Reflection: "A true spiritual and enlightening moment"

Hello all!

My name is John Narruhn and I had the great blessing to be representing the Church of the Holy Cross as a first-time delegate at the 32nd General Synod. While it was a bit of a challenge to get adjusted right to the time difference (honestly waking up at 6:30 a.m. while your body is still on Hawaii time at 1:30 a.m. is not fun), the rest of the activities and events held in the General Synod was absolutely amazing.

A big shout out to the Wisconsin Conference for their volunteers and staff for their amazing organization and assistance throughout our time in Milwaukee. Seriously, through your work, time, and efforts the whole event ran smoothly, and it was easy to take in everything and fully experience it so for that I want to say a big thank you!

I enjoyed our discussions in the committees we were assigned to (shout out to Committee 1 the best committee! #AddTheSemicolon) and I love that despite our backgrounds and differences, we were able to remember that we are all children of God and interacted with each other as such. In these times of “us vs. them” mentalities it made me proud to see that no such thing occurred during our discussions in the committees and as well as the plenaries. It was also pretty cool to see the youth informed and involved as well! But my most favorite part of the Synod would have to be the worship services.

Truly I tell you that there are no words I can write nor say that can fully capture what I felt during these services. It’s just crazy to me to think that all in one room are people from all over the country, as well as some outside, coming together and just worshipping the good Lord that gave us the Spirit to do the works He had set for us to do. A true spiritual and enlightening moment is what I would call it. With that said, I want to finish off by saying once again a big thank you to all who worked to bring our amazing Church family together and if God willing I hope to do this again for General Synod 33.

Much blessings and I hope to see you all in Kansas City!

John Narruhn

Hawai‘i Island Association; Church of the Holy Cross

John is a student attending Wheaton College in Illinois and this was his first General Synod where he was a delegate.