PSALT - 2008

Well, a month+ has passed since my trip to Louisville, KY, so I guess it's probably about time to write something about it...

This year's fall PSALT (Presbyterian Student Advocacy and Leadership Team) meeting was great. The most exciting part of this meeting for me was being able to get to meet the people that we had elected to PSALT from their applications just a month prior. We picked some awesome people to serve students across the country through this team. I'm excited to see how the work will continue in the coming years with these enthusiastic young members (haha, that makes me sound old).

The first night we spent getting to know each other, because the team had been pretty depleted over the last few years. Actually, during our get to know you games, only Betsy, Rick and I had met before out of the 10 or so of us.

The next morning, I led a brief (so brief!) devotion about our unity in Christ. During our time together, we realized we were going to encounter many different viewpoints on social and theological issues. I think the devotion set us on the right track and helped us keep our focus on what was important.

Of course, we couldn't get to work before taking a little historical tour around the PC(USA) Presbyterian Center(headquarters). The building is amazing, historical, and very cool. The tour was interesting, and it was neat to see where all these people work that are behind emails, phone calls, websites, governance and more.

Over the rest of the day, we broke down what college students need and categorized them into a few different areas. Out of the weekend, this was the best thing we did. Not only did it help us figure out where we were starting from, it also got everyone excited for our team and trying to help students fill these needs.

For now, PSALT is working on a website. I know, I know, a website is only kind of cool. Another goal is planning several mission trips for smaller college ministry groups, or individual students to attend if missions wouldn't be available to them otherwise. As soon as we get the website rolling(and it's getting there!) we'll start collecting info on resources, ministries, and anything else. What should be included in all of this... We're not sure yet. Through surveying students and asking questions of people we know, we hope to figure this out more.

We took a little time the next morning to visit the Louisville Seminary. A pretty nice place, beautiful campus. After that, we took round one of departures to the airport and the rest of us headed off to Churchill Downs. Awesome.

I love our conversations about where the church is going. At times it feels overwhelming. Where is the PC(USA) heading? Is it right where it's supposed to be? What gets changed? Visiting different churches in different parts of the country has given me a bit more perspective on this and its become a bit of a fascination.

I'm excited to see PSALT moving. I have full confidence that the people that are on this team have a great vision for how we can start connecting with college students and providing resources. We've got a huge task in front of us, but we're moving forward. Excited to see what comes of all of this, and how it shapes the Presbyterian Church(USA) in the future.