Jensen Appleman: P3 Youth Network Meeting

On the weekend of December 1-3, I had the privilege of attending the Province III network meeting in Philadelphia. A few teen and adult representatives from different dioceses of Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C, and Delaware met for a fun weekend together. There were small group activities, community service, worshipping, and touring of Philadelphia.

When we arrived Friday night, we made name tags and played some ice breakers to get to know each other. We went over the rules and activities for the weekend. At the end of the night, we had evening prayer. Our diocese, the Diocese of Bethlehem, was in charge of setting up and running Compline. The Rev. Demery Bader-Saye brought lights, decorations, music, and a slide show and our group made the room look festive, and made sure everything was ready. The three teen reps- Katie, Annie, and I- took turns reading the prayers aloud. It was a really nice evening.

Saturday, we met up with Fr. Julius Jackson at St. Mary’s church. He introduced himself and told us about the church. It was very colorful- the walls by the altar were pastel blue and purple! We also helped with the soup kitchen there. We helped make and serve the food. After that, we were on our way to The Church of the Advocate to talk with Fr. Isaac Miller. It was huge. The church was also really beautiful. There were carvings in the walls and paintings hung everywhere. It was definitely the prettiest church we visited. On our way to the next church we were able to walk around and visit the Liberty Bell for a little bit. When we arrived at Christ Church Philadelphia, we met Bishop Bennison, the bishop of the Diocese of Philadelphia. He gave us information about the Diocese of Philadelphia. Then we learned about Christ Church and it’s history. We learned some really neat things, and it was really interesting. That night we had a worship service and the part that sticks out the most for me is the Prayers of the People. There was a bowl for each category, and each bowl had a different set of rocks. When that category was selected, anybody that had a prayer came up, said their prayer and put that certain marble into the glass bowl of water. I thought it was a very clever idea.

Unfortunately, Sunday was time to leave, but when we reflected on our weekend, everyone really enjoyed themselves, and a good time was had by all.

Jensen Appleman