STEP: STudent Ecumenical Partnership

Celebrate?

Trayce Stewart "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" We all know that this phrase is found in the Gospels and is in reference to Jesus asking why His Father has forgotten about Him during his crucifixion on Calvary. Well, it seems that the people of New Orleans have been asking this same question to both Our Father, and to the United States government.

Despite the trying and difficult times of going through the rebuilding process, the people of New Orleans have remained encouraged and have responded by staying faithful to that which God has called them to do. On blown over and flooded houses you could find encouraging and familiar biblical texts.

I had the opportunity to visit New Orleans for the first time as I attended meetings as a member of the STEP Team for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) representative at the Celebrate planning meeting and CESCM (Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministries). During the Celebrate meeting, our major undertaking was to begin finalizing Celebrate, which will be held from December 28th thru January 1, 2007.

Devastation remains New Orleans What is Celebrate? Celebrate is a large ecumenical conference held every four years for young adults. We not only want to equip today's young adults with the tools necessary to allow them to thrive in the context of their campus ministries, but we want to provide a networking system that will allow them to share their faith, values, and ideas with students and other young adults from around the country.

Over the course of four days, our hope is to provide young adults with a Christian experience, as well as expose them to the cultural and social realities that are present in the historic city of New Orleans. Not only will there be several opportunities for worship, but we will also be helping in the rebuilding efforts of the city, experiencing the jazz community first hand, seeing the historic French Quarters (including Bourbon Street), as well as much, much more.

For more information visit: www.cescm.org.

Trayce Stewart is a member of the Student Ecumenical Partnership (STEP) Leadership Team and is a member of Bethany Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Willoughby, Ohio. She is also the Disciples' student liaison to CESCM.



		Celebrate? "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" We all know that this phrase is found in the Gospels and is in reference to Jesus asking why His Father has forgotten about Him during his crucifixion on Calvary. Well, it seems that the people of New Orleans have been asking this same question to both Our Father, and to the United States government. Despite the trying and difficult times of going through the rebuilding process, the people of New Orleans have remained encouraged and have responded by staying faithful to that which God has called them to do. On blown over and flooded houses you could find encouraging and familiar biblical texts. I had the opportunity to visit New Orleans for the first time as I attended meetings as a member of the STEP Team for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) representative at the Celebrate planning meeting and CESCM (Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministries). During the Celebrate meeting, our major undertaking was to begin finalizing Celebrate, which will be held from December 28th thru January 1, 2007. What is Celebrate? Celebrate is a large ecumenical conference held every four years for young adults. We not only want to equip today's young adults with the tools necessary to allow them to thrive in the context of their campus ministries, but we want to provide a networking system that will allow them to share their faith, values, and ideas with students and other young adults from around the country. Over the course of four days, our hope is to provide young adults with a Christian experience, as well as expose them to the cultural and social realities that are present in the historic city of New Orleans. Not only will there be several opportunities for worship, but we will also be helping in the rebuilding efforts of the city, experiencing the jazz community first hand, seeing the historic French Quarters (including Bourbon Street), as well as much, much more. For more information visit: www.cescm.org. Trayce Stewart is a member of the Student Ecumenical Partnership (STEP) Leadership Team and is a member of Bethany Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Willoughby, Ohio. She is also the Disciples' student liaison to CESCM.