the youth ministry of Ringgold UMC
Just another WordPress.com siteArchive for February, 2012
Lent series; Scavenger Hunt; Youth Leadership Lunch; confirmation camping trip
Hey!
Quick need this week: we’re kicking off our Lent series this Wednesday and we’re shorthanded on adults to lead small groups. We need at least 4 more to make it work! This series will run through March and conclude the Wednesday before Spring break. If you can help out, please let me know as soon as you can so that I can get you this week’s guide.
We have a video scavenger hunt scheduled for Saturday March 10th (last week I mistakenly posted that as the 13th). We need drivers, at least 3. We’re planning to end with a meal, so we could use some help at the end of the afternoon as well. The scavenger hunt will consist of the youth shooting clips for use in a video for the song “Our God Is” that they wrote last semester.
Our next Youth Leadership Lunch is Sunday, March 11, the day after the scavenger hunt. I’m announcing it a week early because we’d like to extend an invitation to come to the lunch to any of our youth families that would like to have voice in a couple of upcoming events–one being the HS mission options for dead week in July, and the other a look back/look ahead concerning our participation in Disciple Now. I’ll ask for a headcount in next week’s email.
Our other remaining need is adults for our confirmation camping trip the weekend of March 31-April 2. (That’s a Saturday-Monday over the first weekend of spring break.) The retreat is not mandatory for confirmation participants, but a nice addition to curriculum for our middle school youth and a renewal experience for our high school youth. We already have one adult male and one adult female and need at least one more of each. And it would be awesome if somebody knew how to cook. 
Details are still in development, but those are the dates and needs.
Sooooooo many thanks are due to our adults who gave up homes & weekends to help us with D-Now weekend: from the Clouds & Pugsleys hosting us, to the Parkers & Siggers feeding us, to Eric running a weekend-long relay race between us and his house to lead a small group and almost win a game of dodgeball, to Amy coming out to spend the night with our girls–thanks to you all.
That’s it for this week!
Peace,
K
Disciple Now; Ash Wednesday; March calendar; summer missions
Disciple Now is the big business this week, so we’ll hit that first. Just to clarify–just because the total time at this event spent playing dodgeball very nearly rivals the total time spent in worship & teaching doesn’t mean it’s just a dodgeball tournament. That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway. Definitely plan to pack a bible and something to write with/on if you’re a note-taker. The plan for this weekend:
Arrive at the church at 6:30pm. EAT BEFORE YOU COME.
We’ll go straight to HHS for the first session and land at host homes after. To pack:
Everything you might want if you were sleeping on the floor (because you are). Twin air mattresses, bedroll, etc. Clothing for Fri night-Sun morning you may want to bring an extra set of clothes for the afternoon dodgeball tournament on the off chance that we’re in it long enough this year to get sweaty. $$ for fast food lunch on Saturday.
If you’re trying to locate your child this weekend during the day, start with my mobile (423.227.5466). At night, the high school youth will be at the Clouds for small groups while the middle school is at the Pugsleys, then at bedtime the girls will be at the Clouds while the boys are at the Pugsleys. Saturday night the high school will eat at the Siggers house and the middle school will eat at the Parkers. So like I said, start with my mobile.
I could still use an overnight mom at the Clouds if someone is available Fri & Sat nights. You’d be welcome to come to the whole event, or you could arrive around 10pm each night just prior to bedtime. We’ll return Sunday morning in time for the 9:45 service.
Ash Wednesday is this Wednesday! We’ll start in the MPR at 6:30pm like normal, but briefly as we’ll move to the sanctuary at 6:45 for our Ash Wednesday service. There will be acoustic worship and during a portion of the service I’ll be talking about the unusual journey I’ll be taking during Lent this year with the church’s blessing.
We’ve added a couple of items to our calendar for March that you might have missed; one is a video scavenger hunt on March 13 to create a video for the song “Our God Is” written by our youth. Don’t miss that! The other is a MS/HS confirmation retreat on Palm Sunday weekend; we’ll leave on Saturday, March 31 and return Monday morning, April 2 (this is the first weekend of spring break).
Just a quick calendar note for summer missions this year: Middle school, your mission experience at Camp Lookout (which is awesome) remains the first full week of June, the 4-8. High school, your trip (cost/destination TBA) is targeting “dead week” (AKA your only week of summer), July 2-6. Middle school families, write in pen; High school families, write in pencil.
That’s it for this week! See ya Wednesday.
Peace,
K
FUSE Sunday nights;Dodgeball; Disciple Now; Ash Wednesday; scavenger hunt; Spring break camping
This week’s picture is a gentle reminder of the book about the God that brings us together. We’re re-emphasizing. Some conversation with one of our adults a couple of weeks ago (let’s call him “Phyllis ‘the drummer’ Rebne” to preserve his anonymity) reminded me that I’ve been forgetting to remind you all of the importance of scripture in our daily lives. I felt pretty good in that conversation about having already announced that this fall we’ll be kicking off a Wednesday night study of scripture, but in the meantime we sure don’t see a lot of bibles around here. So. From your end–send/bring bibles from home whenever we come together. From my end, I’ll try to make sure that you’ve got a reason to need it when you do. Our Sunday night FUSE series that we kicked off last night is all scripture reading/discussion through Easter, so be sure to come on out if you’ve been missing on Sundays.
Middle school: don’t forget to come on Sunday nights, too. Now through Easter you’re dividing by grade and going through 6 weeks of your group’s confirmation series. When we split by grade, your absence is definitely noticeable. Don’t be an empty seat. Come join us. All of that happens Sundays from 6-7:45pm, beginning in the MPR.
Sooooo, dodgeball. In preparation for our upcoming D-Now event, this Wednesday we’re practicing dodgeball. Super important that you come Wednesday for a number of reasons: 1)It’s the deadline for D-Now payment ($35). 2)We stink at dodgeball, and that’s a big part of D-Now. 3)This is a super-easy invite night, so bring a friend and then throw stuff at them. We’ll meet in the GYM at 6:30pm immediately following supper and get picked up FROM THE GYM at 7:45pm. Mennonite update (I don’t think I’ve ever said that): the group that is in this week has beeninvited to play with us, but we’re not sure if they’ll join in. Or even watch. The early read is that this isn’t the youngest group we’ve had in, and dodgeball may not be their thing. It’s cool.
Disciple Now is right around the corner (next weekend)! That’s February 24-26, total cost is $35. Final payment is due this Wednesday (that’s the day after tomorrow) and I have to turn in my final t-shirt count Thursday morning. DO NOT FORGET. Simple pack list out next week.
Ash Wednesday service is next Wednesday; we’ll begin in the MPR at 6:30pm like normal, then shift over to the sanctuary at 7pm to join the rest of the church for that service. As it happens, I will be speaking that evening; my chosen practice for Lent this year needed to be approved by John & SPR and consensus was that it might be best if I address the church at the beginning so that you don’t think I’ve lost my mind by the end. I know, it does sound exciting. Plan to come out next week even if you’re not a regular Wednesday night family to hear more about that.
Our youth leadership met this Sunday and added a couple of events to our March calendar! One is a photo scavenger hunt ending in a meal on March 10th; the other is a 2 night camping trip the first weekend of spring break (weird; I just felt a third of you draw back from your computer) taking place March 31-April 2. The camping trip is a new trip for us, and I’m taking its content hostage and making it a confirmation retreat for middle school & high school. We’ve talked for a while about adding a HS option for confirmation (it is a repeatable rite) and a week ahead of Easter is a great place to do that. We need adult support for both events–drivers & cooks for the scavenger hunt & drivers, cooks, and small group leaders for the camping trip. Details still pending for both.
Pencil in on your calendars: the middle school Camp Lookout Service Week is June 4-8 (you can write that in pen, actually), and our HS group wants to look at missions options with KHO and/or SLAM again this year for the week of July 2-6. On the horizon already, believe it or not!
That’s plenty for this week. See you all Wednesday!
Peace,
K
Confirmation; youth leadership lunch; Disciple Now
These kids make me nervous about snack food.
Confirmation begins this Sunday night! We are still one leader short of perfection for that program. Beginning Sunday and running for six weeks our middle school youth will participate in Credo, the official confirmation material of the United Methodist Church (I just learned this week that it was “official”). We’ll be dividing them by grade, which creates a real bonding opportunity for the youth & leaders in a small group setting (last year we had 3 per group; I think this year our largest group has about 6). We’ll meet during our regular Sunday night time slot from 6-7:45pm, beginning in the MPR with snack along with the high school group.
Just a reminder that our youth leadership lunch is this Sunday, immediately following the 11 o’clock worship/small groups. We’ll eat (duh) and explore some options for upcoming programming, including what our high school summer missions effort will look like. See ya there!
Disciple Now is upon us! The deadline to sign up (if you want a t-shirt in your size) is February 15. That same night we’ll be focusing on putting together some ability in the game of dodgeball. We may even throw in some Appropriate Responsive Language training for Michael Moore! We don’t need to win this year, but we don’t want to be out again in the first 15 minutes. If you’re unfamiliar with D-Now, it’s a countywide discipleship event that is hosted over at HHS. Three large group worship settings bring together several hundred youth for singing and teaching. Host homes provide space for small group debriefing of those sessions. This year the total event cost is only $35 per person! D-Now takes place on February 24-26. We still can use adults to help drive, lead small groups, provide meals, etc.–if you’re interested in one of those roles, please let me know.
That’s it for this week! See ya Wednesday at The Wire.
Peace,
K
