All are invited to enjoy Spaghetti Dinner & Bingo at All Saints’ Episcopal Church at 6 pm on Friday, July 8. Proceeds benefit the youth participating in the All Saints’ 2017 Journey 2 Adulthood (J2A) confirmation pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral in England.
The members of this J2A group have gotten to know each other over period of years, sharing experiences, studying, and praying together. The picture below is from a retreat they attended in Mineral Wells. The pilgrimage to Canterbury represents both a culmination of their time together as youth and a launching point toward all the various paths they’ll take next.
The Rev. Jordan Haynie Ware explains a little more about the significance of the pilgrimage in the Journey 2 Adulthood program:
The J2A pilgrimage is the capstone of our youth confirmation program. Youth in 9th and 10th grades make their adult profession of faith, then seal their commitment by giving a week of their summer to journey to Canterbury Cathedral, “mother’s kitchen” of the Episcopal faith. A pilgrimage isn’t a tourist vacation or a chance to see the sights, it is a physical and spiritual journey to a place where God has been found before. Pilgrimages help connect us with the communion of saints who have gone before, as we journey to historical sites. They also help us bond with the Church throughout the world – especially in Canterbury, where Anglicans and Episcopalians from South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, Canada, and more gather for community, prayer, and study. All Saints’ J2A pilgrimages enrich the spiritual lives of our youth, and serve as their threshold to Christian adulthood, an anchor for their faith as they transition from home to college and the working world.
Last year’s J2A group went on pilgrimage to the island of Iona in Scotland.
The spaghetti dinner and bingo event this Friday is an opportunity to support All Saints’ youth in funding the pilgrimage. It’s also fun. The event features cash prizes for bingo, homemade baked goods, and a Christmas Eve pew raffle.