06/07/2026
A report on Mission Conference by our youth delegate Adelaide Dyckson. (shared during this morning's service)
Good morning, my name is Adelaide Dyckson. Along with Karen and Jim, who aren't here today, I attended the mission conference at the diocese’s offices last Saturday. I chose to attend because I thought the conference sounded interesting and I was eager to learn about how the diocese and the churches within it worked together.
It was a lovely and informative day. I attended two breakaway groups: one was about youth ministry, and the other was a presentation of a professor’s research on Christianity in Vancouver. There I had the pleasure of meeting someone from Salal and Cedar, Laurel’s other ministry, and getting to talk about theatre and Laurel for a bit. I must say, I didn’t find the talk on youth ministry particularly interesting, as I’ve been taught or picked up most of the information about trauma-informed interacting before. The talk on Christianity in Vancouver, however, was a fascinating look at the place and facts of Christianity in the city and how religion mingles with local culture.
The impression I left with is that the people who attended the conference were surprisingly friendly. I spend much of my time around teenagers; some are lovely and others are standoffish, but particularly in the circles I move in, many of us are shy. It was a pleasant surprise to be surrounded by people I could make small talk with and who were happy not only to share their experiences, but hear my perspective on the topic at hand. Surrounded by so many adults with many years’ knowledge over me, I expected to be talked to rather than with. Instead, I felt that what I had to say was considered as valuable as everyone else’s in both group discussions and one-on-one conversations.
I did not attend the right breakaway groups to bring back useful knowledge to St George’s – I believe I am the only person who fit the age bracket for the youth ministry discussion. The other one I attended was a presentation of research that I found fascinating, probably because I have an inordinate love for social studies, but didn’t have a message to take away from it. The talk I was part of that gave me perspective to bring back to St George’s was one with a woodworker – her first name was Laurel, and I can’t recall her surname. She discussed and encouraged the group of us listening to her to consider that creating art is a spiritual act, because we are bringing something beautiful into the world. I wonder if that is something we could all use to ground ourselves and bring a little more purpose to the things we create.
