Journey to the Past

On Saturday, March 21, at 6:30 a.m., 19 intrepid travelers gathered at St. Mark’s, ready to depart on an ambitious journey. Their number included eight catechetical students, one mentor, eight parents, one instructor and one pastor, all loaded into three vehicles. After a quick stop for breakfast along the turnpike, they arrived at Old Augustus Church a little after 9:30, where they received a brief tutorial by Pr. Elkin and a docent of the church. They quickly piled back into the three vans (it was really chilly) and wended their way to the Daniel Boone Homestead in Birdsboro.

After touring the grounds there, they shared lunch. Yes, they truly shared the meal—it was at that point they realized a cooler was left at the church! Appetites sated, they drove on to Hopewell Furnace, where many of the youth received Junior Ranger badges for completing a sheet of information about the site. From there, they traveled to Ephrata Cloister, where they learned about a genuinely different way of life. As has become tradition for these trips, on the way home, they stopped for dinner at The Old Country Buffet. They arrived back at church with a well-earned sense of accomplishment about 9:15 p.m.

Some of the students reported in with their thoughts of the day and messages to the congregation:

• The Ephrata Cloister meant the most to me. It taught me how much faith some people have. I really enjoyed the whole trip. I learned a lot. ~ Katelyn Lauer
• The most important thing to me was the Hopewell Furnace. This is important to me because the people that worked there not only made things for the community but helped to win the Revolutionary War. I was also impressed by the time the people put into making that stuff for the people in the community and in the war. Finally, the people at Hopewell did good things for the town, like make it grow rapidly, and also helped win the war because they supplied the army with cannon balls and slugs for the guns. ~ Devin Owen
• For me, the most memorable part of the trip was the Ephrata Cloister. The way those people dedicated their lives to God and disciplined themselves was amazing. I think it's neat the way they were always looking ahead to a better life. Mom and I had fun. ~ Emily Newcomer
• My favorite part of our trip was the Hopewell Furnace because there was so much to see and so much history wrapped up in the whole thing. I learned a bunch of stuff that I didn't know. I liked the giant bellows and water wheel the most. It was cool to be able to stand so close to it. Thank you for paying for us to go see all the attractions at all the places that we went. And thank you for paying for dinner. I really like the dinner buffet. ~ Theoron Hershey

• I liked our history trip we went on. I think the Hopewell Furnace was the best. This is because I like to learn about war, and cannon balls were made there for the Revolutionary War. The St. Augustus church and Ephrata Cloister were both used as hospitals during the Revolutionary War. Mom and I would like to thank Mrs. Jones, Pastor Elkin, all the drivers, and everyone who shared their lunch with us! ~ Stephen Boone
• What I thought was interesting was that at Ephrata, the people who lived there were really devoted to their religion, because they wanted to be just like God. But I think that since it was a step up from their previous life, it's not really giving up anything like a real devoted person would have to. ~ Corey Hospes
• What I thought was fun was switching cars each time we stopped; because it was fun to see who I would be sitting next to. ~ Max Hospes 
• The part that I enjoyed the most and that meant the most to me was the Daniel Boone homestead. It was very fascinating to see how the people lived, what they did in their spare time, and the hardships they faced. It was amazing how these people lived and what they did. It made me feel that I was very lucky to have what I have. ~ Riley Weber
• I would like to thank all the parents who went with us. This is a first in that every student had a parent of their own with them. This means a lot to our young people and is a great way to show involvement and support for their participation in church activities. As always, it was great to spend time with the kids, as well as their parents, and get to know them better. ~ Bernadette