An Iowa-based ministry equips youth to develop and lead worship as well as reach out to its peers. It utilizes the tradition while also reflecting youth culture’s musical cutting edge. Its name? Twilight Resurrection.

The room is filled with hundreds of pillows of all shapes and sizes. Its walls are covered with a sunset mural. Christmas lights and candles are the only illumination as students from junior high through college fill in for worship. The ceiling has been stripped of its acoustic tiles, giving it a raw, industrial openness. Bible verses framed by inspirational photographs circulate through multiple TV sets, while a cross covered in shattered mirror fragments glistens at center stage. The guitars begin to hum as their amps’ vacuum-tubes glow into overdrive. The anticipation of the congregation grows. The Bible verses on the television sets are replaced by ancient lyrics and the band crashes into the first power chords of a Kyrie. The congregation lifts their voices toward heaven: “Lord have mercy...”

Equipping youth to do the work of the saints can easily be overlooked in any church’s youth discipleship program. During a teaching series focused on spiritual gifts, the high school youth of St. John Lutheran Church in the eastern Iowa town of Cedar Falls, came up with an out-of-the-box idea. What if the church went back to the way things used to be? Beautiful. Dark. Mysterious. A group of people who have come together with one common purpose —  to adore their Savior, Jesus Christ.

But don’t churches all across America do that every Sunday? Well, yes... But also, many churches have stripped away their liturgy, hymns, heritage, and even their denominational ties for the sake of being a hip church with drums and guitars. Generation Y is left wondering, isn’t there something more to church than songs that make you feel good?¹

So the youth of St. John and their friends from a variety of denominational backgrounds began to research what the key elements of Christian worship were. They used their spiritual gift inventories to stay focused on what they were most passionate about. A group of students had a knack for hospitality and formed the “Velvet Ropes” crew, while others, who were passionate about design and promotion formed the “Salt” crew. Another group dreamed of ambience and decoration, naming themselves the “Vibe” crew. The “Illuminated-Word” crew brought the order of worship to new light with computers, graphics, and slide shows.

The youth named their assembly “Twilight Resurrection,” which they define as worship intensified.

The youth started the project as an outreach to the underground music scene in the Cedar Valley region. Who would have thought that in the heart of the Midwest, the loudest, heaviest, scream-your-heart out music would be the most popular? The Hardcore and Emo music scene fueled the passion and culture of the Twilight Resurrection Service (see sidebar, “Music Glossary” for definitions).

Have you ever heard “Were You There?” with screamed vocals and a metal solo? The first services were definitely intense. In fact, too intense. Once the staff realized that the worship service had become more of a show than worship, the music was shaped to become more singable and lyrical.

Typical Service
In a typical Twilight Resurrection service, you will find ancient liturgical elements such as the Kyrie, the Gospel reading, the Sursum corda (“Lift up your hearts”), the Sanctus, and benediction. The lyrics have remained the same for ages, but the sound track is from the heart and soul of underground Emo-rock. Almost a third of Twilight Resurrection services are communion services, but because a pastor isn’t always available, the service hosts a “community meal.” Youth attending the service bring biblical food such as dates, grape juice, honey, and bread to share with the congregation. While the meal isn’t a sacrament or a replacement for one, it is a celebration of community and unity. The food is divided up and every member of the congregation shares in what has been brought.

Twilight Resurrection is now in its second year of development. Services occur two to three times a semester. During the first year, the youth held services once a month. But they discovered that the amount of time to produce a service was much too high for high school students to do monthly. (Imagine doing a student-led high school musical with full technical production every 30 days.)

The students have faced other challenges along the way, from finding supplies and learning about new technology to the fine details of hosting an event where more than 100 people show up. Twilight staff members are usually the teens who are involved in multiple extra-curricular activities. The group does its best to work around school activities and homework, but many staff members must learn to effectively handle the stress that comes with being a leader.

Twilight Resurrection is in its second generation of staff members — there are currently 19 students on staff — and gearing up to recruit generation three. Twilight staff is open to all high school students grades 10-12. A potential staff member must fill out an application and spiritual gifts questionnaire, and give a short faith statement describing his or her passion for being involved in a highly demanding church activity. The whole staff meets weekly to discuss the various aspects of the service, from filming commercial parodies to designing flyers that announce the next service.

The work of Twilight Resurrection is focused on equipping youth to do the work of the saints. But, just as important, this ministry is about people who are eager to know what it means to worship God in this time and place, no matter what their age.

Endnote
1. Generation Y is a demographic designation for individuals born between approximately 1978-1982 and 1995-2003 in the U.S. “People born in 1978 or later are known as Generation Y because they came after Generation X, the cohort born between 1965 and 1977. Since Generation Y is composed mostly of the children of the Baby Boom Generation (1946 to 1964), a synonym for Generation Y is the Baby Boom Echo” (see www.wordspy.com/words/GenerationY.asp). Also named the Millennium Generation (see www.wordspy.com/words/MillennialGeneration.asp)

Ryan Houts is the director of youth discipleship at St. John American Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa.