Youth Summer Mission Trip

This Summer, Williamsburg UMC Youth will be participating in the Richmond Awareness Week hosted by Cross Connection Camps, an inclusive mission camp organization. We’ll be part of a group of about 50 participants from several churches who will all be working together to build relationships across racial divides as we learn from history, serve in mission, and work in the community together. I believe this experience of growing relationships across racial lines is a great outworking of all that we’ve been focusing on in Youth Group over the last few years, and I trust that the folks at Cross Connections have planned an excellent week for us. 

The goal of this camp is to help participants deepen their awareness and understanding of Richmond’s fraught history with racial justice, while beginning to creatively discern how people of faith might be called to respond in light of what we have learned and what we see in our world todayIn particular, we hope to accomplish this through an embodied experience in which the stories of the past meet our stories today, helping to shape a . different story for the future—one grounded in our faith tradition and ongoing formation and transformation.

We do this by practicing what Christ taught us: going out and living in community for a week with those whom society has placed on the margins. Through this, participants learn from and alongside people whose lived experiences with race and racial injustice can help us better understand the interconnectedness of race with other social concerns, such as economics and faith. By drawing these connections, we hope to better discern our next faithful step in helping to write a different story for our collective future.

**Full or partial scholarships are available to help afford this event. We are committed to making it possible for all students to participate regardless of financial means. If you would like more information about scholarships, please contact Zach Griggs at zgriggs@williamsburgumc.org.