When we began our ministry in small town North Dakota, there were fewer distinctions between church life and community life. I often met with parishioners at the City Cafe for a cup of coffee and conversation that ranged from the weather to farm prices to church business to a dozen other subjects Talk of the life of the church was mixed into other conversations on a regular basis. In a similar manner, our youth ministry was, for the most part, ministry with most of the youth of the community. Although youth had primary affiliations to their own churches, an event at our church might draw Catholics, Lutherans and members of the Assembly of God and Methodist churches. In the smaller of the two towns were we served, virtually all youth ministry events were staged for all of the youth of the community. There was no attempt at proselytizing and we knew that each congregation had its own membership and confirmation programs. Actually, people switching from one congregation to another was a fairly rare occurrence. For the most part, people remained with the congregation in which they had grown up.

Members of our congregations expected us to have a high level of visibility in the public schools. We attended concerts and sports events and graduations in part because we knew and loved the youth, in part because it was expected of us. It was not an uncomfortable arrangement. We didn’t need to have rigid distinctions between when we were working and when we were not. Our identity was as important to our ministry as was the list of tasks we performed.

For some of the years that we served there, I drove school bus. Mostly i was a substitute driver and didn’t drive a single route. I did a lot of driving the activity bus for school games, field trips and other events. It being a small town, we knew all of the kids who rode on the buses and discipline simply wasn’t a problem.

When we moved to a larger city, things began to shift. In Boise, as in Rapid City, the youth in our church went to different schools. They often didn’t connect with each other outside of church events. The distinctions between churches was more rigid as well. We didn’t often have visitors from other churches and sometimes when that happened, it raised a few eyebrows. I have never felt that it was appropriate to grow the church by taking members from other congregations and I may be more sensitive to appearances than others, but I was careful to respect other congregations and their work with youth. Visiting youth in the school setting became more difficult with increased security in public schools and we learned to contact our youth in different ways. The advent of cell phones as constant companions for most youth changed how we contact and communicate news about church events and activities and keeping up with technology has become a challenge for all who work with youth.

There is a part of me that misses the school setting. So when I get the opportunity to participate in a school event, I am likely to respond positively. Freshman Impact Day at Douglas High School is a big production that requires a lot of volunteers with special skills. Even though I am very busy with church responsibilities, it seemed to be an appropriate investment of my time yesterday.

It was an intense day! Freshmen from Douglas, New Underwood, Wall, St. Thomas More and Rapid City Christian High school participated. A total of 338 9th graders went through our learning station in seven groups. They heard our presentation on suicide prevention and at least six direct referrals for counseling occurred as a result of our portion of the program.

The day focused on many choices that high school students make and has information on many potential dangers they face. There were learning stations where youth experienced fatal vision goggles, fire and medical rescue operations, sexually transmitted diseases, suicide prevention and responsible help, seatbelt education, texting and driving, a rollover simulator, youth leadership, and drug and alcohol abuse. About half of the day was dedicated to an elaborate simulation of a youth party scene, followed by a drunk driving accident with injuries and fatalities. there were wrecked cars int he the parking lot, with youth with simulated injuries, real ambulances and police officers responded to the accident with the teens watching. They filed by a closed casket, and witnessed a simulated sentencing hearing before a real judge for the drunk driver.

There was a presentation by a young adult who had been convicted of vehicular homicide about the series of bad decisions and wrong choices that brought him to his fatal accident.

Seeing their peers play roles in the process was and emotional experience for youth and even for the adults who work with them.

I suppose that the process might be considered by some to be emotional manipulation.But the whole point of impact is to reach the students in places where they can learn. Without them being both intellectually and emotionally engaged, the required learning might not take place. In group after group the majority of the youth present had first hand experience with someone who had died by suicide. In group after group 30 to 50 percent of the youth said that they had no adult that they could trust if they had a serious problem. The reality is that there is much in the culture of our high schools that is a recipe for disaster. Teaching youth the numbers of suicide prevention services and hotlines might be critical to saving a life. Referring youth with problems to appropriate help is literally a life-saving maneuver.

Police officers, firemen and emergency medical technicians save lives in visible and direct ways. We who are suicide prevention advocates do our work in less visible and sometimes in ways where we cannot know the results of our work. But we are all engage in saving lives and that is what freshman Impact is all about.

From my point of view, it was a worthy investment of my time. I hope it was a day that the freshmen will remember.

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