Synod School

This past week I had the opportunity to attend Synod School at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.  This is the 65^th consecutive year (I’ve attended at least five times) that the Synod of Lakes & Prairies has offered Synod School.  Approximately 650 people attended this year.

What is Synod School? Think of camp at a college with morning worship and a lecture, all sorts of classes in the late morning and afternoon, worship in the evening along with some more classes after that. Class options ranged from a three hour study on the New Testament to an afternoon class on outdoor cooking. Food is offered in the cafeteria.  No cooking, no cleaning, many activities for families, opportunities for spiritual and personal growth--Synod School. 

This year I had the opportunity to co-teach a class on prayer with Sarah Dickinson, pastor of Discovery Presbyterian Church in Omaha. The class came out of a conversation the two of us had last year at Synod School about the importance of prayer in local congregations. As Presbyterians we should be “best in prayer,” the title of the class. Both of us were surprised that close to thirty people signed up for the class. We each believe that many Presbyterians want to be taught about how to improve their prayer life. 

Jason Brian Santos was the main speaker in the morning. He shared his experiences and research on the Taize community in France, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiz%C3%A9_Community. An important part of his teachings during the week was on creating Sabbath community. He shared that four spritiual practices that are essential to Taize are prayer, Bible reading, communal work and silence along with spiritual friendship.  He encouraged participants at Synod School to develop intergenerational, spiritual practices in their own churches that would help create a Sabbath community.

I enjoyed listening to Jason Brian Santos teach during the week and loved his stories about the Taize community. I loved his commitment to helping churches create Sabbath communities. If I had had an extended amount of time with him I’d like to push deep into how Sabbath communities can be created and how Sabbath communities can experience growth in the number of people who participate in a local congregation.

I especially enjoyed taking a class by David Barnhat on “story.” He has produced a number of award-winning documentary filsm for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Just watching some of the videos he has made was worth attending the class. Check out the following web site to watch some of these very moving videos: https://vimeo.com/pdacares

One of the best parts of Synod School is the community that is formed during the week. Relationships are made and re-made; fun and goofy activities are shared; memories are created; new learnings are taken back to congregations.

No event is perfect. I wish that the racial composition of Synod School was more diverse; and I wish that even more young families were attending, though the number of children in the picture above is heart-warming.  However these wishes do not at all take away from the reality that Synod School is an outstanding experience. If you’re reading this, think about attending in 2019.

I look forward to the ministry of Synod School for at least another 65 years!

Would you take a moment to subscribe to this blog?  Put your email in the box on the right hand side of this blog.  You'll be asked a few questions to ensure you are really a human being.  You'll then receive an email whenever a blog is posted.