Relationship. We believe spiritual formation occurs within a context of strong relationships. We seek to build mentorships with students in order to deepen their spiritual development.
Ever since I was 8 years old I’ve spent a week of my summer at Carolina Bible Camp in Mocksville, North Carolina. Now, I have missed a few summers. There was the one summer I was working as an intern in Falls Church, Virginia. Even then, I made a trip down and back in 24 hours. There was also the summer Elizabeth and I were expecting our daughter, and the doctor cautioned us against taking a trip across the mountains from Nashville. Then there was this summer where we initially decided we were too busy, but then changed our minds and made the trip to North Carolina for the second half of camp.
I’ve thought a lot about what’s kept me going back, from a camper, to staff, through college and even with kids. I think the answer is pretty simple. It’s the relationships. I had the opportunity to make some great friends at camp, and I’ve also had the opportunity to meet adults who were important in mentoring and walking with me through life.
When it comes to working with students, there’s a lot of talk about the importance of relationships. But why do we talk about relationships and what do we see as being important regarding the relationships we make? In ministry, it often seems like it’s friendship with thin veneer of Jesus.
Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
I think ultimately where we go wrong in thinking about our relationships in ministry is thinking that the relationship is only a means to an end. In other words, we “use” the relationship to get to some other end like a faith commitment.
However, what if the relationship wasn’t a means to an end, but the actual meat and substance of ministry? What if, as Root states in Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry, in “The I-you relationship of person meeting person is the place where the transcendent otherness of God encounters us both.”
By being known, and knowing others, at camp, I became free to enter into the true humanity Jesus is calling me to pursue. Looking back, I’m thankful that it was in the relationships that God’s presence was mediated to me, finding others who were willing to carry my burdens, and being trusted enough to help carry the burdens of others.
Photo by Mariam Soliman on Unsplash
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