Changing, Growing, and Celebrating

During this closing celebration, the community gathered to reflect on a year of learning, connection, and shared stories centered on land, home, and belonging. The event brought people together through food, friendship, art-making, and music, creating space to celebrate relationships that had been built and renewed throughout the year. A special highlight was a performance by the VocalEssence Singers Of This Age (SOTA), a community of Twin Cities teenagers who use music, creativity, and collaboration to foster belonging and inspire social change, led by G. Phillip Shoultz III. Their interactive, multi-disciplinary concert in Good Shepherd’s sanctuary reflected on the themes of land, home, and community, inviting everyone to consider how they can be a beacon of love, inclusivity, and grace in their neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and daily lives. The gathering ended as both a celebration and a call to move forward with hope, action, and deeper commitment to welcome and community.