Young Christians Rediscover Life in Christ
Diocesan Press Service. October 7, 1964 [XXV-4]
"Seven days ago, a fun-loving group of young churchmen from across these United States arrived at Colorado Woman's College in Denver, Colorado. We arrived with a beautiful theme in mind, "Rediscovering Life in Christ" but the majority of these young churchmen had no idea of what this meant; as time progressed, however, a strange occurence was being witnessed. Over four hundred people were being bonded into a oneness through the rediscovery of life in Christ." These words begin a statement by the 293 young people who attended the Triennial Convocation of Episcopal Young Churchmen in which they attempted to convey the meaning and message of their experience.
The Convocation was held August 26 - September 2 and was attended by young people from seven of the eight Provinces of the Episcopal Church, and from six foreign countries. With these young people were 83 adult advisors and 17 convocation leaders.
As the young churchmen's statement shows, a basic concern of the Convocation was unity, "We see persons of brown, yellow, red and white skins; persons with varied social backgrounds; those disabled, and men with the strength of Sampson; groups from the north, south, east and west; individuals wearing circular collars and conformists in cut-off Levis and Madras shirts; Goldwater Conservatives and Johnson Liberals; those with scarred faces and those with ruddy complexions ---- as we look around we see a widely varied conglomeration of backgrounds and beliefs, but strangely enough we are united with each other in a form of companionship rarely seen in the town of Denver, Colorado; the country of the United States of America; or in the sphere we refer to as our Earth. Indeed! What a strange unity this is! We are united in Christ."
These young people also had time that week to think of the society in which they live, of the demands society makes and of their responsibility to it.
"The conformities in societies make cruel demands. If one is not in just THE proper situation at THE proper time wearing THE proper attire and possessing THE desired physical appearance, he is not longer one of THE group and in some peoples' eyes he is no longer a Child of God ... In accordance to some people's beliefs, teenagers are living in a time when they should be learning to accept the rules of society, but as we have found here, when the rules of society overthrow the concepts of Christianity, we are just foolish enough to want to do something about the battle of Society vs. Christ. "
As they prepared to leave, their thoughts naturally turned to the communities from which they came. "So may God be with us as we return home, running the risk of crucifixion day by day for unity in Christ."
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