St. John’s J2A group would like to thank all friends, family, and parishioners for your prayers and support during our “Urban Adventure” to Philadelphia June 28-30th. As you may expect, we visited important historical places such as Independence Hall, Christ Church, and the Liberty Bell, but we got to experience so much more, thanks to Andrew Kellner, the Canon for Youth Ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. Andrew was a wealth of information not only for our stay at St. Luke’s, but he gave us insight to the different neighborhoods within the city such as Germantown where we stayed, and educated all of us to the fact that many young people in Philadelphia do not have a chance to succeed due to declining school programs and extreme poverty.
We had an opportunity to tour St. James School, an Episcopal school committed to educating traditionally under-resourced students, and truly making a difference in their community. We all learned very quickly that this was not Hampton, and realized how truly blessed we all are to have not only our biological families, but our church family as a central part of our lives. Thank you all!
Some of our highlights: Scavenger hunt, Cheesesteaks, Bell ringing, Apples to Apples, Geishas, Smilin’ Wavin’ Mailman, The Eastern State Penitentiary, Tired feet in fountains, St. Luke’s, Ping Pong, Figuring out the city buses, Chinese food, S’mores, St. James School, running up the Rocky steps.
Originally published in St. John’s Epistle, July and August 2013.