This past weekend, the Presbyterian Student Advocacy and Leadership Team (PSALT—add a link to description) met in Louisville, KY at the national Presbyterian Center.  This was technically the first meeting of PSALT ever, as the members of the Presbyterian Student Strategy Team (PSST) voted to change the name this past spring.  So the new PSALT brought together nine students (through an application process) of different ethnicities, genders, class years, and types of colleges.  One drove from Ohio, while others journeyed across time zones from the West Coast.  Still others went west from Pennsylvania and New York and some came up north from Georgia , Texas, and North Carolina.

Needless to say, there were a lot of different views on theology, lifestyle, and even what to call a carbonated beverage.  What was amazing though is that we did not fight or argue.  We started our work meeting with a covenant (like Youth Conferees do at Montreat for all you Southeasterners…).  We each had an opportunity to contribute to the covenant, and everyone signed it showing that we would work together for the good of Christ’s church.  I think that’s the amazing part about our generation.  We’ve seen fighting, and we do not like it.  I cannot count the number of fellow students who voiced frustration at the antagonistic nature of the Presidential Debates.  We are not going to argue.  We want to work together on that which we can agree on.  For PSALT, that’s serving the needs of college students across the PC(USA).  But, no matter who we are or what we do, I pray that the amazing power of Christ’s mercy will unify us all to serve God more fully every day.