Your name is Terry. You have been the youth director at the Graceland United Church for exactly one week. According to congregational tradition two things will happen three weeks from now, on the first Sunday of July: the pastor will take the week off and the youth will "put on" the worship service.

You have just met with the folks that will help you plan "the youth service," as it is called. Four teenagers showed up for the meeting - Adele, Bob, Camille, and Iniki - as did the adults who volunteer with the youth group: Morris & Mara March and Foster & Felicia Franks. This is only the first of three scheduled meetings. And you have made it clear that the purpose of this meeting is not to decide on a plan but to get the ideas and assumptions out on the table. When you asked the Senior Pastor if the Worship Committee needed to approve your plans, the pastor remarked casually, "Nah, this is your responsibilty."

In fact, the Senior Pastor's only instructions to you were vague and contradictory. "Make sure the youth feel like it's their service and not some run-of-the-mill Sunday," the pastor said, "But don't do anything weird." You asked Felicia to translate his comments. All she said was that last year's service was a disaster because all the boys showed up with fake earrings. When you asked about deviating from the usual order of worship, the pastor explained (and Felicia confirmed) that youth services have not in the past been required to follow the usual liturgy.

The youth have some strong ideas about what the service should look like. They want it to be an exact replica of a Wednesday night youth meeting. "We have to sit through adult services every Sunday," Adele said, "Let's show them how we worship God." They want to sing boisterous songs, accompanied by guitar. Iniki suggests you have some kind of a game that gets folks out of their pews and interacting with one another. And they all want you to give the morning sermon without being in the pulpit; they want you to walk around the front of the church and to ask questions. Bob and Camille are emphatic about the fact that you cannot wear "one of those silly preacher robes."

Foster Franks also has some clear ideas about where the service should go. A Korean War veteran, he believes that there should be some patriotic theme to the service. "Every year we ignore the Fourth of July," he complained. "We have to teach the kids that this country was founded as a Christian nation and that God gave us a responsibility in the world." He thinks a hymn like "God Bless America" and a sermon about "the tragedy of poverty in a nation called by God" would be "most appropriate." When you asked the other adults what they thought, they shrugged silently. Morris, a twenty-something newlywed, asked sarcastically if churches were allowed to preach on patriotism any more. "Doesn't that violate the separation of church and state?" he said with a chuckle. Mara seemed uneasy and asked the teens what they thought of Foster's idea. Adele rolled her eyes and said, "That's not quite what I had in mind for a youth service."

Just then Iniki turned the conversation back to the youth group's ideas for the service. "I thought this service was supposed to show people what the youth are like, Mr. Franks. We are from lots of places, and I don't think many of us have the same ideas as you about the United States. In fact, the youth group is far more diverse than the adults in the congregation. Maybe we can teach you people about tolerance." You worried that Foster Franks might get upset even though Iniki spoke respectfully. But the gray-haired man just smiled enigmatically.

Your present task, now that the meeting has ended, is to decide what to do next. Interpreting what was said is, of course, the first step. You are new to the congregation, so you decide to proceed carefully. You don't intend to make any plans until you understand more about your group.