Confluence Archives - Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation

Apply Now! Invite Your Youth to Join Us at The Confluence, June 23rd-28th, 2024

Posted on March 7, 2024March 7, 2024

Apply Now! Invite your youth to join us at The Confluence, June 23rd-28th, 2024

Written by Gretchen Roeck

Do you know a high school student who is trying to figure out who they are and what kind of life they want to live? Invite them to attend The Confluence!

The Confluence at Augsburg University is a week where high schoolers are invited to explore their vocation — that space where their personal story, God’s story and the world’s story converge.

Invite the youth you know to our weeklong, on-campus, summer program for high school students who have completed 9th-12th grades.

Students will learn through:

– vocational discernment

– meaningful peer relationships

– experiential learning with local leaders and organizations in the TwinCities

– personal reflection and discernment

– small group conversation led by current Augsburg student mentors

– spiritual practices and daily worship

– theological inquiry and study with Augsburg professor, Dr. Jeremy Myers.

We hope to reach curious youth who want to live purposefully in relationship with their neighbors, orientated to God’s vision of a just and sustainable world for all. Questions and doubts are welcome.

Cost: $400/participant. Participants are responsible for transportation to and from Augsburg University.

Apply now at: https://www.augsburg.edu/confluence/join-us-this-summer/

Application Deadline: May 15th

Augsburg Scholarship Opportunity: Students who attend The Confluence and decide to attend Augsburg University as a full-time student will receive a minimum of $20,000 applied to their financial aid package for up to four years.

Questions?

Please contact Gretchen Roeck, Program Director

roeck@augsburg.edu

612-330-1412

augsburg.edu/confluence

Introducing our new Program Director for The Confluence: Gretchen Roeck!

Posted on February 15, 2024

Gretchen Roeck is passionate about inviting youth to engage, critically examine and discern their gifts and call in the world. She loves empowering youth and young adults to be leaders in their own lives and communities. She dreams of building communities of people who are fully alive, connected and invested in one another’s flourishing.

Gretchen joined the Christensen Center for Vocation team in January 2024 as the Program Director for The Confluence. The Confluence is CCV’s summer institute for high school students, offering youth an opportunity to engage in vocational discernment by exploring the ways their own story merges with God’s story and the world’s story. Gretchen is excited to be a part of the CCV team and their work to inspire and equip people of faith to creatively orient their lives and work around Jesus’ call to be neighbor.

In addition to her work with The Confluence, Gretchen is a Priest in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. She leads Children’s Ministry at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in St. Paul, and is the chaplain at Circle of the Beloved, an intentional living community for young adults in North Minneapolis. Gretchen spent the last five years serving as the Priest and Internship Director at the University Episcopal Community, a campus ministry for young adults across the Twin Cities. Her ministry has been focused on children, youth and young adults –inviting them into a relationship with God, fostering their personal growth, walking alongside them and guiding young people in their spiritual and vocational journeys. She is committed to building and sustaining safe, inclusive and welcoming communities that lead towards health and wholeness for individuals and their broader communities.

Creating safe, supportive and loving spaces extends into Gretchen’s personal life. She is the mother of two fun and creative boys, Elliott and Abraham, ages 10 and 6. Together they share a home in Minneapolis with Brigid the dog, and George and Molly, the cats.

The Confluence 2023 Mentor Experience

Posted on August 17, 2023

Written by Mentor Sarah Runck

Making new connections and building on those relationships can be really exciting but also really scary. I got the opportunity to make new connections with high school youth at the 2023 Augsburg Youth Theology Institute: The Confluence! This program was filled with connections between our story, God’s story and The World’s story. We learned about our own spiritual gifts, practiced vocational discernment and heard stories from the neighbors in our community. Many memories, laughs, smiles, and even cries were shared. All of these things influenced why I chose to be a mentor this year. Having these connections with people who come from all over is a really important part of who we are. We get to hear each other’s stories, learn from them and grow because of them.

This weeklong program had a lot to offer to young people. However, as this week progressed there were some challenges that arose for us mentors. “Having the energy, the patience, and the positive attitude around the participants was the most challenging part” (A 2023 Mentor). But not only were there challenges, there were exciting moments. A fellow mentor said, “It was exciting to see the participants interact with guest pastors, speakers and teachers. Their curiosity was so inspiring and fun to watch.” As mentors, we realized that it was truly amazing to get to know each other and all the participants. We were able to create a relationship with everyone at this program. By having our own small groups, we got to know and understand participants at a deeper level spiritually and we were able to help each other grow in our faith”. Continue reading “The Confluence 2023 Mentor Experience” →

The CONFLUENCE: a place where your story, the world’s story, and God’s story flow together.

Posted on July 21, 2023July 25, 2023

Written by Adrienne Kuchler Eldridge

The CONFLUENCE

What a gift to host the 2023 Augsburg Youth Theology Institute: the Confluence! Our souls are refreshed, hearts are full, and bodies exhausted. On Sunday, June 25th, 20 high school students from Northfield, to North Minneapolis, to North Dakota and beyond, arrived on campus to spend a week focused on vocation, think theologically, and ask big questions about God’s purpose for their lives. This was the first in-person Institute we have been able to host in four years, and it was an incredible experience. Young people arrived eager to meet new people and share their stories, excited to learn more about themselves and the world around them, and dig deeper into God’s story.

WHAT DID WE DO?

Participants stayed on campus in Anderson Hall and spent the week eating in the dining hall. We woke up every morning and started the day with a devotion prepared by college mentors. Participants spent 1.5 hours each morning in a college classroom with a college professor, digging into theology and exploring the same biblical texts offered for daily devotions. We built relationships with others in our small groups, we played games, we told stories. We got out into the community and we ate delicious food. Every evening we worshiped, in unique and different ways each day. A favorite of all participants was Dinner Church where we shared communion, a meal, and a little karaoke! The song “Wade in the Water” was a constant throughout the week (Refrain: wade in the water, wade in the water children, wade in the water. Don’t you know that God’s gonna trouble the water.)

Continue reading “The CONFLUENCE: a place where your story, the world’s story, and God’s story flow together.” →

Mentors Practice Vocational Discernment In Preparation for the Institute!

Posted on April 20, 2023April 19, 2023

Written by Adrienne Kuchler Eldridge

LT to RT: Sarah Runck, Adrienne Kuchler Eldridge (director), Bella Wizik, Ella Sutherland, Hannah Sackett (chaplain), Carson Vincent, Jasmyn Kendall, John Schwehn (chaplain). Not pictured: Grace Harrison (coordinator). — LT to RT:
Sarah Runck, Adrienne Kuchler Eldridge (director), Bella Wizik, Ella Sutherland, Hannah Sackett (chaplain), Carson Vincent, Jasmyn Kendall, John Schwehn (chaplain). Not pictured: Grace Harrison (coordinator).

One of the ways the Christensen Center for Vocation is engaging in vocational discernment with students is through the hiring and training of college mentors as facilitators for the annual Augsburg Youth Theology Institute. Mentors spend the spring semester discerning their own God given gifts, practicing small group facilitation, digging into theological texts with curiosity for how they might give us some insight into the questions we have about how to show up as neighbors in our own neighborhoods, churches, schools, and communities.

This year’s mentors are engaged, curious, and determined to create a community of belonging for our participants. And that means focusing on their own development. They are practicing leading prayer, asking questions, developing their strengths, understanding their spiritual gifts, and digging into texts. Stay tuned for our upcoming social media introductions and highlights from the end of the month training retreat – follow up on Facebook or Instagram to learn more!

APPLY TODAY!

Do you know high school students who would benefit from an experience like this?

The CONFLUENCE is an experience that empowers young people to be curious about how their personal story, the world’s story, and God’s story flow together to create a loving and just world. In June of each year, we invite high school students to spend a week living on campus with our college mentors, building relationships and getting to know one another, exploring theology and discerning vocation through experiential learning opportunities. Our hope is for them to gain deeper insight into who they are and the life they want to live as children of God. This learning happens through many forms: academic inquiry in the classroom, community engaged learning, a variety of worship styles and spiritual practices.

College mentors play an important role as facilitator and guide for the high school participants throughout the week as everyone leans into opportunities for vocational discernment.

Applications are open until May 15th – will you JOIN US THIS SUMMER!

The CONFLUENCE

WHAT DID WE DO?

APPLY TODAY!

MEET THE 2023 MENTORS FOR THE CONFLUENCE! Continue reading “Mentors Practice Vocational Discernment In Preparation for the Institute!” →