On Wednesday and Thursday, July 21-22, 70 youth and youth workers took part in this year’s “Soul in the City Reimagined” in Lakeland and Orlando. The event, sponsored by the Youth Ministry Institute, included service projects and networking.

On Wednesday, the group gathered at Lakeland’s All Saints’ and partnered with the Dream Center, The Salvation Army and Parker Street Ministries for a day of service activities that included neighborhood cleanup, food sorting, landscaping projects, and leading games and other children’s activities followed by dinner and worship. Thursday at St. Edward’s Episcopal Church in Mount Dora, participants enjoyed a field day with water games and swimming.

Soul in the City, which originated in Lakeland, has typically stretched throughout a week, but last year’s event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Planners reimagined this year’s event due to continuing coronavirus concerns, including the surge of the delta variant.

“When we were planning it six months ago, and where we are in the pandemic, we decided that we would do one-day events,” said Kirsten Knox, senior director of ministry partnerships for Youth Ministry Institute. “When we look at Soul in the City, two of the big values are one, cultivating a heart of service for teenagers, and two, creating opportunity for them to connect and build community with youth ministries and other people within the diocese. We thought, ‘How do we hold true to those two big values, our core values, and yet do it differently in a way that feels more comfortable for people as we’re walking through this and didn’t have to do overnight?'”

Since the pandemic began, many events have gone virtual. But the service element of Soul in the City makes an all-virtual version less than optimum. Service is a “critical” element that attracts the younger generations hoping to make a difference in their communities, Knox said.

“It’s a critical place for us and specifically Generation Z, they are looking for that, and want that,” she said. “We have oftentimes seen worship Sunday mornings as kind of our front door to a community where we would want people to come. And I would say, with this generation, part of that shift that we’re seeing, and we’re also trying to cultivate, is really, they have a desire to make a difference.”

Soul in the City drew a positive response from those involved, Knox said. The first comment she heard was how good it was to be back together after missing last year’s gathering. For many, the event was a great time of bonding with their own youth groups and others.

“It was such an amazing two days,” said Stephanie Paul of All Saints’. “Thank you, everyone, for all the hard work and serving together. Our kids had a blast. It was beautiful, and I hope our kids’ hearts were touched a little deeper.”

“My kids had such a great time, and we’re so happy to be back again!” added Bailey Waters of St. Luke and St. Peter Episcopal Church in St. Cloud. “Thank you to everyone for all their hard work in making these two days so much fun!”

Leaders will soon gather to start planning for 2022 and hope for a return to the original week-long event if the pandemic subsides.

“We hope we’re really not having to reimagine that next year, that we get to go back to the full week of mission experience with our students and the churches,” Knox said. “So we’ll gather in the next month, we’ll look at it, we’ll evaluate it, and then we’ll solidify the dates.”