by Marlene Rodriguez, Diocese of Puerto Rico
Official Youth Presence journalist

What a week! For OYP it has been a working, tired, mixed tense week. We have been working on resolutions, appointments and a lot of responsibilities on our shoulders.

We are focused on what we want and decided to show the whole Episcopal Church how important God’s will is to us, the youth. It’s been above and beyond the expectations of the deputies, bishops and church wide this year.

The youth presence has opened doors for the next generation of OYP and youth in general and we hope that this reputation be kept alive within the Episcopal youth family.

Some have gone above and beyond with their speeches, like our two speakers Nora Vinas and Patrick Melendez, who addressed the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops.

They are not the only ones that had made an impact, our friends Emma Grandhauser and Maria Taylor, spoke on same gender blessings on the committee of Prayer, Liturgy and Music, and have let their intellect tell different stories from different perspectives with the same message.

And other youth like Cole Mayer on D020 and David Karpf in his testimony on resolution D022. It has been proved that the are working hard on General Convention.

As youth we are called to follow resolutions D045 and C100 regarding support for youth ministries, and youth funds for the events. Some of us feel the call to testify on the Episcopal Youth Event Funds (C100) because we need to expand our family and rejoice as youth together.

On the other side Arianna Gonzalez Bonillas has been working on a resolution about scholarships for immigrants and undocumented individuals, resolution D067, it has been finally given to the committee, and it will be discussed on Monday night. So heads up cause the youth are here to stay!