by Erin Cox-Holmes

RICHMOND, July 2 - To say they're the church of the future is cliched.

To say they're the "now" of the church is obvious.

To say they shine like stars when they preach is the plain truth.

Sharing the pulpit during Friday morning's Assembly worship service were the co-moderators of the Presbyterian Youth Connection, elders Patricia Massey and Nathan Ballantine, preaching on "A Joy in Two Parts." Their text was from John 16, in which Jesus promises the disciples that grief will be turned into joy.

When Massey and Ballantine were commissioned as co-moderators, they were vested with stoles representing the Youth Connection theme, "Shine Like Stars." As they preached, the stoles framed their faces and invested their words with authority.

"The last time we really wore our stoles was when we were installed," Massey said. "We didn't put them on ourselves; they placed them on us, to remind us of the weight of responsibility to the General Assembly and the Youth Connection."

"Every time I put it on," Ballantine said, "it brings a sense of self-worth. I don't always feel worthy to preach or be leader of hundreds of other Christians, but through wearing the stole I remember the power doesn't come from me."

In March, when they began crafting their sermon, Massey and Ballantine started with the ancient practice of Lectio Divina - listening to scripture with the "eyes of the heart" - to discover their different pathways to preaching.

Ballantine brought the first part. He talked about grief, and how guilt loaded on top of grief makes it intolerable. When he had a horrid illness caused by a bacterial infection, he said, a "miracle antibiotic" cured it - "but there are no miracle drugs for gut-wrenching grief."

The situation would be hopeless, he said, except for the grace of resurrection. Death becomes life. Grace conquers grief. God wants us to be joyful.

Massey picked up that theme without missing a beat. What kind of joy is it that the Jesus talks about in scripture? Christ isn't promising happiness, Massey said, but a gift of God's love and acceptance.

"God knows, accepts, and loves you - the 'you' that you are, stripped of definitions and responsibilities. You are a beloved child of God." This is what youth ministry - all ministry - is about, she said: being joyful because of God's love for us, and spreading that joy to others.

How did it feel to embody the Word before the whole General Assembly?

"I felt on auto-pilot," Ballantine said, "yet I knew exactly what I had to do. . I felt like something was using my mouth, and I was just going with it. I felt like everything was going to be just right."

"When I sat and listened to Nathan," Massey said, "I felt excited and honored. I was worried I would be too busy thinking about my own sermon, but I was able to be present to his. Honestly I surprised myself. I wasn't only preaching to the Assembly, but preaching to myself. I really felt like I was a beloved child of God."