Some Good News 5/11/23

There is so much pressure to fit into the mold that society creates for us, and this pressure can get in the way of listening for God’s call upon our lives — to college, to volunteering, to a gap year, to a new job, to caring for a relative, to… so much!

by Rev. Josh Andrzejewski on May 11, 2023

To read this week's First News Weekly, click here. 

There’s a lot to celebrate this Sunday! Youth will be leading both worship services — sharing prayers, reflections, and music. We’ll celebrate our confirmands and high school seniors with a reception in the fellowship hall after 10am worship and at dinner after the 5pm service. 

At times like these, we can be tempted to fix our gaze on the future. “What’s next?” is a question that seniors have been hearing for months, and it can be a hard one to answer. There is so much pressure to fit into the mold that society creates for us, and this pressure can get in the way of listening for God’s call upon our lives — to college, to volunteering, to a gap year, to a new job, to caring for a relative, to… so much!

This Sunday, and in the weeks to come, I invite you to choose different questions to ask the young people in your life:

  • What are you most excited about right now?

  • What’s the most fun you’ve had this year?

  • What’s something cool or weird you’ve learned recently?

  • Where have you seen God lately?

I really appreciate The Message’s interpretation of Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount: “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matthew 6:34). This is good advice, not just for graduates, but for us all.

About the Author

Rev. Josh Andrzejewski

Pronouns: he/him

Questions about Youth Faith Formation and Confirmation can be directed to Josh. 

Favorite...

  • Bible Verses: Exodus 14:14, Ruth 1:16-17, Esther 4:14, Luke 15, Galatians 5:6
  • Movies: Everything Everywhere All at Once, It’s a Wonderful Life
  • Books: Life is in the Transitions, Life of Pi, Leaving Church, The Lord of the Rings, The Sparrow
  • TV Shows: anything with “Star Trek” in the title, The Good Place, Midnight Mass, The Office, Stranger Things, What We Do in the Shadows, The West Wing
  • Podcasts: Good Christian Fun, The Greatest Generation, Judge John Hodgman, Mega, Radiolab, Working Preacher
  • Music: Alanis Morissette, Coldplay, Dashboard Confessional, Halsey, Taylor Swift, U2
  • For fun I like to: keep and breed tropical fish, build legos, work crossword puzzles, do Wordle  

About Josh

As a child attending Langhorne Presbyterian Church near Philadelphia, Pa., I remember looking up at my pastors and thinking, “Who would ever want THAT to be their job?” A few years after I was confirmed, I learned about God’s sense of humor when I sensed a call to ministry during a high school mission trip. After graduating from Elizabethtown College in central Pennsylvania with a major in Communications and Religious Studies, I enrolled at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Va.

During seminary, I discovered a passion for chaplaincy. My first ordained position was as the chaplain for at-risk youth at UMFS, a residential treatment center. From there, I moved on to VCU Health, where I served as the pediatric chaplain for ten years, providing crisis support to children and families from all walks of life. During those years, I was the interim pastor for several smaller congregations in the Presbytery of the James, as well as assistant professor of clinical ethics at the VCU College of Health Professions.

My ministry has been centered on meeting young people where they are and helping them grow in their sense of belonging, identity, and purpose. I love wrestling with difficult questions and finding concrete ways to apply faith to everyday life.

My wife, Jillian, is a baptist pastor and an avid knitter. Our daughter, Norah, loves writing stories and building legos. In my spare time, I enjoy keeping and breeding tropical fish.

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