Senior High Winter Retreat at LCLC

Senior High Winter Retreat
Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center
January 4-6, 2013

Come enjoy a weekend of faith, friends, and fun while you explore what it means to be a maturing Christian young person. 

The Winter Retreat will also include:

• Powerful worships and devotions            
• Reconnecting with old camp friends and making new ones 
• Campfires
• Camp Games and activities 
• Sledding and fun in the snow

WHEN: 7:00 PM Friday through 11:00 AM Sunday

WHERE: The Retreat Center at LCLC

COST: $90 (Includes meals, lodging, and program)
      $25 of which is a non-refundable deposit
      The registration deadline is 12/28/12

Click here for a registration form or call 716-386-4125 for more information.

Follow the Star all Advent long

Advent is a time to prepare for our celebration of the incarnation of Christ on Christmas, and a time of anticipation for Christ's second coming. It is a busy time of year, but I encourage you to carve out a little bit of time each day to ponder the message of Advent.

I wanted to let you know about an online resource that can help: Following the Star seeks to provide a safe and meaningful devotional place for youth and young adults during Advent. Check it out--and by all means pass it along to your friends! Here's the link.

4th-8th Grade Advent Retreat

4th-8th Grade Advent Retreat
November 30 - December 2, 2012
Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center

What better way to combine all you love about LCLC with the excitement of this special time of the year.  Join us for this great way of getting your Advent and Christmas seasons off to an exciting start.

The LCLC Advent Retreat will include:

• Advent Worship & Bible Study            
• Reconnecting with old camp friends and making new ones 
• Campfires
• Advent Crafts
• Cookie decorating 
• Christmas carols
• Camp Games and activities 

WHEN: 7:00 PM Friday through 11:00 AM Sunday

WHERE: The Retreat Center at LCLC

COST: $85 (Includes meals, lodging, and program)
                   $10 of which is a non-refundable deposit
                   The registration deadline is 11/26/12.

Click here for a registration form or call 716-386-4125 for more information.

Thrive on Nov. 18

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries presents THRIVE on Sunday, November 18 from 1 pm - 4 pm at the Gateway Center (31 Water St., Jamestown). The event is for youth in grades 5 - 12.

An exciting afternoon of recreation is planned with laser tag, bmx/skateboarding, human foosball, game room, and video games... Then Captive Free East Lakes, a relational music ministry team sponsored by Youth Encounter, will lead worship. It will be an inspiring time of Christian music, games, skits and personal sharing.

The cost of the event is $5 plus a donation of an item from the Captive Free needs list (at bottom of email). A signed parent waiver is required for youth wanting to use the bmx/skate park (which can be found at this link).

Open publication - Free publishing - More captive free

We know that some churches on the fringes of the conference have a bit of travel between worship and the event. We have arranged with the Gateway Center to have their snack bar open during the event so you can get lunch there and save time. They have burgers, pizza, fries, etc. available for a reasonable cost.

Please help the Conference Youth Ministries Team reach youth with this positive event:

• Forward this email to youth and their parents.
• Print out the attached flyer and hand them out in Sunday School & Worship.
• Do an announcement about the event in church.
• Organize a group to commute to the event together.
• Get posters up around the church
• Make some personal invites

CAPTIVE FREE EAST LAKES NEEDS LIST:

• Cash
• Stamps
• Gas Cards
• Restaurant & Grocery Gift Cards
• Target & Walmart Gift Cards (for program supplies)
• Phone Cards
• Vitamin C
• Airborne
• Contact Cleaner
• String/Yarn Skeins   
• Guitar Picks (Medium and Thin)
• 12 String Guitar Strings
• Acoustic & Bass Guitar Straps
• Ponytail Bobbles & Velcro Straps (for wrapping instrument cables)
• Oil Change for Van (or money towards)

Sign up now for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries is partnering with the Child Advocacy Program to bring Stewards of Children: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training to our conference on Saturday, December 1 from 9 am - noon at First Lutheran Church, 120 Chandler St. in Jamestown.

Do you know how to recognize the signs of sexual abuse? How about your volunteers that work with children and young people? Are you confident that your church would react promptly and responsibly? This is a resource that can help your congregation increase its awareness of a devastating issue and put organizational policies and procedures in place that protect and serve children.

This evidence-based training is appropriate for pastors, youth workers, Sunday School teachers, nursery workers, "Cherish Our Children" committee members, and other caring adults. The cost of the training is $10 per person and includes a workbook for each participant. The Conference Youth Ministries Team will spring for refreshments.

You can mail or fax your registration--please note that the deadline for registration is November 16--to ensure that workbooks arrive in time. I have attached a flyer with further information about this event. Please get this on your December calendars and plan on having key leadership from your church in attendance.

Here is how you can help our team get the word out in your congregation:

• Forward this page on to key leadership in your congregation today--people that work directly with young people as well as people who could make policy changes if necessary.
• Put this on the agenda of your next Christian Ed. meeting
• Make a short announcement in Worship this Sunday. Have registration forms handy for those interested in taking the training. 

Open publication - Free publishing - More child abuse

Chills 'n' Thrills

The run up to Halloween finds me knee-deep in nostalgia and indulging in one of my passions: old scary movies. I'm digging out the DVDs starring Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney. I don't know what it is about these movies that fascinate me so, because I'm not morbid or given to dark thoughts. My theory is that my first exposure to these films is associated with good times with my family back there on East Street in the late sixties and early seventies. Creature Features on Channel 5 was pretty much required viewing by older sister and brother every Saturday so I would catch bits and pieces of the classics they were watching as I was playing with toys. Why did the people in these movies look so strange? I remember thinking. If I got freaked out my sister would calm me down by telling me that the movie was about "a nice monster who is just pretending to be scary." A good strategy on her part—mom would have come in from the kitchen and turned the channel otherwise!

That isn't to say that the strategy always worked. I remember being terrified, just terrified, of the claymation hand that used to bookend movies on WPIX's Chiller Theater. Remember that? "Chilllllll—errrrrrr…" My sister and I had a different strategy for Chiller. At the first sign of the hand I'd run and hide behind the chair and cover my ears. When the commercial break was over, she'd tap me on the shoulder as a signal that it was ok to come back out. That goofy hand scared me more than the actual movies.

So many scary (but kind of fun) images come to mind from the family TV circa 1970s: The Zuni Fetish Doll from the movie Trilogy of Terror, Bigfoot chasing around the Six Million Dollar Man, The Blob, and a slapdash screamfest called Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things that aired on Channel 9's Million Dollar Movie. Steve Niver, who grew up around the corner on the South Side, shares a lot of these same memories. We were both blessed with wonderful and responsible parents, which make us wonder how we ever were allowed to watch this stuff. I can only imagine that we must have been pretty sneaky kids!

I remember watching was Salem's Lot when I was 11. My sister kept asking me if it was too scary for me—it was—but I kept insisting that I was fine. I resented the fact that my sister was treating me like a "little kid." During the commercial break she went to the kitchen to get a drink of water. I stealthily tip-toed behind her through the dark house on Onondaga Avenue. When see turned around from the sink I let out a hissing sound while doing my best Count Dracula impression. The result was a broken glass, water everywhere, and a panicked older sister quickly turned into an angry older sister. I think Salem's Lot might have been too scary for both of us! (Not a nice trick for me to play on the person who told me about nice pretending monsters and helped me hide behind the chair!)

I watch scary movies and write about them in this annual self-indulgent pre-Halloween column. Steve went to Hollywood and makes scary movies. With his new company The Monster Machine he's making movies with titles like Arachnaconda  and Grizzligator. He really gets that these kinds of movies are meant to fun. The fact that he's getting these projects off the ground pleases me to no end. I imagine in a few years someone will be writing about how they hid behind the chair from Arachnaconda when they were a kid. Isn't that cool?

Ian Eastman, M.A. is the Youth Coordinator for the Southwestern Conference of the Upstate New York Synod, the Coordinator of the Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry in Jamestown NY, and a Youth Minister in the Pastoral Care Department at Gustavus Adolphus Family Services. He is a student at the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. He promotes the spiritual development of young people and advocates for best practices in youth work.

Helping Kids Cope with Stress

In my day work in mental/behavioral health, every autumn brings an influx of young people trying to cope with the demands of a new school year. This article is well worth a read if you know a young person under stress. Check out the article here: Helping Kids Cope with Stress.

The High & Low of it

In one of the support groups that I conduct in my day job, the participants kept describing communication as an important way to build intimacy in their families. I wholeheartedly agreed with them, but I wanted to make sure that they really understood what they were advocating. After a few sessions I wrote some common phrases that someone might hear in a relationship. I asked them to read the statements and then formulate a reply acknowledging they understood the feelings in the statements. The next week I asked them to reflect back the content. The results were interesting. One guy summed up the experiment by saying, "We talk about communication all the time, but it turns out that it's a lot harder than we thought!"

Child development experts relate that there is often very little communication happening with our children. Often we grownups don't notice this because our families are awash with words. If we tape-recorded our family life we would soon discover that most of the words come in the form of telling them what to do: Do the dishes, Get your homework done, etc. Necessary, but not the most significant exchange of ideas, eh? We would be shocked and dismayed to learn that once we cut out all of that kind of stuff from the tape that there would probably only be a minute or two of substance each day.

This isn't meant to be another finger-pointing indictment of parents. I'm just mentioning it out because dads and moms are the most important influence on their children's character and values. Knowing that, wouldn't it make sense to have as many conversations about important things as possible? It may not always feel like it, but believe me, young people crave this kind of attention—even when they're too cool to show it.

One way to start is to observe the practice of Highs & Lows. It could be something you do together at the dinner table or before bedtime. Ask everyone tell the best part of their day (the High) and the worst part of their day (the Low). This is practical way to start the discussion because it discourages the typical one-word answer: How was your day?/Good. Also, it also teaches your child that there is a range of experiences each day. A good day has a little bad, and even a bad day has some good. When practiced consistently, Highs & Lows can really yield some heart-to-heart communication and foster intimacy in families.

Ian Eastman, M.A. is the Youth Coordinator for the Southwestern Conference of the Upstate New York Synod, the Coordinator of the Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry in Jamestown NY, and a Youth Minister in the Pastoral Care Department at Gustavus Adolphus Family Services. He is a student at the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. He promotes the spiritual development of young people and advocates for best practices in youth work.

10 Things I Want to Tell Parents

Bread Not Stones is a blog that intended to help parents or others who find themselves with the responsibility of raising children in faith. The whole site is worth a look, but the link below serves as a good introduction. Pastor Rebecca Kirkpatrick lays out in one post some of the most important things she's learned as a pastor and a parent who works with families. This would make a good conversation starter over coffee.

Here it is: 10 Things I Want to Tell Parents

October 2012 meeting minutes for Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries Team

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries Team Meeting
October 7, 2012  9 am
First Lutheran Church

Meeting minutes
Present: Ian Eastman (SW Conference), Tara Eastman (First Lutheran), Mike Felsman (Tri-Church), Ann McKillip (St. Tim's), Jennifer Spacht (Bethel) & Janet Wahlberg (First Lutheran).

Devotion
Tara opened with a meditation based on the TV show "Clean Sweep." In our lives, what do we need to keep, sell (pass on), and toss. This would also make a good youth group lesson, or a family devotional tool.

Pool It!

The next Conference Youth Ministries event is POOL IT! set for Sunday, October 14 from 3 pm - 6 pm at the Jamestown Community College Total Fitness Center on the Jamestown Campus. It is for youth in grades 5 - 12. Admission is $5 and includes 2 hours of swim time, pizza, and a time of worship and reflection. Proceeds will benefit ELCA World Hunger efforts. More details at this link.

• Email this flyer to youth and their parents
• Share this link on their Facebook page and on your church's Facebook page
• Make an announcement and hand out flyers in church next Sunday morning.

Congregations will be of immense help by forwarding on information about this event to young people. Every church was emailed a copy of the flyer.

The event is coming together well, but we will be short several members of our usual team this weekend due to continuing education and family commitments. Anyone bringing youth to this event who would be willing to help out with out this event is asked to contact Ian by email. We need some folks to help with registration, serving pizza, etc. and also with worship.

Open publication - Free publishing - More lutheran

Mission on the Mon Info Meeting

The Southwestern Conference has a mission trip planned for July 7 - 12, 2013 to McKeesport, PA. It is for youth in grades 9 - 12. We are doing an informational meeting on Tuesday, October 18 at 6:30 pm at First Lutheran Church to see who is interested and to share some information about this event.

Captive Free East Lakes team.

Youth Workers Retreat 

The Youth Workers retreat is set for October 26 & 27. It is always a productive time. Registration forms with more information can be found here.

Captive Free

Captive Free, a music ministry from Youth Encounter will be in our Conference from Saturday Nov. 17 - Tuesday Nov. 20. They will be providing a variety of ministry over those several days. The schedule is shaping up as follows:

Saturday:

Family Harvest Festival, 2pm, First Lutheran. First providing lunch.

Team visitation to residents, 5 pm, G.A. Home (tentative). G.A. providing dinner.

Sunday:

Morning Worship, Bethel Jamestown. Bethel providing breakfast and lunch for team.

Whoopensocker (Conference Youth event), 1 pm, Gateway Center in Jamestown.

Sunday night dinner - To be provided

Monday:

Team Sabbath per covenant.

Breakfast: To be provided

Lunch: To be provided

Dinner: Saint Timothy's (tentative)

Tuesday:

Breakfast & Devotional for JHS High School Students, 7 am, First Lutheran.

Sack Lunch: To be provided.

We are blessed to have the team lodging hosted by Karen Rine, a member at First Lutheran. We are seeking churches to provide meals for the team of 5 people. We are looking for someone to sponsor Sunday night dinner, Monday Breakfast, Monday Lunch, and a Tuesday sack lunch. The team could be guests of a family or church, be given a casserole to heat up, or be given gift cards to a local restaurant. Contact Ian if your church is willing to help in this way.

Email deadlines for church newsletters is generally 10-15. Ian will have an announcement send out for the Whoopensocker and the JHS student breakfast. Tara Eastman & Janet Wahlberg are handling announcements and organization of the Family Harvest Festival. Jennifer Spacht will do publicity on Bethel's morning worship.

Child Abuse Prevention Training

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries is partnering with the Child Advocacy Program to bring Stewards of Children: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training to our conference on Saturday, December 1 from 9 am - noon at First Lutheran Church, 120 Chandler St. in Jamestown.

Do you know how to recognize the signs of sexual abuse? How about your volunteers that work with children and young people? Are you confident that your church would react promptly and responsibly? This is a resource that can help your congregation increase its awareness of a devastating issue and put organizational policies and procedures in place that protect and serve children.

This evidence-based training is appropriate for pastors, youth workers, Sunday School teachers, nursery workers, "Cherish Our Children" committee members, and other caring adults. The cost of the training is $10 per person and includes a workbook for each participant. The Conference Youth Ministries Team will spring for refreshments. 

You can mail or fax your registration--please note that the deadline for registration is November 16 to ensure that workbooks arrive in time. I have attached a flyer with further information about this event. Please get this on your December calendars and plan on having key leadership from your church in attendance.

Open publication - Free publishing - More child abuse

A sermon seen

One of my mantras in youth work is  show don't tell. This comes out of two convictions: First, experience is a much better teacher than I ever expect to be. Second, young people will learn when they’re engaged. So most of my energy is spent setting up experiences that help them develop compassion and empathy. I look at my role more as a sounding board for what they discover. (I do help them out with a few good questions from time to time.)

Over the last several years I have been working with youth at-risk in a residential youth home. It has been a good experience if not always an easy one! So many adults have already failed these kids. Early on I was just another new face from “the system.” I persevered and learned patience. The youth saw some benefit, too, and the work became easier. Still, something was missing.

A lot of our discussion revolved around conflicts between residents over hurts both painfully real and imagined. Frankly, we had talked some of these things to death. Despite the evidence to the contrary—staff reassured me of the value of what I was doing and the youth kept showing up—I began to feel like we were barely making a dent.

One day it occurred to me. Maybe I could help them better if I showed rather than told them what to do. We decided to change our group from discussing topics around a table to doing some regular visitation in a retirement home. We'd be there for the seniors, I explained—visit with them, play board games and assemble puzzles, etc. In preparation, we brainstormed what they had in common with the seniors. They came up with these answers:

• Neither wanted to leave their home and live in a facility.
• They had to make new friends.
• They have to live-with and relate-to people they don’t “care for.”
• Someone else sets their agenda—decides when it’s time to eat, go to school (youth), take their medicine (adults), wash up, etc.
• They are in a place where they are kept safe and looked after. 
• They wonder about their place in the world—youth think about what their life will be like; the seniors think how their careers and roles are different now.
• They miss doing things they used to do and people they used to see. 

Too often the generations caricature each other. We look at the obvious differences: clothes, music, etc. But we discovered in this exercise that in some important ways they weren’t that different, after all.

It was amazing to see the youth transform. These same young people who would pick and fight with each quickly learned residents’ names and began greeting them. They were so considerate with the seniors, asking them what they wanted to do, and patiently explaining the directions if they were confused. One time I had to break up an argument between two girls, but they were at least arguing because they both wanted to give up their chairs to a late-arriving resident. That has to count for something!

Sometimes people don’t discover how gifted and capable they are until they are put in a situation out of the routine. At least it is true for these girls. I don't hold any illusions. These kids have experienced more in a decade and a half than I have in all of my 44 years. So much negative reinforcement. But I hold onto the hope that the good behavior (and the thought process behind it) at the retirement home will start to kick in when they're back at their dormitory, too. It will be their routine behavior when they leave the group home someday and make a home of their own. 

I think the poet Edward Guest said it best: "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way."

Ian Eastman, M.A. is the Youth Coordinator for the Southwestern Conference of the Upstate New York Synod, the Coordinator of the Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry in Jamestown NY, and a Youth Minister in the Pastoral Care Department at Gustavus Adolphus Family Services. He is a student at the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. He promotes the spiritual development of young people and advocates for best practices in youth work.

Children and Loss

How do you help children through a time of bereavement or loss? Reclaiming Youth International outlines the stages of grief and offers some insight into the process in this link.

Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry news for October 2012

The Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry is a youth group for grades 5 - 12 that meets in the Jamestown, NY area. It is a cooperative effort of Bethel Lutheran Church, First Lutheran Church, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Immanuel Lutheran Church, and GA Family Services. If you know of a young person who would benefit from its mixture of faith formation, recreation, and service learning, please send them along!

This month we're doing a food drive for Joint Neighborhood Project, a Halloween Parade for residents at Lutheran Social Services, and a pool party at JCC. We're learning about how we all have a ministry to our friends and family.

We also have some opportunities for parents to learn about the impact they can have on the faith formation of their children.

Here is a link with all the details:

Open publication - Free publishing - More lutheran

Talking to kids about scary news

Photo: Post-Journal

The news this week around Chautauqua County has left us all reeling: The murder of the Clymer Central Schools superintendent... A sexual assault in Brooklyn Square... Reports of gunfire around the city... And the burglary and subsequent stabbing on Barker Street. We can try and shelter our kids from this news, but the truth of the matter is that they're already talking about it on the playground and in the cafeteria.

Sasha Emmons, a writer for Parenting.com, has an article well-worth a look:  5 Tips on Talking to Kids About Scary News.
 

Joy at work

One of the great things about the Youth & Theology program at Princeton Theological Seminary is the exposure to the top thinkers in the field at our monthly online check-ins. recently our learning cohort was joined by Jeff Dunn-Rankin, the Vice President of Consulting at Youth Ministry Architects. We talked about cultivating volunteers and building support, then the conversation turned to careers.

Youth ministry has a pretty high burnout rate. The compensation is about 25% less than the average salary for a pretty demanding job that isn’t always acknowledged by the congregation, so it’s no surprise. Jeff has seen it all, consulting with churches of many different denominations throughout the country, so our group wanted to get his perspective on longevity in ministry. He had some great things to share, applicable to our group and the wider working world too, hence this column.

He said the key characteristic he sees in people with vocational longevity is great joy. They’re joyful at their tasks in the good times and the hard times. “People that love their jobs made a decision to love their jobs,” he said. The inverse holds true with unhappy people. They’re unhappy wherever they are, at whatever they’re doing.

Everyone has positive and negative things happen in the workplace. But the unhappy and the happy approach the negative things in radically different ways. An unhappy person sees themselves as a victim of life circumstances. A happy person recognizes that they are in a bad spot (no rose-colored glasses) but is mature enough to take responsibility for making it better.

He also offered several other observances worth noting:

1. Happy people make decisions. Jeff gave us an example based on the money conversation we had earlier in the conference. You can decide to live on the money and be satisfied, or decide that you need a different job/line of work because you can’t live on the salary. The world will continue to turn whichever you decide, so go ahead and decide. Unhappy people tend to get stuck—they stay in a situation where they’re unsatisfied because they won’t make a choice.
2. Happy people tend to their own souls. They recognize that their job title is only one part of their identity. They maintain healthy boundaries between work and family time. They find ways to be refreshed and recharged so they can go back and serve other people with their best.   
3. Happy people invest lots of time in the biggest problems they’re facing. They prioritize to have the biggest impact.
4. Happy people embrace the workplace’s culture where it is. 
5. Happy people make changes slowly rather than quickly. They figure out whether something that bothers them is a “must fix” or “live with it” situation. They build support for changes rather than just go off like the Lone Ranger.

Some great advice—whether there is a steeple on your workplace or not!

Ian Eastman, M.A. promotes the spiritual, social, and emotional development of young people and their families. He is the Conference Youth Coordinator for the Southwestern New York Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Coordinator of the Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry in Jamestown NY, and a Youth Minister in the Pastoral Care Department at Gustavus Adolphus Family Services. He is a graduate of SUNY Empire State College (B.S. Cultural Studies), Northwest Nazarene University (M.A. Spiritual Formation), and is currently a student at the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Pool It!

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries presents POOL IT! Sunday, October 14 from 3 pm - 6 pm at the Jamestown Community College Total Fitness Center, 525 Falconer St. in Jamestown NY.

Come enjoy the pool, hot tub, or whirlpool. Snack on pizza. Worship together with other youth from around the conference and hear how people your age are making a difference!

Admission is just $5. Proceeds benefit ELCA World Hunger.

For more information about this event please contact Ian Eastman, Southwestern Conference Youth Ministry Coordinator at (716) 720-8584 or ifeastman@yahoo.com.

Open publication - Free publishing - More lutheran

How to Have a Family Meeting

Weekly family meetings are an effective and pleasant way to bring the family together, to improve communication, to set weekly goals, to recognize and reward progress, and to determine each member's needs and feelings. Healthy Children has some great tips for holding a family meeting. Here's the link.

Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry now in its 4th year!

Come join the Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry (SLYM) as we kick off our 4th year of ministry! It is for young people in grades 5 - 12. We have fun together, worship together, and do projects that make a difference around the community.

This year we're learning how to live out our faith EVERY DAY, EVERYWHERE, IN EVERY RELATIONSHIP!


God has entered into our world with love and grace, claiming us even in the midst of our imperfections, inconsistencies, and self-centered egos. So how should we respond? Christ illustrates this through a story about a Samaritan no one wanted to use a term like “good” to describe. We’ll examine this story over several weeks and discover how God uses unlikely people (like us) to accomplish his work.

Thursdays 6 pm - 8 pm
G.A. Learning Center
200 Gustavus Ave.

Sept. 20: “Making a Friend”
Come celebrate our 4th year with open gym, hang out time, and worship.

Sept. 27: “W.H.E.A.T”
Learn how be caring and welcoming, plus enjoy all the regular things like gym, etc.

Check out our newsletter & parent page below:

Open publication - Free publishing - More jamestown

SLYM is a cooperative effort of Bethel Lutheran Church, First Lutheran Church, G.A. Family Services, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church & Immanuel Lutheran Church.

Emily wants to serve more

Today's guest blogger is Emily Whitney from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Emily went to the Youth Gathering in New Orleans with Chautauqua Area Lutheran Youth this July.

I loved the worship service during our Practice Peacemaking day. I don't know why. I think it was the atmosphere of an auditorium with an awesome praise band. I was surprised how many people were there! And there were so many attractive boys too! The fact we could commune 33,000 people in a relatively short time was cool. After being at the Youth Gathering I feel like I want to serve people more and do more of God's work with my hands. I want to thank everyone who helped us fundraise to go on this fantastic trip. National Youth Gathering Detroit 2015 LEGGO!

Chautauqua Area Lutheran Youth gratefully acknowledges the support of the Karl Peterson Funds & Lynn Foundation Fund of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation in making this project a reality.

100 Questions to Ask Your Kids

"Kids often shy away from conversation because (a) it means trouble, not fun; (b) it's not about something they really care about; or (c) the questions are too broad, too hard for them to organize into any easy, focused answer. Result? Monosyllabic answers and very short conversations."

FamilyEducation has a good strategy to get young people talking: make it a two-way conversation. They also have 100 good questions to get you started. Check it out in the link:

FamilyEducation: 100 Questions to Ask Your Kids

Meeting minutes for September 2012 Conference Youth Ministries Team

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries Team Meeting

Saturday, September 8 @ 9 am

First Lutheran Church

Present: Ian Eastman (SW Conference), Tara Eastman (First), Judy Lind (Immanuel), Ann McKillip (St. Timothy) & Jennifer Spacht (Bethel Jamestown).

Regrets: Mike Felsman (Tri Church), Sue Kilmartin (Bethel Jamestown) & Craig Rodgers (Zion Frewsburg).

Prayer & Devotions...

We read the story of how God helped the Israelites cross the Jordan River on dry ground  (Joshua 4).  Joshua told the people to take stones from the river and display them for their descendants. In essence, the stones encouraged the telling and retelling of the stories of God. We reflected on some markers in our own lives and shared those as a group.

Confirmed YOUTH calendar...

The calendar for 2012/2013 is as follows. Please get these posted on your church calendars and begin promoting these with young people and their parents. Events are open to youth in grades 5 - 12, with the exception of our summer mission trip, which is limited to grades 9 - 12. We want to make it easy for youth from every church in the SW Conference to participate in events that foster faith, give them a chance to serve, and have fun!

10/14/12   3pm - 6pm

POOL IT!

JCC Total Fitness Fitness Center

525 Falconer St., Jamestown NY 14701

Cost: $5

POOL IT is the first action-packed Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries event of this school year. Enjoy two hours of open swim, chillax in the whirlpool, or relax in the sauna! Enjoy some pizza and make some new friends from around the conference. We'll wrap up the day with a contemporary worship service with contributions from talented young people. Proceeds benefit the ELCA 100 Wells Challenge.

10/16/12   6:30pm - 7:30pm

MISSION TRIP INFO MEETING

Location TBA (watch your October church newsletter)

Come learn about our summer 2013 mission trip opportunity.

11/18/12   1pm - 4pm

THE WHOOPENSOCKER

Gateway Center

31 Water St., Jamestown NY 14701

Cost: $5 & donation of an item for the Captive Free team

Note: Snack bar will be open (additional cost)

This event is so cool that we had to use an imaginary word to describe it! THE WHOOPENSOCKER is pretty much the greatest recreation day ever. We'll have unlimited laser tag, access to the bmx/skatepark, human foosball court, a rec. room, and video games. Captive Free, a group of young people from throughout the United States, will lead us in worship.

The young people in Captive Free are devoting an entire year to ministry throughout our region. We ask churches and youth groups to collect personal care items for the team. Items needed are as follows:

• Airborne
• Batteries (9 Volt, AA, AAA)
• Cash
• Dayquil
• Dental Floss
• Deodorant
• Duct Tape
• Flashdrive
• Gas Cards
• Haircuts
• Ink Pens
• Lysol Spray & Wipes
• Body Wash
• Mouthwash
• National & International Phone Cards
• Plastic Water Bottles
• Razors
• Restaurant & Grocery Gift Cards (for unprovided meals)
• Shampoo/Conditioner
• Soap
• Stamps: Regular and Post Card
• Target & Walmart Gift Cards
• Toothbrushes
• Triple Antibiotic Ointment
• Vitamin C

We will also be providing meals and securing lodging for the team and will seek the assistance of people throughout the conference.

02/17/13  1pm - 4pm

TOILET BOWL 2

Gateway Center

31 Water St., Jamestown NY 14701

Cost: $5 & roll of toilet paper (or box of tissues, etc.)

Note: Snack bar open (additional cost)

Everybody gets excited about the Super Bowl, but the real excitement doesn't happen until THE TOILET BOWL 2. The first two hours are open recreation time: we have laser tag, bmx/skate ramps, pool table, ping pong, video games, human foosball, and more. The last hour is a worship service with a contemporary band and games/mixers. We'll meet a very practical need for a charitable agency: TP! Consider holding a paper drive in your youth group and church during February.

07/07/13 - 07/12/13

THE MISSION ON THE MON

McKeesport, PA

Cost: TBD

MISSION ON THE MON is a week-long Christian neighborhood immersion experience filled with mission projects in the local community and exposure to innovative ministries in the area.

Confirmed PARENT & ADULT calendar...

We want to help every family in the conference get equipped to foster faith in their homes. We want every adult in our conference know how to engage young people.

09/15/12  1:45 pm, 3 pm

THE FIELD GUIDE TO YOUNG PEOPLE

Women of the ELCA Convo

Chautauqua Suites

215 West Lake Rd.,  Mayville, NY 14757

Adolescent development can inform the way we assist youth in their faith formation. We will explore how to cultivate a healthy environment for young people, and promote spiritual practices that will help sustain young people through hard times.

09/16/12  9:15 am

09/23/12  9:15 am

09/30/12  9:15 am

10/07/12  9:15 am

FULL CIRCLE TRIPLE A TRAINING

Bethel Lutheran Church

904 West 3rd St., Jamestown NY

This is a 4 session course that could be called "how to talk and pray with your kids." There are many practical and theologically sound resource available to help parents and families grow in faith. Come learn with us! (Our goal is to offer this course with every church in the SW Conference. Contact Ian about scheduling.)

10/18/12   6:30pm - 7:30pm

MISSION TRIP INFO MEETING

Location TBA

Come learn about our summer 2013 mission trip opportunity for youth in grades 9 - 12.

10/21/12  5:30 pm

11/04/12  5:30 pm

11/18/12  5:30 pm

12/02/12  5:30 pm

FULL CIRCLE TRIPLE A TRAINING

Session 1 at First Lutheran, Session 2 at Immanuel, Session 3 at Saint Timothy, Session 4 at Bethel Jamestown.

Confirmed YOUTH WORKER & OTHER MINISTRY FOLKS calendar...

We want every church to be equipped with the knowledge and support they need to deliver excellent ministry to young people! 

10/26/12 - 10/27/12

YOUTH LEADER'S TRAINING EVENT

Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center

Cost $50 (includes food & lodging)

This event is designed for volunteer and paid youth leaders with any level of experience. More details and a printable registration form can be found at this link.

12/01/12  9am - Noon

STEWARDS OF CHILDREN CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION TRAINING

First Lutheran Church

120 Chandler St., Jamestown NY

Cost $10

We are partnering with the Child Advocacy Program to deliver this evidence-based and third-party evaluated program. This training is appropriate for Clergy, Youth Workers, Sunday School Teachers, Nursery Workers--anyone in your church who works or volunteers with children or young people. Outcomes of the training are as follows:

• Increased awareness of the prevalence, consequences and circumstances of child sexual abuse 
• New skills to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse 
• Proactive, positive input to change organizational policies and procedures 
• Individual commitment to action via a personal prevention plan 

Confirmed CONFERENCE YOUTH TEAM MEETING calendar...

10/06/12  9 am - 11 am

11/03/12  9 am - 11 am

12/01/12  9 am - 12 pm (This month's program devoted to Child Abuse Training)

01/05/13  9 am - 11 am

02/02/13  9 am - 11 am

03/02/13  9 am - 11 am

04/06/13  9 am - 11 am

05/04/13  9 am - 11 am

06/01/13  9 am - 11 am

08/03/13  9 am - 11 am

First Lutheran Church

120 Chandler St., Jamestown NY

This is the team that makes these events and trainings you're reading about happen. Meetings are open to youth in grades 9 - 12 and caring adults. Come help us discern the future of youth ministry in the SW Conference!

Egads! Additional info that doesn't fit anywhere else...

We have CAPTIVE FREE for the whole weekend.

• Saturday afternoon: We are looking for a church to host an event for children. We have a lead about a church interested in doing a Harvest Party with several other churches.
• Saturday night: Ian will follow up with Gustavus Adolphus Learning Center about doing a program for the residents.
• Sunday morning: Bethel Jamestown has booked the group for Sunday worship. It will provide breakfast and lunch.
• Sunday afternoon: Whoopensocker.
• Monday: Team sabbath. Sue Kilmartin is looking into some donations to give them some things to do around the Jamestown area.
• Tuesday: Tara Eastman is exploring doing a breakfast with the team at First Lutheran and inviting youth from all churches who attend Jamestown High School. First would also provide sack lunches for the team.
• Ideas for housing the team: LCLC, a rental property, splitting the team up into various homes, and inquiring about guest space at Hultquist Place.
• We are covering 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 3 dinners, and 3 overnights for a team of 5.

Engaging youth for POOL IT.

• Tara and Ian know some youth from Infinity who may provide music
• Youth from Gloria Dei attended the Mission on the Mon may be asked to relate their experiences last summer.

MISSION ON THE MON will require some fundraising. We are looking at taking 4 chaperones (who will also drive) and 16 youth.

• Jen will investigate a "300 Club" fundraiser.
• We will contact Carrie Magnuson about doing the Stateline fundraiser again.
• We could take orders for Jelly Beans before Easter.
• Tara heard about a cookie dough fundraiser.

Learning about the importance of faith milestones...

"Milestones are those meaningful, memorable moments when something significant is happening. These include the great joys, great sorrows, and other momentous events in which God is always present. There is a hope, or even an expectation, that we notice these times, recognize them, show up, and in some way honor them. We mark the event by naming it, blessing the person, gathering with others, and often denoting it with a meaningful gift. Milestone events offer an amazing opportunity to understand our participation in ministry." -- Tom Schwolert & Lyle Griner

Next Conference Youth Meeting:

Saturday, October 6 @ 9 am

First Lutheran Church, 120 Chandler St., Jamestown NY.

Worshipping together in New Orleans

Today's guest blogger is Emily Magnuson from Immanuel Lutheran Church. Emily went with Chautauqua Area Lutheran Youth to the Youth Gathering in New Orleans this July.

The most moving thing about the Youth Gathering was seeing all of the youth all together in the Superdome. There were around 33,310 people. It was amazing to see all of the youth that came from all around the world. It changed me to hear all of the people singing, worshiping and having communion. I was most suprised about all of the people that wanted to help clean New Orleans. We want it to have a safe envirorment for everyone that is living there and for all of the people that go there for vacations.

Chautauqua Area Lutheran Youth gratefully acknowledges the support of the Karl Peterson Funds & Lynn Foundation Fund of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation in making this project a reality.

Christ the Center... or an appendage for already busy lives

Dr. David W. Anderson, a presenter, coach and author at Vibrant Faith Ministries, meditates on discipleship: "Is it time to concede that adding Jesus to busy lives feels more like the two-minute piece of straw that breaks the over scheduled back? Instead, could we pray, speak, act, think and dance as though Christ just might be as real (and as hidden) as breathing, seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and imagining everything?" A timely read as decisions made in September often impact our family life throughout the entire school year. Read the full article at this link.

Meeting minutes for August 2012 Conference Youth Ministries Team

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries Team Meeting
August 4, 2012 9 am
First Lutheran Church


Meeting minutes

Present: Ian Eastman (SW Conference), Tara Eastman (First Lutheran) Mike Felsman (Tri-Church), Ann McKillip (St. Tim's) & Jennifer Spacht (Bethel).
Regrets: Sue Kilmartin (Bethel), Judy Lind (Immanuel).


Devotions...

The team opened with prayer and devotions. We discussed 2 Timothy 1:2-7, a letter of encouragement from Paul to Timothy.


Schedule for 2012/2013...

Youth events:

October 14 or 21 (TBD) 3pm - 6pm
Pool Party at JCC Total Fitness Center
Waiting on confirmation from Total Fitness staff--JCC sports teams get first pick on facility. 

November 17
Captive Free Team - Children's event?
We have the Captive Free team on Saturday afternoon & evening. Perhaps use a church, YMCA, or Mall Bounce House?

November 18  1 pm - 4 pm
Whoopensocker @ Gateway Center
Lasertag, BMX/Skateboarding, Rec. Room, and snack bar for the first two hours. Captive Free will lead worship from 3 pm - 4 pm. Youth will do personal care item drive for team.

The Captive Free Team will require housing and meals from Saturday night through Tuesday morning. Exploring all avenues to host team together or separately in homes. Sue Kilmartin looking for museum passes, movie, ice arena, local restaurant passes for the team.

February 17  1 pm - 4 pm
Toilet Bowl 2 @ Gateway Center
Lasertag, BMX/Skateboarding, Rec. Room, and snack bar for the first two hours, worship from 3 pm - 4 pm. Youth will do paper product drive for local charity.

July 7 - July 12
Mission on the Mon in McKeesport PA.
Very hands on mission trip. Jeannine Gambrel from Gloria Dei took 6 youth and had a very positive experience. Looking for group of 16 youth and 4 chaperone/drivers across conference. Could pull this off for approximately $3,000 total. Deadline April 1. Will set up covenant, expenses, goals, and team expectations. Will float the idea to churches and gauge interest. Jennifer suggested a "300 Club" fundraiser.

It was brought to the team's attention that there are several schedule conflicts with Combined Conformation. Ian will work with pastors to hopefully resolve some of these issues.


Adult events

September 15 @ 1:45 pm & 3 pm
Women of the ELCA Convo @ Chautauqua Suites
Workshop: "A Field Guide to Young People"

October 26 & 27
Youth Worker Retreat @ LCLC

Also, training in the "Vibrant Faith" approach and book discussions on how to talk and pray with your child will be held for parents and other caring adults during Combined Confirmation in Jamestown area.

Other business
Bethel (Jamestown) and St. Tim's both take groups annually to Youth Quake. Is the conference interested in making this an event for all churches? The next Youth Quake is January 25 - 27.


Learning...

Going back to Paul's letter to Timothy, we discussed ways to affirm youth. These things also serve to help youth verbalize their faith in God.

• We used Paul's letter to Timothy as a template for a letter of our own. Text, email, postcards can mean a lot.
• Regular devotional times in the family... Sharing highs and lows of the day, "rose, thorn, buds," observing candle time...
• Share gifts face to face when you observe them... Describe them to other adults... and take time during special occasions to say a few words.

Upcoming meetings...

Sept.: 9/8/12 (Please note this is moved to the second Saturday to avoid the Labor Day weekend.)

Oct: 10/6/12

Nov: 11/3/12

Dec: 12/1/12

Meetings are at 9 am at First Lutheran Church, 120 Chandler St., Jamestown.

(Note: The Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries Team is open to young people in grades 9 - 12, plus interested adults. Please circulate these minutes to youth, Sunday School teachers, Christian Ed committees, etc.)