Every four years, the Church of the Nazarene organizes a denominational conference event for high school students from all across the United States and Canada to gather for five days of intentional learning and growth through speakers, worship sessions, concerts, social gatherings and service projects. This summer, nearly 10,000 students, youth leaders and pastors gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah, for Nazarene Youth Conference (NYC).
During the conference, which was held July 1-5, representatives from Olivet Nazarene University, as well as the sister Nazarene institutions and a whole range of mission-focused non-profits, hosted booths in the exhibit hall to connect with the attendees. Following plenary sessions, led by renowned speakers, pastors and Christian thought leaders and supported by worship sets, each evening award-winning Contemporary Christian Music artists performed dynamic concerts, including Hulvey, Josiah Queen and Elevation Rhythm.
The overarching theme of the conference was Wonder, based on Psalm 65:8, which says, “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy and sessions and events throughout the event were structured to reflect the idea of finding awe.”
From Chicago Central District (CCD, the denominational district in which Olivet Nazarene University is located), 149 high school students and adults traveled to Utah for NYC. Given that many of them had never visited the western US, the trip leaders were intentional to plan additional activities that would be more than tourism — they would spark awe and wonder.
David Morris ’05/’19 M.Div., who is the Nazarene Youth International president for CCD in addition to serving as the pastor for middle school ministry at GatheringPoint Church and teaching as an adjunct professor in the School of Theology and Christian Ministry, explained the idea.
“As part of our planning, we wanted to dive deep into the theme of wonder,” he explained. “What better place to do that than a national park? We believe there exists within each of us an innate awe for that which is majestic and beyond our comprehension. From a practical standpoint, we knew many of our participants had never been to a national park, and the opportunity to visit one would continue to prepare us for the deep dive into the theme later that week.”
Morris worked with Joel Heald ’08, to plan a day trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. Heald serves as the student ministries pastor at College Church of the Nazarene—University Avenue, as well as the district NYC Coordinator. He also works with Olivet students as a preaching coach for the ONU Preaching and Music Ambassador Program and teaches courses in the School of Theology and Christian Ministry. His vision for the activity was to help set the tone for the conference event.
“The NYC office provided a great pre-trip curriculum to help us discussion the idea of wonder with our students,” he said. “I broke it down to two components: awe and curiosity. We see the awe of God all over the pages of the Bible, and it is our natural response to the incredible beauty of creation as well as the gift of God’s love and grace to us. I believe that, in our faith journey, awe is the beginning of worship. Additionally, I think that curiosity is a crucial aspect of wonder.”
While they would have planned a great activity, Morris and Heald thought to include Charles Carrigan ’96, Ph.D. in the planning. Dr. Carrigan teaches courses in Department of Chemistry & Geosciences at Olivet and frequently leads college students on trips throughout the United States to study rock formations and other natural wonders. His added expertise was sought to create a memorable experience for the students that would connect a physical experience with a spiritual purpose.
Before the trip, the leaders organized five different options for hiking around Bryce Canyon with varying degrees of difficulty. Dr. Carrigan also created a handout for leaders and students on the district to use on their chosen hike that would facilitate discussion around the theme of wonder. As a bonus, one of Dr. Carrigan’s daughters was attending NYC, and he flew out to help actually guide one of the hiking paths.
“After lunch, I led a hike down Navajo trail among the hoodoos, and back up the Wall Street trail, with ~20 or so,” he reflected. “I taught them a bit of sedimentary geology as we observed the layers of the Eocene Claron Formation, and their subsequent erosion into the monolithic hoodoos from the headwaters of the intermittent Paria River stream system. I also taught them a bit of outdoor ethics through the 7 Leave No Trace principles.”
“Inviting Dr. Carrigan was a no-brainer,” Morris said. “He used his expertise to help us identify the major geological features of the park and then used that knowledge to talk about the ways God continues to shape and form us into Christlikeness. The intersection between faith and science isn’t to be feared, but celebrated. We serve a God of wonder!”
The entire NYC week of activities was meant to encourage and inspire young minds to engage in the world around them — whether looking down into a canyon, worshiping at a concert or connecting with other students from across the country. Although the trip may have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the goal was for this impressionable generation to see that God is present in every moment of daily life and that living in wonder opens up one’s mind, heart and spirit to the potential of awesome growth and change.
“When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he told us to, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ (Matt 22:37, NIV) — this is a whole-person approach to our faith journey!” Heald added. “Especially for teenagers, it is easy to compartmentalize our different worlds (school, church, online, friends, etc.). An important part of growing into Christ-likeness is learning to integrate all the different ‘parts’ of ourselves, and to offer them to Jesus so that he can be Lord of all of it. I believe that our vision for ministry should recognize that both the fun and the serious moments are equally sacred and have an important part of forming a genuine and lasting faith. This means that how we engage the world through thoughtful learning is just as important as our laughter and play.”
For more information about the Church of the Nazarene events, visit Nazarene.org
For more information about Olivet’s School of Theology & Christian Ministry or the Department of Chemistry & Geosciences, visit Olivet.edu/Academics.
