More McHenry County Blog

Unknown to those attending, Adcock and former speaker Ron Ludwig, principal of Hannah Beardsley Middle School, shared the same room on their Walk to Emmaus.

“On evenings when we were not required to be silent, we shared some things about how to spread the Word,” he remembered.

Referring to getting “fed very well, sometimes too well” at a Walk to Emmaus, Adcock made a decision to fast for the last 36 hours.

He got a message from God:
You are going to find a way to reach kids who are Christians and those who are searching but it won’t be obvious to you when that’s going to happen or who it will be.
“The kids I have I consider my family,” Adcock continued. I don’t want them to go off into the wilderness without a firm foundation in their faith journey.

“Michael Golden, a Christian, had a similar experience. He came to me and said, “God spoke to me on his Chrysalis Walk (the teenage version of Walk to Emmaus). Hey, we need to form a prayer group.”

Adcock related how he went to his principal, telling her, “Michael and I want to form a prayer group for kids.”

“Well, if you decide to form a prayer group at school in your classroom, you can’t participate,” she replied.

“Then, with a little knowing look in her eye, she said, ‘If you go some place off campus …”

St. Elizabeth Anne Seton Catholic Church is kiddy cornered across the street from South High School, so Golden went to see Wes Lawson, its Youth Director.

“I wonder, Wes, if you would be willing to loan the parish center to us in the morning,” Golden asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea, but I need an adult to supervise,” Lawson replied.

When the math teacher followed up, the answer was, “I think I’ll be able to convince the parish board to loan you a key without any problem.”

“Let’s try every other week,” Adcock suggested.

Assisting in the organizing of the 6:50-7:15 prayer meetings besides Golden were Megan and Lindsay Weaver and the James’ kids from the Methodist Church.

Because school starts ten minutes later and it is almost impossible to drive across McHenry Avenue, find a parking spot and get to class by the 7:25 bell, kids started running the risk of getting tardy notices. Get enough tardy notices and you get a detention.

Hence, “Detentions for Jesus.” Michael Golden came up with the name.

“We’d do something we couldn’t do in the high school,” Adcock explained. “We sit on the floor in a circle and pray.” He explained there was not enough space in a room for the 20-35 participants, plus the linoleum floor is too hard.

“Two years ago, when we started, Michael would start and finish. Then, prayers bounced around the room. Then, we would split up into small groups with prayers and concerns.

He cited one student whose grandmother was dying from cancer.

“If were in the public school and would lay hands on someone, I don’t know what would happen,” Adcock said. “We stood over her and told her she and her grandmother were loved by God.

“As time has gone on (as seniors started investigating colleges), we’ve dwindled a little bit. I think we’re going to get back going a little more the second semester,” he observed. He spoke in disappointed tones about having “just 2 in December.” He was alone two weeks later, “so I prayed by myself.”

When the group meets, next door there is “a chapel mass with wonderful Catholic hymns wafting in.

“The Monsignor walks by, smiles and knows we are trying to build a faith community.

“We started with the churched. Then, we began to invite people who were searching. We wanted them to know there are people praying about them”

Adcock revealed there are several teachers “who are very devoted and have shown an interest in what is going on. I think if the students see more teachers, they’ll be more interested. I have received a lot of support from fellow teachers, some direct and some indirect, because they know it is something the kids need.

Promotion is by word-of-mouth. “It really takes a lot of good students. It’s always by word-of-mouth.”

We want to “help them [the students] be the light of Christ in their building today. That’s my goal,” Adcock said. “There’s some darkness that goes on in any school building. I would love to fill the parish center. The most we ever had was 35.”

After the talk, one question was about hostility expressed in school.

“I have not had any of the kids tell me of a great deal of directly hostility,” Adcock answered. “There’s a corner of Crystal Lake South that faces Elizabeth Ann Seton. There’s a group of kids hanging out there…I know there have been very critical questions asked (of the kids that walk across the street after the prayer meetings). I hope they are strong enough in their faith to stand up.

“There are some students and, unfortunately, some teachers who are hostile to the Christian community.”

Then, Adcock reflected on how Methodist Church member and Walk to Emmaus alumna Linda Noshay, who just retired from Prairie Ridge High School, had “started a prayer group within Prairie Ridge. I’d like to ask her how she made that work and is it still working. There were up to 50 participants.”

“And, Central (High School) had a prayer group, too,” Ken Poling added. “It was run by a custodian.”

Adcock related that some Central students had asked to join in the Elizabeth Ann Seton sessions, but the drive back to Central would be too long. He suggested they ask Bethany Lutheran Church to allow them to meet there.

Adcock also explained a “Joshua Conference” that Nancy Allen had been involved in a few years ago. It was held at South, where incoming freshmen from all over the county were invited to meet with upper classmen Christians.

“We had a lot of kids who came to our prayer group as a result of it,” said Adcock, who assisted in the event. “It hasn’t happened since. It was a really good outreach to kids. I hope it happens again. Anything that will make them firmer in their faith before they go to college.”

Speaking of his goal for his students, Adcock said, “I don’t want them to go off to college without a firm foundation. I got lost. I had no faith whatsoever. I want them firm in their faith and to stand up with their faith.

“I asked Mark Meador about hostility at the University of Chicago. ‘It’s twenty times worse than he ran into at high school. He said “I’m still going to do a prayer group. I’m going to be a light to them, even if they don’t want me to be.’”