This past summer I served as the keynote speaker for Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center’s July Middle School Conference. Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Massanetta is a PC(USA) ministry in Shenandoah Presbytery.

I did not grow up going to Massanetta. My only previous experience with Massanetta was attending the wedding of dear seminary friends in Hudson Auditorium. The theme of the conference was Welcome Home, based on Psalm 23. The theme was partially chosen to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the Middle School Conference. During my two weeks there, I experienced why Massanetta has felt like “home” to so many people over the years, and I was reminded of the deep connections that make our denomination home.

Often, the articles we read about religion and the role of the church in our society today paints a dismal outlook for the church at large in this country, and the PC(USA) is no exception—membership is declining, worship attendance is down, and the number of congregations forced to close continues to grow. News like this often frightens church leaders into a mindset of scarcity.

While I am a realist who acknowledges that challenges for the Church continue to grow, I also deeply believe that God is doing new things in our midst. While the Church is changing, it’s not dying. My experience at Massanetta reminded me of how incredibly rich the Church is in so many ways, and how much we have to offer if we only trust in God and are generous with our God-given gifts.

The first verse of Psalm 23 tells us “God is my Shepherd; I shall lack nothing.” We explored this theme at the first keynote of the conference. Messaging all around us tells us we’re not enough. That we need more power, more stuff, more wealth, more social media “likes,” and on and on to be valuable and worthy in this world.

Similarly, we as the Church may feel that in order to make a difference in the lives of our members and communities and to remain relevant in this quickly changing world, we need more — more young families in our buildings, more people in our pews, more deep pockets, more programming, and on and on. Psalm 23 affirms that through God’s presence and providence, we have been given all that we need to be faithful to God’s call. As people of faith, we need to trust that promise and we need to act on that truth.

Many of the people I met at the conference have long memories tied to Massanetta. One of the co-directors of the conference attended the middle school conference for the first time 17 years ago as a youth pastor, and this year his own children attended the conference as participants. High school students and recent graduates who served as young leaders called “advocates” shared stories about how their experience at Massanetta when they were “middlers” shaped their faith. Many adults who served on the leadership team or volunteered as chaperones had their own memories of being middlers at this conference. Over the years so many former middlers have journeyed back and given of their time, talents, and treasures to the next generation of middlers so that they could experience God through worship and play at this thin place in the Shenandoah Valley.

Though I did not have my own Massanetta stories since it was my first Massanetta Middle School conference (and hopefully not my last!), I was reminded of the joy and richness of the connectional church. During the conference, I spent time with a former supervisor and mentor who was attending the conference with his current youth group. I met many fellow alums of the PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer program, and we shared stories of our years of mission service. I met middlers from a church pastored by a former seminary roommate. I saw friends, met children of friends, and friends of friends. My time at Massanetta filled me with deep gratitude for the Presbyterian connections from many different places and times in my life that merged at that event. It was a much needed reminder of how wealthy the PC(USA) is in connection and community, and how lives continue to be shaped and transformed through the ministries of our denomination.

While the outside world may tell us that the church is losing relevance, I don’t believe that’s true. We are enough. We lack nothing. God our Shepherd has given us all that we need to live and serve as followers of Christ, if only we are bold enough to believe it.