Wisconsin teen all about Synod plenary sessions

She could have been running sand between her toes at Edgewater Park, meandering through the Cleveland Zoo or playing a leisurely game of cards with her peeps in the Youth Hall set up at the Cleveland Convention Center for Youth and Young Adults at General Synod 2015.

But, no, on a day set aside for the young people to tour the city of Cleveland or otherwise do as they dang well pleased, 17-year-old Maddie Loss opted to hang with her friends from McFarland UCC at Synod plenary sessions.

“There was some original confusion as to which of the business stuff we could be a part of,” said Maddie, a senior-to-be at McFarland High School in suburban Madison, Wisc. “We decided today that we really wanted to be here because they are nominating the new president, and voting on officers and resolutions that we’ve been paying attention to.”

Maddie said she and her group of 10 were “curious as to how the resolutions tied to something the UCC would be a part of. We were talking about how much social-justice  work our church does. But we really hadn’t talked about or had the capacity to think about how huge the UCC is, and how much larger the mission is.”

Though her developing resume is still light on social-justice experience, Maddie said she and classmates became marginally involved in the aftermath of a high-profile shooting death of a 19-year-old man in Madison on March 6.

“Madison is a very progressive place,” she said. “Some Madison schools staged walkouts. We are out in the suburbs so we haven’t been as involved yet, but we have an active, enthusiastic GSA [Gay Straight Alliance] group.”

Three of the 10 youth members from McFarland UCC say they want to go into ministry.

“A lot of us want to be [Synod] delegates in the future,” said Maddie. “It’s fun to see all the things we can do. The way they talk about the youth here, we’re really excited about what we can do in the future.”