THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995              TAG: 9508300173
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER       PAGE: 10   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY TRUDY CUTHRELL, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   61 lines

6,000 YOUTHS GATHER AT CONFERENCE TO WORSHIP, LEARN

When the Presbyterian Triennium met at Purdue University in late July, Rachel Hallmark of Chesapeake was among nearly 6,000 young people attending from across the United States and 90 foreign countries.

``I felt like I came to know myself better during that week,'' said Hallmark, 17, a member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Suffolk. Most meaningful, she said, were the two-hour worship services, which ``had a great effect on us.''

Activities of the five-day conference focused on the theme, ``And the Walls Came Tumbling Down.'' One speaker, she said, ``told about how Christ is always there and, when we make a conscious decision to break down the walls in our lives, He's there to help us.''

Each day, the ``Simple Gifts'' performing arts group portrayed scriptures through drama and dance, and upbeat music enhanced the services.

Block parties, a carnival and afternoon volleyball gave conferees opportunities for friendship and fellowship. A gigantic mud hole attracted hundreds of adventuresome teens each day for a mud bath - ``mud, sweat and tears,'' Hallmark said with a laugh.

Small groups met in the halls of the dormitories to recap the day's activities. Mike Emry, youth program director at St. Andrew, and his wife, Theresa, were among adult sponsors who directed the groups.

Emry said, ``It was a neat experience to interact with people from Alaska, California, Canada, Zaire - people from all around the world.''

He said, ``On TV and in the media, it looks like the younger generation is going to pot; but seeing 6,000 good kids worshiping together, that gives you a great feeling.''

Another high point of the event for Emry was publication of one of his original Christian songs, ``Life of Jesus,'' in the Triennium newspaper, ``The Daily Rubble.''

Hallmark's highlights included being on ``Good Morning Indiana'' with the Triennium and qualifying for The Guinness Book of World records by being among 1,602 teens, tied ankle-to-ankle, who walked 100 feet across a football field.

The closing session of the Triennium - ``The Tumbled Wall Becomes a Bridge,'' concluded with communion.

Karen Nseya, global partner from Zaire, returned to Virginia with Hallmark, Emry and the 40-member delegation from the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia for a week of sight-seeing before returning to Zaire. Her father is head of the Presbyterian Church there.

Hallmark and Emry have returned and are gearing up for work within their presbytery. Hallmark, a top student at Western Branch High School in Chesapeake, is Youth Council president in her church. She is the daughter of Glenn and Alison Goldberg of Manor View Court, Chesapeake.

In the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia, Emry serves on the Youth Ministries Committee and as moderator of the PYG, a group combining peacemaking, youth and global ministries. ILLUSTRATION: Hallmark

by CNB