Synod Youth Workshop 2026
Also listen to the "Synod Youth Workshop episode of the Sunspots podcast, with Mary Megan Schnittger and Travis Dunmire, 2026 Synod Youth Workshop Planning Team member.
Mary Meghan Schnittger
Director of Youth Ministry, Northwoods Presbyterian Church
There are not many things in the world as good for the inner child as being at Synod Youth Workshop; an annual youth summer camp experience for high school youth groups at The University of Tulsa. This weeklong experience brings forth a time of gratitude and a place of love and acceptance for teens from across our Synod. Synod Youth Workshop, or ‘Synod,’ for short, as it’s lovingly called, is a powerful place where youth participate in small groups that evolve from strangers into an extended family eager to worship and share their joys and struggles with each other.
There are few places in today’s world where people put their phone away for multiple hours at a time to engage in fellowship and find merriment in field day activities, team-building games, and heartfelt worship -and let me tell you, Synod Youth Workshop is one of those wonderful places. It is a place of belonging and a safe space for youth to shed whatever inhibitions they carry. It also helps them learn more about what it means to be a part of the body of Christ and the church collectively. This vast sense of belonging keeps youth coming back year after year and part of what inspires so many youth to come back and serve as adults.
One of the treasures of Synod is the service project day on Thursday, as the week comes to a close. Small groups are commissioned with a worship service the evening prior and given small wooden crosses to take with them as they prepare to step out into Tulsa to serve the community and to be transformed in return. With miniature crosses in hand, Synod participants work together at centers such as food pantries, care facilities, and the community garden. They are encouraged to share the small wooden cross with someone they meet that day, as a token for the reason behind this day of hard work. Oftentimes, crosses are shared with Tulsans seeking resources or prayer, or just someone they shared a laugh or smile with that day. Other times, crosses are gifted to the non-profit leadership staff or placed somewhere at the worksite to serve as a reminder of that year. It always makes me smile when I return each year to see these same crosses found taped throughout Tulsa in peculiar places – remnants of what work was done and of lives being changed.
There’s something about Synod Youth Workshop that has everyone daring to get outside their comfort zone or step into new roles. I have witnessed sophomores sign up to sing in the Synod choir who have never sung in a choir before. I have watched a couple of my teens do the Macarena at the Friday night dance, who would normally prefer to cling to the wall. There must be something in the Tulsa water, or maybe it’s the magic of seeing where Town Night takes you on a Tuesday night in the middle of summer with 8 new friends. This feeling invites nostalgia and this great space to be yourself. Whatever magic it is, it’s the same spark that reinspires you to be still in your faith and invites a sense of rest in our gentle evening vespers, amidst a schedule packed with activities. It finds you on a labyrinth and wraps you up in hugs from friends you’ve met at Synods past. It touches your heart during keynote. It says “God’s got you,” when you’re not quite sure what next school year will bring or what’s next. It’s what’s waiting for you to lay your burdens and sign your name on the Covenant cross.
This Synod magic is what I pray all young people get to experience at some point in their faith voyage, and I feel so blessed to get to help encourage even some small part of it. Whether it be through Scholarships or supplies, this program is sustained and uplifted by the support of others and could not touch as many lives without your gifts. Even if you’ve yet to experience Synod, just by giving or fulfilling an Amazon wish list, you are a part of this magic. Thank you Synod family!
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