The digital story of the Nativity

Have you seen the Digital Story of the Nativity? What a clever idea. It conveys the Christmas story using technology any young person will appreciate.

A blessed Christmas season to you and yours, from everyone on the Southwestern Conference Youth Ministry Team. Thank you for all you do on behalf of young people in your families, communities, and churches!

Conference Youth lend a hand

Southwestern Conference Youth came together the weekend before last to assist Joint Neighborhood Project at Santa's Secret Shoppe. Youth from Bethel Lutheran, First Lutheran, and Saint Timothy's helped young children from the neighborhood shop for gifts for significant adults in their lives. As the video demonstrates, we had a blast! Afterwards we shared table fellowship, meditated on scripture, and processed the experience of serving in this capacity.


Try our video maker at Animoto.

There are more events in the pipeline where youth can have fun, lend a hand, and grow in faith in Jesus. Keep checking this website for details.

By the way, if you know of any young people or caring adults interested in putting on events and advocating for young people in our conference, we will be holding our next Conference Youth Planning Team meeting on Saturday, January 7 at 9 am at First Lutheran Church, 120 Chandler Street in Jamestown. We'd love to get your input!

How to have great discussions over the holidays

Kara Powell at Fuller Youth Institute shares how a grandmother is making the time to connect with her grandchildren over the holiday break. Read about it here.

Jingle 'n' Mingle this Thursday!

3rd Annual Jingle 'n' Mingle
Thursday, Dec. 22  6 pm – 10 pm
Wal-Mart in Lakewood



Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

This is one of our most popular Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry (SLYM) events! We'll meet at Wal-Mart to "bellring" for Salvation Army winter relief efforts. Every donation we receive will help people right here in our community. The Salvation Army has not yet made its goal, so YOU can make a big difference!

Come out and ring a bell! If you sing, or cheer, or play an instrument please do so! (One year I had a teen show up wearing antlers and a blinking nose--he got a lot of attention and raised a lot of funds to help people.)

Then we'll head over to Applebees at 9pm to celebrate a successful third year of SLYM. Applebees has arranged a special menu, which includes munchie, soft drink, and tip for $8.50.

Remember to dress warm! Call Ian at 720-8584 if you have any questions. Parents are welcome, too!

Christmas conversation starters

Gotta love the Christmas season... Over the next 10 days there will be many opportunities for all ages to gather together. When you're enjoying fellowship at church or spending some time around the dinner table, please consider having some caring conversations with young people. EveryDay has made available a free download of 36 conversation starters for your Christmas gathering. Wouldn't it be great to put these at every table during your church dinners?

Pizza on earth, good will towards men?

My wife, Tara, was leading a group of youngsters in a lesson about the famous passage in the Gospel of Luke, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." She worked her way around the circle of kindergartners and first graders and asked, "How can you be a peacemaker?"

She got a wonderful variety of responses from the children, such as "no hitting my brother" and "sharing my toys." One little boy gave a rather unusual answer to her question, though. He simply replied, "Make a pizza."

My wife and the other children were puzzled by his answer. So my wife asked him how making a pizza could help him be a peacemaker.

"Well easy," he said, "pizza makers always make pizza."

After chuckling at his misunderstanding of peacemaker as pizza maker, my wife affirmed that making someone a pizza would be a great idea—especially if he spelled out the words I LOVE YOU in pepperoni. All the kids shouted "yeah" and the lesson continued without further incident. My wife says she'll never again be able to sing "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" without picturing a pizza pie, though!

I like to think the little tyke was on to something. If we can't experience and model peace around our own dinner table, where can we?

Cyber-bullying resources

The Center for First Third Ministry suggests some good resources regarding cyber-bullying. Read the post here.

Give the gift of LCLC this Christmas

If the pressure of finding the "right" gifts for your loved ones has you frustrated, consider giving the gift of Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center this Christmas.

A gift of LCLC is one that will last a lifetime.  Whether at a weekend retreat or week-long summer camp program, LCLC provides opportunities for spiritual growth, renewal, and Christ-centered community in the wonder of God's creation.

Share one of the following programs with someone you love this Christmas:

• Senior High Winter Retreat (January 6-8, 2012)             
• Women's Hobby Weekend (February 24-26, 2012)
• 4th-8th Grade Winter Retreat (March 2-4, 2012) 
• A Week of Summer Camp (July 1-August 10, 2012)

For more information or to pay in advance and receive a gift certificate for your gift, please call the office at 716-386-4125.  

Regarding Summer Camp: Pay in full for a program next summer by 12/31/11 and you need only pay the 2011 rate.

May God bless you abundantly this Advent and Christmas season!

Southwest Conference Youth Ministries News for December

The vision of Southwest Conference Youth Ministries is that "every ELCA congregation in the Southwest Conference will collaborate together to benefit our youth, sharing knowledge and resources, using best practices." A word about collaboration… Sometimes opportunities cross our desk and we think, "Not another thing to do!" But the kinds of collaboration we're talking about are things that can save churches time and effort in ministering to youth.

Last month, Saint Timothy's saw young people from the Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry at its overnighter. Bethel (Jamestown) hosted the band Captive Free and saw youth from First and St. Timothy's in attendance, too. The first Conference Youth Ministries Team meeting was held to plan events and support each other. Each one of these events was better because churches "widened the circle" to include others. The events were more fun for the youth, and easier for the adults to pull off because of collaboration.

Get involved: Joint Neighborhood Project is doing something special for children and their families--and they need the help of Lutheran Youth to make it happen! At Santa’s Secret Shoppe, children from low-income families will “shop” for donated gifts for parents and other significant adults in their lives. Lutheran Youth in grades 7 and up are needed to accompany children through the shoppe, help them select gifts, and wrap presents. It is a practical way to demonstrate the love of Jesus around the conference. And it’s pretty fun, too! The Conference Youth Ministry Team will show you what to do, plus spring for pizza afterwards! It's happening Saturday, December 10 from 8:30 am - 1 pm at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 556 East Second St., Jamestown. Please RSVP to Ian.

Get inspired: We had 94 hits the first month to our new website—a promising start. We're committed to making it the "go to" place to keep informed about the many exciting events for youth happening around the conference, like Youth Quake and the Senior High Winter Retreat at LCLC. Browse a large selection of theologically sound and research based topics, too. Check it out at: http://younglutherans.blogspot.com/