This summer I didn't only go to camps but I had the privilege to be able to go to National Convocation in Birmingham. This week was really busy but for a different reasons than I am for when I am at camps. The conference was only for half of the week so I spent the first half of the week at Moon Beach in Wisconsin.
While I was at Moon Beach I was relaxing a bit more than what was normal for me this summer. It was good to be able to unwind before continuing the summer. However the time spent there was not all fun and play for me because I was able to lead one of the vespers during the evening. The worship that I did at this camp was a Saint Thomas Mass. This type of vespers is a self guided worship with prayer stations. This means people can go to all or just one station, wherever God leads them to go. The stations that were set up for this Saint Thomas Mass were reading, coloring, letters to God, sand, and labyrinth. I think the worship went rather well.
After spending a few days at Moon Beach I went to the conference. I met so many people who invited me in just like I was family. On the first day I went to the Civil Rights Museum. I learned so much while walking through but I feel like that is a museum that you really need to go to multiple times to really get the full experience and absorb everything that it has to offer, there is just that much information. I would go back to this museum in a heartbeat. The thing that had the biggest impact on me was when in the museum when they were talking about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing they had a picture window facing that church. It hit hard seeing the church right across the street, it is a good reminder that this stuff did happen and there is still a lot to do.
Every night there was a worship that I loved. The worship was really high energy and called for justice and inclusion which is wonderful. One of my favorite part of the worship was all the gospel music that we sang. Gospel music has a special place in my heart because while I attended Agnes Scott College I was part of Joyful Noise which was a gospel choir on campus. This choir was a big part of my college experience and made we want to join other groups in the future. So when I heard the music that they were singing, I was super excited because I knew the songs and joined in with just as much confidence. It gave me joy to make a joyful noise to the lord.
I also got to go to other things at the conference such as a bible study, listening to some rising stars in ministry, and workshops. The workshop that I attended was about doing justice and God's call for us to do so. We talked about how we can do this and not just justice between people but also justice to nature and all other living things on this Earth. I feel like this workshop was really eye opening and I was very glad that I choose to come to this one. The only improvements I would suggest would convey is to put it in a bigger room because this was a popular workshop and give it more time because I feel like we only hit the surface of the subject. I think these are good problem to have because it means that people are interested and really want to make a difference in the world. It makes my heart smile that this was the case and that the whole conference had this vibe.