Shaping Tomorrow’s Church Today: A Conversation with Kate Riley

Lynn Shematek: 00:00:00

Hello friends.

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Welcome to Good News in this episode,

join me Lynn Shematek and Deacons,

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Jon Shematek and Lauren Welsh as

we sit down with Kate Riley Canon

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for youth in young adult ministry,

discover Kate's inspiring journey, her

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passion for empowering young people.

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And how authentic community and creativity

are shaping the future of the church.

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Whether you're a parent, volunteer, or

just curious about the next generation in

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the church, you'll find hope and practical

wisdom in this lively conversation.

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Let's dive in.

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Jon Shematek: Kate Riley,

welcome to our podcast.

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Good News!.

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We are thrilled to have

you here with us today.

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Kate Riley: Oh, I'm so excited to be here.

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I have seen all the episodes, so

I'm glad it's finally my turn.

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Jon Shematek: We have been excited

to get you, here to speak with us.

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you are the Canon for Youth

and Young Adults for the

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Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

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Can you tell us a little bit

about how you got involved in,

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youth and young adult ministries?

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what has inspired you to not only

get started, but stick with it?

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That can't be an easy thing.

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Kate Riley: I was meeting with some

of my colleagues across the church

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I'm one of the longest standing

diocesan youth ministers of the

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current generation I contribute that

100% to the wonderful support that

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youth ministry gets in this diocese.

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Not only financially from our churches,

but with adult volunteers and mentors

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Everyone likes to think that youth

ministry is all fun and games,

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which a lot of it is literal games.

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but there's also a lot that goes into it,

like pastoral care and resource management

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everyone needs a nap sometimes even Jesus.

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I can't remember which gospel

story it is, but I know it's there.

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I started my time, as a youth

minister at the ripe age of 18.

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I, was born in Texas and, moved

to Appalachia in Allegheny County

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in the year of our Lord, 2011.

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No, I was 11.

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When I was 11.

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And spent a great part of my

adolescence and young adulthood at

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a church called Emmanuel Episcopal.

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if you're ever driving on I 68 West

into the mountains, you cannot miss it.

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She is on top of the hill,

proudly standing over Cumberland.

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there I met one of my best friends

who happened to also be my priest's

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daughter, where we survived Catholic

education together for many years.

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I remember getting detention a lot because

my religion teacher would say something

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and I'd be like, well, I'm an Episcopal.

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So I can be a priest if I

want to and you can't stop me.

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my priest was great growing up.

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There were about four of

us in our youth group.

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my brother.

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His daughter and one or two other kids he

was always willing to drive us to diocesan

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events, to New York City for Night

Watch to a water park for the day he was

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really invested in us from a young age.

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I served on vestry.

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I was an acolyte, I was a reader.

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I always said that my church

resume was a lot longer than

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my high school academic one.

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right after I graduated from

Frostburg State University, I reached

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out to Father Wes Webenhorst, my

predecessor in this office, and a

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great mentor to me for many years.

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I had thought about a master's in

education, and teaching middle school

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history 'cause I love middle schoolers.

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he suggested I try out the

Episcopal Service Corps so I

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applied to four or five different

Service Corps around the country.

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Luckily for me, Reverend Jan Hamill said

yes to my application to come work in this

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office with my predecessor and mentor.

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both Father Chapman and Father

Webenhorst were great influences on my,

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apprenticeship to take this role over.

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in 2013, I served as Associate for

Youth and Young Adult Ministry, and

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then the bishop and Father Wes agreed

that I was too good a fit to let go.

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I became the administrator for

Youth and Young Adult Ministry.

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when Wes moved on to, interim

ministry, I took over as missioner

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for youth and young adults.

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about two years ago, Bishop Sutton

saw fit to make me Canon for

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Youth and Young Adult Ministry.

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I have been serving on diocesan staff

in one role or another since: 2013

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Jon Shematek: Wow.

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That is longevity.

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that's great.

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That's amazing.

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Kate Riley: I was very excited

when Bishop Carrie, graciously

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invited me to continue my ministry.

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Jon Shematek: Bishop Carrie knows

a good thing when she sees it.

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Kate Riley: very lucky

to have Bishop Carrie.

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She is, Godsend in so many ways.

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Jon Shematek: Kate, it seems to me like

in the course of your ministry, you do a

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lot of traveling, all over the diocese.

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Can you talk about that and what

happens when you go to different

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churches, what are you finding?

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Kate Riley: I am on my third Subaru

Forester since starting this ministry.

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love Subarus big fan.

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and I, collectively have put

over 300,000 miles on those

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three vehicles doing just church.

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I really enjoyed my title of Missioner.

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I'm honored to be a Canon, but

secretly in my heart of hearts, I

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still consider myself Missioner because

Missioner implies to go out and to do.

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And so my favorite thing is to get

into our churches meet our people

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and make sure they understand

that I'm a resource for them.

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They are my boss.

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I will do whatever I can to make

sure their youth are safe learning

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and growing, and that their

communities are thriving with all

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the glitter glue humanly possible.

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I just really enjoy getting

to travel around the diocese.

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I have an open visitation calendar that

I publish around this time of year.

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I think it'll go live

in a couple of weeks.

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I offer to come to your parish.

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I will preach at the

eight o'clock service.

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the 10 service, the nine service.

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if you're having me come out, I wanna

make sure I get to meet everybody.

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even if you don't have any kids at

the early meditative, quiet service,

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you might have a great-grandmother.

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You might have an aunt,

you might have a godparent.

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You might have somebody who has a

youth that they want more involved

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in a spiritual life or in a community

that loves and accepts them.

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And that is a connection

I would love to make.

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since I am a lay person and

cannot celebrate at the table, I

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still need a priest to be there.

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I'm not gonna make you write a

homily for the eight o'clock service

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and then me preach at the 10.

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That's just silly.

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So we come out and I can either

bring a projector and do a

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formal presentation to everyone.

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I can lead youth groups.

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a children's time together,

a children's sermon.

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My jurisdiction is really those

35 and under, youth implies

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middle school and high school.

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Young adult implies college and

early thirties, I am a mother of

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two small boys, five and under.

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so I have brushed up a lot on my

children's ministry abilities and I'm very

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comfortable hanging out with the littlest.

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they have the best questions.

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They really do, and so much joy.

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It's just a lot of fun.

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I am also happy to come out,

not on a Sunday morning.

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I can do a Thursday night youth group.

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I can do a Tuesday night vestry meeting.

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I try and fill my calendar as much

as I can because, when you love

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your ministry, it's easy to say yes.

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I like to travel around.

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I think I visited over 15 of our hundred

churches last year, and then an extra 10.

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To 20 ministry events or camps

or VBS's or service project days

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we have our own calendar that I

publish and coordinate for the year.

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that has a gathering at least once

a month, if not two or three times a

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month, depending on the time of year.

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Lauren Welch: So, Kate, with all the work

that you do with the youth, how do you

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manage your home life and your children

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Kate Riley: one of the greatest things

about being a diocesan person is

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that wherever I go in the state of

Maryland and honestly, my connections

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with the wider church anywhere

in the country, I have a friend.

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I have a family I can lean on.

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I have someone, I can contact and have

a relationship with and be present with.

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I am really blessed that unlike a lot of

people my age, I actually have a village.

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My village is made up of wonderful

church friends and church family

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members that we've made over my

10 years living in Baltimore.

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It's made up of great friends my husband

has made and then have become our family.

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in fact, I asked a couple of

our youth ministers from St.

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Bartholomew Church to adopt me

as a godchild in my twenties

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because I have no idea who my original

godparents are, Kathy and Marty Clark.

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have become integral in our life

and are basically like an extra

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set of grandparents to my children.

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Having kids really did make me slow

down and say no to a few things,

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even if I really wanted to say yes.

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there have been pilgrimages or service

trips in the summer that I just can't

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squeeze in because it has the week my

son's off of school, or the week that

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we've planned our family vacation already.

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So I really appreciate that Bishop

Carrie is also anti grind culture.

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She would like for her, wonderful

people to take care of themselves

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and spend time with their families.

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we are very much encouraged to take

all of our vacation time and rest time.

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It's really great.

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But there are days that I, would love to

have another me somewhere, either at home

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or at the diocesan level so that all the

things I want to get done can get done.

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And all the things I need to do, get done.

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I would be lying if I didn't say

there was often a very large pile of

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laundry waiting for me late at night.

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Jon Shematek: Kate, you're going out to

the churches and having a wonderful day

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with them and I'm sure everybody gets very

excited about it and about being a youth

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minister or, being part of a youth group

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Do you provide tools or

resources to them so.

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after you leave, there's something

that they have to build with.

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Kate Riley: Yeah.

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So one of the things that I advertise

is one of our many services here at the

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Diocesan Center is resource management.

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sourcing curriculums, how to

budget, how to start a youth group,

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how to restart a youth group.

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different options for service

projects that are local.

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regional or international.

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So if there is a single question anyone

has to do with children, youth, and

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young adult ministry, if I don't know

the answer, I know someone who does or a

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service that is, affordable and providable

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I just had a great conversation

with some folks from St.

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George's Hampstead that were like, Hey,

we would really like to restart a youth

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group, but we don't know where to start.

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And so we had, a zoom meeting about

here's how to start, here's great

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resources that are free from Virginia

Theological Seminary, or Here's what

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I've seen other churches doing in

your area or in the next region over.

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one of the great things about

getting to bop around to the

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different regions is that, things in.

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Western Maryland do not operate

like they do in southern Maryland.

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Things in Baltimore do not operate like

they do in Harford County, despite only

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being maybe 30 to 40 minutes apart.

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it's very different cultures in our state.

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despite being a small geographic

place, we are very diverse.

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It somehow takes four or five hours

to get from one corner to the other.

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I've done it before in the same day.

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I try and make sure that I'm always

putting new tools in my toolkit so

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that when I get asked hard questions

I have some idea of an answer.

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And if I don't I know who I can call

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Jon Shematek: That's great.

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Lauren Welch: Kate with all, the,

resources that you have, the questions

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that people are asking you and,

whatever comes up with the youth and

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adults that you are working with,

what has surprised you the most?

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Kate Riley: What has

surprised me the most?

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that despite.

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Us literally having a book that tells

us what worship should look like, every

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church does it just a little different.

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I was visiting Holy Cross the Rocks

in Hartford County and talking with

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one of our great colleagues Mary

Davidson, and said something about,

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okay, so when we process up to the

altar, do you want me to turn left?

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Do you want me to turn right?

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And she said she was supplying

somewhere and someone said, oh,

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we just do it the normal way.

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It's like, well, church has its own

normal way, but us as a diocese,

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all 110 beautiful churches here

have their own ways of doing things.

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So it's something that

I tell all of our youth.

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When they're like, oh, you

know, service is kind of slow.

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I say, well, think about the fact that

across the Episcopal Church, everyone

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is saying the prayers in their own

way, but kind of the same together.

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Everyone's celebrating at the

table slightly differently.

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Some people might have, a

children's service at this time.

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Some might be using a loaf of

bread instead of wafer crackers.

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Some might be using, contemporary

music instead of the hymnal.

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think about all the beautiful variations

that could be happening at the same time.

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And how lucky are we that we get

to be together in this space?

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There will technically be another.

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Seventh Sunday of Easter, but not with

these people and not in this place.

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as a teenager I always said, oh, well

we say the same prayers every week.

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except for the high holidays.

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but really there's so much beautiful

variation and uniqueness in our diocese

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that I am constantly amazed when I

go to churches and see how they have

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their children and youth interacting

in the service or what they do after

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the service to engage families.

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To continue to grow community in

that special place and in that

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special time, it's a real privilege.

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Jon Shematek: Kate, I'm wondering,

you know, let me wonder one

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thing first, and one is sort

of on a personal level for you.

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What has this ministry been as

you've grown into it and exercise

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it all these years now, what has it

meant for your own spiritual life

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and your own spiritual development?

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Kate Riley: I would definitely say

that my spiritual life is as messy

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as youth ministry is in general.

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being diocesan is, such a unique thing.

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We get to be a part of all these

great, wonderful communities,

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little bit at a time, but then I

don't have what I had growing up.

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I don't have the same church week to week.

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I don't have the same pastor week to week.

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I have made a lot of really

great deep and meaningful

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connections with my clergy friends.

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I have two spiritual directors

and one therapist, I get to attend

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what I would consider my own

parish, like once a quarter maybe.

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I've had to find many different ways

to sustain my faith, through the ups

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and downs of such a big ministry.

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And I love working with our students.

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They give me hope.

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They give me, great reasons to pray, and

sometimes some scary reasons to pray.

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it has been a wonderful.

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Time to try and find what feeds me

now as a young adult and as a parent.

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what fed me when I was 18 is different.

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there is a great opportunity always to

seek out pastoral care when I need it.

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I have hundreds of people I could now

call if I was in crisis, which is great.

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Or if I have some joy to share, which is

often the reason I get to call people.

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So I now have more spiritual

practices in my toolbox than I

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thought I could ever possibly have.

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I'm constantly being reminded that as a

minister we have to fill our own cup to

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make sure that we can pour into others.

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I tell our peer ministry high

schoolers, that we prefer they attend

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the retreat for high schoolers.

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So that they then can be great

staff members and supports for

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their middle school counterparts.

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When we have our middle school retreat

staff meetings and all these kinds

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of things to make sure that they

themselves feel prepared and ready

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for big events like that, which is

pretty much what I do all the time.

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So I try and make sure that I also

have my cup full whenever possible.

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Jon Shematek: that's a

great model for all of us.

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Lay or ordained in terms of just

how do you keep refreshed and

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where do you get spiritual guidance

from let me ask you this too.

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The thing I'm wondering about, , when

COVID came, it derailed so much about what

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the church was doing and what the church

was about and how we could be church,

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It helped open a lot of doors

with technology and so on.

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Like, we wouldn't be having this kind

of conversation, but there's a concern

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I've heard from folks when you look

around many of our congregations that,

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most of the people sitting there in the

pews kind of look like Lauren and me.

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We're well into our, what

shall I call it, Lauren?

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Wisdom

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Kate Riley: era.

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Jon Shematek: I think people that will

often ask, and we ask this of when

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I was on the Commission on Ministry.

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for people looking for

ordination, basically what

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is the future of the church?

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with your work with young

folks, what are you seeing?

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what does the church need to be?

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What does the church need to do?

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Maybe different from what we've

been doing, that will help us

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engage people that are, let's

say not in their wisdom years.

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Kate Riley: I heard a great story at a

conference I went to a few years ago about

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how this priest was asking their adult

child, about their spiritual life and why

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they weren't attending church anymore.

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they said, what does church offer me?

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That I can't get elsewhere.

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: 00:17:07

there's a sense of community.

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: 00:17:08

I have that through my soccer

team or my gaming group.

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: 00:17:11

there's a sense of service

to your fellow person.

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: 00:17:14

I get that through work.

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: 00:17:15

We have community service days.

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: 00:17:17

you can, feed your spiritual life.

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: 00:17:20

I get that through yoga or

whatever that person said.

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: 00:17:25

this adult.

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Parent is asking their child why

they aren't attending church anymore.

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: 00:17:31

And that is the vibe the

kids are giving out today.

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: 00:17:34

I can get community service through

a thousand other organizations.

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I can get a sense of community

through my school sports teams,

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or a club that I'm a part of.

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: 00:17:45

And the question of whether God exists

or not has always been on our minds.

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kids are more fervent in their use of

technology and finding out answers on

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their own via Google there's a lot to

say against church in this modern day

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and age, and with the church's history,

sometimes that makes sense when we

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: 00:18:06

look at The Crusades and the abuse

of power there is still lots of hope.

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: 00:18:11

There is still a lot to learn and grow.

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: 00:18:14

Church has the ability to be the

most amazing thing in the world, and

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: 00:18:18

I think we're building up to that.

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: 00:18:21

Young people these days want authenticity.

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: 00:18:24

They want to make sure that they are

not wasting their time doing something

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: 00:18:29

that is not going to fulfill them.

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: 00:18:31

So if they are showing up to

church at all, they really wanna

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: 00:18:36

make sure they are engaged.

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: 00:18:38

They feel like it's something to get

up for in the morning on a Sunday

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: 00:18:42

when they really wanna sleep, to show

up on a Thursday night to pack boxes

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: 00:18:47

for the food pantry or to make prayer

shawls, whatever the ministry might be.

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: 00:18:54

It's really about listening to where

they want to go, in what direction

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: 00:18:59

because they are the future.

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: 00:19:03

We tell them all the time that

they're not only the future,

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: 00:19:05

but they're also the present.

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: 00:19:07

My biggest thing with inviting young

people to church is that we are inviting

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: 00:19:11

them to be a full part of the community

and not just a token or something to

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: 00:19:17

sit on the altar and look at, to make

sure that they feel really involved.

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: 00:19:21

So inviting the youngest of us to help

usher, to help take the gifts up to

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: 00:19:26

fully participate in whatever part

of service they are interested in.

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: 00:19:32

we have a hopeful new program

coming up for the 20 25, 20 26

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: 00:19:36

calendar where we will be inviting

all orders to participate.

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: 00:19:41

I'm hoping to have deacons, priests,

bishops, lay ministers, brothers

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: 00:19:46

and sisters, as well as a variety

of ministries show up so kids can

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: 00:19:51

ask why do you feel called to this?

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: 00:19:53

Why is this important?

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: 00:19:54

What do you do that's different

than the other person?

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: 00:19:57

and then end with a curated Eucharist

that explains why we do the things we do.

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: 00:20:02

I think so much of Episcopal identity

is wrapped up in who we aren't.

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: 00:20:08

You know, we aren't Catholic

and we're not far evangelical.

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: 00:20:13

We're somewhere in the middle.

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: 00:20:15

But my goal is to help encourage our

people to figure out what we are.

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: 00:20:21

why are you called to

the Episcopal church?

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: 00:20:22

Why are you called to serve God's people?

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: 00:20:25

Through these ways, and so the future

of the churches is here and it's now, we

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: 00:20:32

just have to make sure that the doors are

opening and inviting and that maybe the

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: 00:20:35

youth group room doesn't smell like 1985.

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: 00:20:39

we wanna feel freshness.

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: 00:20:40

We wanna feel an actual welcome

and not just, oh, we have a

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: 00:20:43

place for you in the corner.

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: 00:20:45

Jon Shematek: I think you really, unveiled

a key for me that I've heard someone

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: 00:20:50

else talk about when they're talking

about, young people, in the church and

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: 00:20:54

how desperate they are to be heard.

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: 00:20:57

They really have something

to say and something to ask.

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: 00:21:02

And so often if we're closed to that.

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: 00:21:05

they're not gonna want to come,

they're not gonna be part of us.

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: 00:21:08

That's a really important key.

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: 00:21:09

I'm glad you mentioned that.

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: 00:21:11

Kate Riley: my number one piece of

advice for any church wanting, more

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: 00:21:15

youth and families is to make sure

there is a space for wiggly bodies.

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: 00:21:19

I'm really grateful when I get to

take my little boys to church with me.

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: 00:21:23

But it's hard for them to sit still.

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: 00:21:25

And I would say it's even hard for 15 to

16 year olds to sit still for very long.

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: 00:21:29

So having some space that's soft,

or that we can stretch out a

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: 00:21:32

little bit, or engagement that way.

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: 00:21:35

if you want families to come, they

need to be able to walk in the door

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: 00:21:38

and feel like there's a place for them.

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: 00:21:40

My favorite spot is to rip out a

couple pews right in the middle.

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: 00:21:44

Put a baby gate up and some soft toys,

and just let the kids be in church.

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: 00:21:49

and to fall in love with the prayers

and the smells and the bells, and

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: 00:21:54

how your community does liturgy.

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: 00:21:56

and then just make sure they're

involved in everywhere that we

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: 00:21:59

can, more so than just picking up

chairs and tables after coffee hour.

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: 00:22:03

but maybe hosting coffee hour, maybe

baking for the Eucharistic bread.

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: 00:22:07

they just wanna be involved.

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: 00:22:09

They don't wanna show up and just sit.

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: 00:22:13

Lauren Welch: They want to

be part of the community.

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: 00:22:15

They wanna be the community

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: 00:22:16

Kate Riley: it reminded me, there

was a diagram I learned when I

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: 00:22:18

did one of my early certifications

for youth and family ministry.

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: 00:22:21

I have a one eared Mickey Mouse.

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: 00:22:23

where this is the majority of the

church, this big brown circle,

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: 00:22:26

and then children and youth are

stuffed into this smaller circle

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: 00:22:29

that's attached, but still separate.

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: 00:22:31

I've carried that image with me

knowing that if we want children

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: 00:22:34

and youth to continue to find

value in church community, we

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: 00:22:39

have to squish that in all the way

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: 00:22:42

Everyone has a different development

and we should definitely have more

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: 00:22:46

glitter involved in arts and crafts

to really send home the messages.

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: 00:22:49

But we have to make sure that as they

get older into their teen years and

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: 00:22:54

into their young adult years, that

they feel just as loved and cared

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: 00:22:57

for and fully invested in church.

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: 00:23:02

Jon Shematek: that's great.

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: 00:23:03

Kate, you have, a ton of.

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: 00:23:07

Activities and options and youth

events Going on, year round.

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: 00:23:12

Are there any things, upcoming or

in the future that you'd like to

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: 00:23:17

point us to you mentioned this one.

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: 00:23:19

Conference involving all sorts of people

with the youth, so they could discover

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: 00:23:23

what the different orders of ministry

are about and what the church does, what

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: 00:23:26

other kinds of things would you want to

point people to if they have opportunities

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: 00:23:30

to, participate in, activities that may

be in their own parish, but might be

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: 00:23:34

diocesan level or even inter-religious.

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: 00:23:39

Kate Riley: Thank you for the

opportunity to plug my favorite things.

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: 00:23:42

We like to say that we are the place

where God's motley crew comes together.

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: 00:23:48

post COVID diocesan ministry is even more

important because I come from a small

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: 00:23:53

church where we did not have critical

mass We did not have critical mass for

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: 00:23:58

things like retreats, service trips.

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: 00:24:01

pilgrimages, there were only four of us.

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: 00:24:04

It felt silly to go away for a

whole week to just be the four

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: 00:24:07

of us in a different place.

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: 00:24:09

diocesan Ministry is a beautiful place

where the three kids from Western

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: 00:24:12

Maryland the four kids from Baltimore

and the one kid from Hartford County

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: 00:24:17

can all come together and make up

a group of 20 to 30 or 30 to 60.

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: 00:24:23

With other adult mentors.

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: 00:24:25

It is such a positive experience for

adults to come and chaperone these events

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: 00:24:31

because they learn just as much from

the kids as the kids learn from them,

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: 00:24:35

and you get to experience a great new

community that will only ever happen once.

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: 00:24:41

we encourage everyone of all ages

to come and participate in the

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: 00:24:45

events that the diocese hosts.

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: 00:24:48

we have camp at Claggett

coming up this summer.

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: 00:24:50

We have a great new programs director,

Reverend Sarah Yo is serving, and

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: 00:24:56

I will be out there for two weeks.

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: 00:24:58

Being a camp chaplain, hiking and

biking, doing arts and crafts,

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: 00:25:02

finding God near the pool.

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: 00:25:04

having chapel twice a day to sing songs

and share prayers and stories of the Bible

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: 00:25:10

and making sure that everyone feels our

community is built on the rock of God.

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: 00:25:16

that is a great opportunity coming up.

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: 00:25:18

It's six weeks this summer.

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: 00:25:21

With two weeks on for our wonderful senior

staff who are our college age students

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: 00:25:26

who take their whole summer and dedicate

it to bug spray hydration sunscreen and

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: 00:25:31

opportunities for kids to be themselves

in a safe space and learn about God their

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: 00:25:36

faith, and how other people can play a

role in making the world better place.

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: 00:25:41

I feel like I talk it up

like it's Disney World.

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: 00:25:44

but it's even better than

Disney World, to be honest.

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: 00:25:48

Jon Shematek: it's less expensive

than flying to Florida and

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: 00:25:50

buying a Disney three day pass

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: 00:25:52

Kate Riley: I haven't been

to Disney in a long time.

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: 00:25:54

I have been to camp though.

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: 00:25:55

Jon Shematek: If people are interested

in finding out more about the specific

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: 00:26:00

programs, is there a website, link or

email, that we can put in the show notes?

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: 00:26:07

we'll put it on the screen as well.

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: 00:26:08

do you have that right at hand

that, we can, let people know how

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: 00:26:11

to find these programs and find you?

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: 00:26:14

Kate Riley: Absolutely.

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: 00:26:15

I manage our youth website so that

our communications team doesn't

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: 00:26:18

have to, because things are

always changing in youth ministry.

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: 00:26:21

you can find all of this

information and more at

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: 00:26:26

www.youth.episcopalmaryland.org.

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: 00:26:32

Jon Shematek: Fantastic.

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: 00:26:33

Kate Riley: And we are on

almost all the social medias.

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: 00:26:36

Facebook, Instagram.

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: 00:26:38

I haven't delved into TikTok yet, but.

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: 00:26:41

There are other more

qualified people to do that.

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: 00:26:44

Jon Shematek: Absolutely.

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: 00:26:45

That's perfect.

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: 00:26:45

it's really a one stop shop and people

can find out all of these things.

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: 00:26:49

Find if there are, you know, if there's

registration or the registration's

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: 00:26:53

still open, how much is it gonna

cost and, who's it meant for?

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: 00:26:57

Kate Riley: that's awesome.

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: 00:26:59

everything about camp is on there as well.

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: 00:27:01

when we have our triennial events

through the denominational church,

477

: 00:27:05

I'll post about things there.

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: 00:27:06

There's also resources, books,

websites, short videos, curriculum,

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: 00:27:11

conglomerations, on our webpage,

and an entire page dedicated to

480

: 00:27:15

our young adult ministry as well.

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: 00:27:17

Jon Shematek: What a treasure.

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: 00:27:18

That's fantastic.

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: 00:27:19

Thank you.

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: 00:27:21

So Kate, you've talked about a

lot of good things today, and I

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: 00:27:24

always wanna make sure that Lauren

is able to ask the last question.

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: 00:27:28

let me bounce the ball over to Lauren.

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: 00:27:32

Lauren Welch: Kate, you are so full of

passion and joy working with our children.

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: 00:27:37

We're blessed to have you as our

Canon for Youth and Young Adults.

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: 00:27:42

what words of advice would you like to

leave our viewers and listeners today?

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: 00:27:48

Kate Riley: I would say,

don't be afraid to get messy.

491

: 00:27:53

The best ministry happens when we are

unequivocally ourselves and ready to dig

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: 00:28:02

deep into what God has presented to us.

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: 00:28:04

I have gotten to see great

ministries, involving children

494

: 00:28:08

and youth from planting a garden.

495

: 00:28:10

And helping Monarch butterflies return

to making sure that someone has a

496

: 00:28:16

cooler house to live in, in the middle

of what feels like nowhere Kentucky.

497

: 00:28:21

There are a thousand ways that you

can figure out how to incorporate

498

: 00:28:26

youth and young adults into your

already blossoming ministries.

499

: 00:28:30

And I guarantee you there are some

young people out there who want to

500

: 00:28:33

know more and who want to do more.

501

: 00:28:35

So don't be afraid to talk to them.

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: 00:28:37

Don't be afraid to get messy.

503

: 00:28:38

The greatest thing about ministry

is that the Holy Spirit is there and

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: 00:28:43

will work her way in no matter what.

505

: 00:28:47

Jon Shematek: Amen to that.

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: 00:28:48

Kate Riley, thank you so

much for being with us today.

507

: 00:28:52

We are so appreciative of your

presence, your words, your

508

: 00:28:56

wisdom, we're just grateful.

509

: 00:28:57

thank you once again for being with us.

510

: 00:29:01

Kate Riley: Thank you both

so much for having me.

511

: 00:29:02

I'm so excited to brag about this

and I am just really blessed that

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: 00:29:07

I can continue to do a ministry

that is both my joy and my job,

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: 00:29:11

Lauren Welch: and Jon, and I want to thank

all those who are watching and listening

514

: 00:29:16

for the gift of your time with us today.

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: 00:29:19

Until next time, peace and blessings.

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: 00:29:22

Lynn Shematek: This episode

of Good News has been brought

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: 00:29:24

to you by Listening for Clues.

518

: 00:29:27

For more podcasts, check out

our YouTube channel or our

519

: 00:29:32

website listening for clues.com.