Experiencing Jubilee

Issue No. 4 Feb./Mar. 2008

The CCO’s annual student conference, Jubilee, was held February 15-17 in Pittsburgh, PA this year. We took 30 Kenyon students, 1 Kenyon alumni, plus Kelly, Ana, and me. I want to try to give you a brief experience of Jubilee in this newsletter! Over 2,000 college students attended Jubilee this year. As soon as you arrived at Pittsburgh’s Westin Convention Center, you received your registration packet. Page 2 said, “Welcome to Jubilee!” Part of that welcome letter from the CCO read as follows:

"Everything you think, everything you say, and everything you do matters today...Jesus began the greatest and final year of Jubilee. Our task is to live like it!...Throughout this weekend, give yourself permission to ask questions and seek answers. Give yourself permission to find that thoughtful interaction. Give yourself permission to find a connection with the God who loves you today."

There were four Breakout Session times over the weekend with over 50 possible Sessions to attend. Here are a handful of titles to give you an idea of those Sessions: Teachers Transform Lives; Seek Justice, Rescue the Oppressed; Not Just Science: The Master’s Handiwork; Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would; Caring for God’s Creation; Overcoming Poverty in America; Transforming Male Sexuality; Law and Gospel: Redeeming Value in the Ordinary Practice of Law; and Sabbath-keeping for Dummies. In addition to these times, there were four Plenary Sessions that everybody attended to hear from such speakers as Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; Kelly Monroe-Kullberg, founder of The Veritas Forum; and Donald Miller, author.
All of the below pictures are of Kenyon students at this year’s Jubilee Conference!

Jubilee definitely seems to have affected the Kenyon College attendees. One Freshman pursuing pre-Med went to several Sessions about practicing medicine for the Kingdom of God. She came away from Jubilee excited for what being a doctor could mean. At our last Junior Bible Study (JBS) before Spring Break we discussed how Jubilee was for everyone. A first time attendee loved hearing Donald Miller. He said that Miller’s talk made him excited to see that the story he’s telling with his own life is really part of a bigger story. The others at JBS echoed his sentiments.

Janae, a Sophomore, wanted to share this with you all, “As a first-timer at the Jubilee conference, I can honestly say that it is one of the most powerfully spiritual experiences I’ve had in a very long time. With all of the Christian energy that was in the Convention Center, praising God and reflecting on your relationship with Him was inevitable! Even when you were alone! To sum it up in three words: Jubilee was awesome!"

I’m excited to continue to witness what God is doing in and through the lives of Kenyon students.