care Commission
Arizona has the second highest dropout rate in the country. Graduating high school won’t guarantee future success but it certainly provides a stepping stone to that.
The local nonprofit Youth on their Own serves an average of 1,500 at-risk high schoolers in the greater Tucson area. These kids have trouble attending school regularly and completing their education because of tenuous housing situations, including being completely unhoused. Imagine trying to complete high school classes and homework while tired, hungry, or stressed—and on top of that not knowing where you will safely sleep at night. Many of these kids are also raising siblings or their own children.
Youth on their Own addresses these kids’ needs in three ways.
First, it provides supplies that these youth need: food, toiletries, a shower, laundry facilities, etc. Second, students receive a monthly stipend (dependent on attendance) to cover other needs they have. Third, the nonprofit has academic and career counseling available that can continue after the youth graduate.
Youth on their Own has just moved into a facility that more adequately supports its efforts—and scope of assistance. Your donation this Christmas Eve will help the nonprofit finish paying for the building. Please help this very worthy and necessary organization as it serves the underprivileged children in our community.
By Dr Justin Appel, Music Director
I love my work with our choristers at Saint Philip’s, but if I had to choose a favorite element, it would be the UK Residency. Why? Singing daily offices in an English cathedral is a potent experience for all involved, but especially for young people. This active combination of vocation, skill, repertoire, liturgy, historical connection, historical awareness, and Christian community really defines a word like synergy.
When a youth chorister goes through a choral residency, they see how many things in the church fit together and where they belong. This sounds like a simple thing, but it isn’t. You can’t easily teach it directly. It has to be caught. You can hear the growth and commitment of these choristers at three Sunday services each month and on major feast days, like our recent All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Sunday, or at multiple services on Christmas Eve.
My daughter recently told me that participating in a residency was “life changing” for her, and I think that is a fitting description. This is why we continue to mount choral residencies, and why we think this program is a worthy cause. It is also why we are asking for your financial support. You can make a huge difference in a youth’s life!
By Mtr Taylor Devine, Associate for Intergenerational Ministries
For many years Saint Philip’s youth have gone on pilgrimage in the UK or neighboring countries—and this coming summer eight young people (10-12 grades) will have the special opportunity to join the youth participating in the UK residency.
During the first part of their trip, the pilgrims will travel with people ages 8-80, prepare for Evensong, laugh while riding the bus, and take excursions that introduce them to new foods. And then they will leave the larger community.
The eight pilgrims will set off with four chaperones and walk 30 miles in four days. They will stay in a range of unique lodgings, deal with travel inconveniences, pray and visit ancient pilgrimage sites, and meet other pilgrims from around the world.
A pilgrimage experienced at any age has stages—disorientation, settling in, new encounters with God and God’s people, and then, importantly, the exit. They ask themselves, “How do I take these experiences home and continue to integrate new knowledge into what will one day be wisdom, and is an ongoing journey of faith?”
The youth who participated in Saint Philip’s last pilgrimage in 2019 are now finishing college or working. They all cite their pilgrimage experience as a basis for their continued exploration of faith. One young woman reflected, “We built relationships with Christian youth from all over the world and experienced God's work in a whole new and simplistic way. This experience and what I learned from it helped me maintain my faith through college.”
Thank you for investing in these youth who are current ministers of the Gospel, and future Vestry Members, hospitality providers, and believers in the Gospel that will impact their lives and vocations for decades to come.
Thank you!