Don't miss The Toilet Bowl!

The Toilet Bowl

Sunday Feb. 26  1 pm - 4 pm

The Gateway Center, 31 Water St., Jamestown NY 14701

Admission: $5 + roll of toilet paper

Yeah, yeah... Everyone is excited about the Super Bowl. But if you ask me, the real excitement will happen a few weeks from now: THE TOILET BOWL. This first Southwestern Conference Youth Ministry event of 2012 is quickly approaching--and we don't want you and your friends to miss out!

This event is open to youth in grades 5 - 12. 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, games/mixers, and Judd Hamilton of First Things First Recovery Ministry will be speaking about his spiritual journey.

Our goal is to see youth from all the churches in the conference worshipping and having fun together, and to meet a practical need of the recovery ministry: donations of toilet paper!

Important details are in the flyer:

Open publication - Free publishing

Look at what SLYM has planned for February 2012

The Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry (SLYM) is cooperative youth group for grades 5 - 12. It meets Thursdays from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, usually at the Gustavus Adolphus Learning Center, 200 Gustavus Ave. in Jamestown. Here is what it has planned for February 2012:

Open publication - Free publishing - More slym. lutheran

If you would like more information at SLYM, please contact Ian Eastman.

Is your leadership worth replicating?

"When we accept mediocrity and complacency, it gets passed on to others. When we raise the bar and model effective leadership, that gets passed on too! In essence, what we accept is what we teach."

As I continue to ponder intergenerational ministry, I thought this was worth a share. Jim LaDoux, a presenter and coach with Vibrant Faith Ministries, has some good things to say about leadership in this post.

Please feel free to leave a comment below about your thoughts.

January 2012 minutes for Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries Team Meeting

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries Team Meeting
January 7, 2012 9 am @ First Lutheran Church
Meeting minutes


Present: Ian Eastman (SW Conference), Tara Eastman (First Lutheran), Ann McKillip (St. Tim's), Jennifer Spacht (Bethel), Jason Wood (St. Tim's).
Regrets: Mike Felsman (Tri-Church).


Devotional... Ian opened with "selections from Exodus 3 & 4, rewritten for youth workers" and the group talked about excuses we use with God and how we depend on God's power in our ministries.


Old business...


The Conference Youth Team meetings are set for the first Saturday of each month (through May) at First Lutheran in Jamestown.


Tara reserved the Gateway Center for a Conference Youth event in February.


Ann got the name of a couple doing youth ministry at St. Mark's, Scott & Brenda Sampson, and will connect with them about youth work in the conference.


Ian has written a draft of prayers for youth, but on second thought is going to solicit prayers from youth themselves at SW Conference events, etc. over the next few months.


Jason hasn't initiated contact with Youth Encounter, but will do so before the next meeting. Jennifer says Bethel is open to collaborating on the annual event.


New business...


The first SW Conference event of 2012 is set for Sunday, February 26 from 1 pm - 4 pm at the Gateway Center, 31 Water Street in Jamestown. It is for youth in grades 5 -12. It is our hope that trying an event after church will make it easier for chaperones to transport youth and result in a better turn out.


The event will be called The Toilet Bowl (a twist on the Super Bowl) because we will be collecting toilet paper for the First Things First Recovery Ministry. Ian met with the program director, Judd Hamilton, and he explained that the men living in this residential program have no disposable income and paper products are much needed. Ian will ask Judd Hamilton if he would be willing to speak on behalf of First Things First at the Toilet Bowl. A roll of toilet paper will be required as part of admission.


The Gateway Center has laser tag, a BMX/Skatepark, games like ping pong, pool, airhockey, video games, and "human foosball." They are asking for $100 for the cost of the staff, plus $5 a person. The first two hours of the event will be open recreation.


The third hour of the event will be a time of contemporary worship. The team suggested inquiring if some young adults in the conference would be willing to conduct worship, such as Adam McKillip, Jason Wood, and Nathan. Ann will inquire about this. If this doesn't work out, Jason suggested the band "To the Sky." Special music and other parts of the program will be handled by youth from the Conference.


---


Ian has been in communication with the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. There is the possibility of making the SW Conference a peer network of the Institute. A small grant would come with this affiliation, allowing us to purchase books and other materials "to support the personal and vocational development of youth workers." We would need 8 people to agree to meet for a specified amount of time and come up with a learning plan to be eligible. Interest with those present was high, and this will be further discussed in subsequent meetings.


Faith assets...


We continued to unpack the Faith Assets framework by Luther Seminary. This month we explored three assets: Congregational Support, Support of Senior Pastor & Financial and Space Support. The big idea was summarized as "UNLESS YOUTH MINISTRY MATTERS TO THE CONGREGATION, IT DOESN’T MATTER."


We reflected on the following questions:

• If a family with youth would come to your congregation what would be some things they would notice about the congregation?
• Do people make an effort to welcome the youth?
• Looking at the bulletin, bulletin boards, publicity for the church would it appear that youth ministry matters?
• Would the Lead pastor make an effort to communicate with the youth as well as the parents?
• Was there any participation by youth in the last month in the worship services?
• If you were to look at the budget of the church, would youth ministry appear as a high value?
• Where do you see support of youth ministry in your congregation?
• What are some areas you would like to see improved in your congregation to reflect the desire to support youth ministry?

These are great questions to be shared with Christian Ed. committees, councils, and parents. 

Tasks...


Ian will check with Judd Hamilton regarding the conference youth event in February.
Ann will check with Adam & Company regarding worship.
Ann will follow up on the couple at St. Mark's.
Jason will check on prices and dates for Youth Encounter for a possible October/November event.


Upcoming meetings...


2/4/12
3/3/12
4/7/12
5/5/12


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.)

Get your tickets now for the Mardi Gras Dinner!

Mardi Gras Dinner

Sunday, Feb. 19  5pm - 8pm

Shaggy's (above the See-Zurh House in Bemus Point)

There will be a lot to enjoy, including:

• The best Cajun cuisine this side of the Big Easy
• Live music
• Basket raffle
• Cash bar

Tickets are available now at Bethel Lutheran Church, First Lutheran Church, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Immanuel Lutheran Church, and St. Timothy's Lutheran Church. There will be no tickets available at the door.

• Adult - $30
• Couple - $50
• Child (12 & under) - $15

All proceeds benefit Chautauqua Area Lutheran Youth learning and serving in New Orleans during the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering.

Big dreams

I met Bill Dyke a few years ago when he gave me a call at Family Services to discuss one of my newspaper columns. He would do that from time to time, further discussing the issues raised in the columns, sometimes bringing out another side to an issue that I missed, and other times just a quick call to tell me "right on." Other times he'd stop by the office on his errands around North Warren and leave a short note about his hopes and dreams for young people. I always appreciated his insight.

Bill wanted the best for kids and families. It always impressed me how he went about approaching youth issues. He never framed youth themselves as the problem, as so many people are apt to do. He understood that when adults criticize young people, they are really criticizing themselves, because young people are a product of the environment we’ve created. We all "own" the problems around us—and have a role to play in solving them, too.

Our community lost a big advocate for youth and families when Bill passed away at the end of October. The last few years he had been working on a plan to improve the health and well-being of families in the future by teaching youth vital skills and values right now. He shared it with Gary Lester and I over bagels one Saturday morning. It was a big, sprawling audacious vision. To be honest, it was such a huge plan that it was kind of hard for me to see how one could ever get the funding and buy-in of key players to see it come to complete fruition.

Yet… Aren't some big, sprawling audacious dreams just what we need these days? The status quo doesn't seem to be doing anyone much good these days. So much of what we take for granted—the institutions that provide aid and the organizations that enrich our lives—exist because someone had a dream of something better and worked tirelessly to bring it about. And isn't that quality—something Bill Dyke personified—what makes this community great?

P.S. Speaking of conversations and dreaming of something better… I am forming a regional peer network with the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. There is a lot of research and material these days relating to youth and faith formation that can be of great help to professional and lay youth workers, Sunday School teachers, and Christian educators. The regional peer network will assist in the vocational and personal development of participants. There is no cost to participate, but space is limited. If you may be interested in a group of this type, give me a call at 814-723-1330. Let’s talk!


This column originally ran in the Times Observer (Warren PA) on 1/21/12.

Multigenerational or intergenerational?

"It's not difficult to get different generations in the same room. The difficult task is to get generations speaking to each other. Deeply invested in the other generation's life. Accepting differences. Realizing similarities. Relying on each other and praying for each other."

I'm pondering intergenerational ministry these days. Matthew DePrez has some interesting things to think about in his blog post, "All Churches Are Multigenerational. Few Are Intergenerational" at the Sticky Faith blog.

How is your church connecting the generations? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Youth Gathering T-Shirt Contest

Today's guest blogger is Tara Eastman...

It's funny what can come up when your brainstorm over pizza, salad and the need to create a t-shirt design for a ELCA Youth Gathering t-shirt contest. My friend Darcy and her family all helped to think through the number seven (that is what Synod we are a part of) and our upcoming mission trip to New Orleans this summer. We did improve on, "Synod 7 is headed to heaven!" (Ahem - thank heavens!)

So this is what we ended up with...

Synod seven is here to serve...now let's put ourselves where this design is! If you would like to submit a shirt design by January 31st, you can do so by submitting to:

2012 Youth Gathering T-shirt Designs C/O NFCLYO
55 Pleasant Avenue, Lancaster NY 14086
or email info@nfclyo.org

Of course, we are modifying the design to read 7D...

Tara Eastman is the Youth & Family Coordinator at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown. She is a musician, painter, writer, and a student at the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. You can follow her blog,  Uphill Idealist.

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.

LCLC 4th-8th Grade Winter Retreat

4th-8th Grade Winter Retreat
March 2-4, 2012

Spend the weekend at LCLC learning about your relationship with God and having an awesome time with new and old friends.

The 4th-8th Grade Winter Retreat includes:

• Experiential Bible Studies
• Powerful Worships
• Campfires, Great Music and S'mores
• Sledding and Fun in the Snow
• Games and Hikes
• Great Food and Snacks

Grab a friend, bring your sleds and winter gear and get ready for a great LCLC experience. The retreat begins with registration at 7:00 p.m. Friday night and ends with closing worship at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Click here for a registration form.

Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Center
5013 Rt. 430
Bemus Point, NY 14712 * 716-386-4125 * contact@lclcenter.org

Food for thought

This time of year finds many people making resolutions regarding the dinner plate, usually in an effort to undo the damage done to the waistline between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. But I’d like to suggest that you make an alternate resolution this year. Resolve to grab a plate firmly in both hands—and eat together with your family as often as possible.

Why? Mealtime may be the last place where the whole family can get together on a regular basis. No, sitting in front of the television doesn’t count, because then we’re paying more attention to a noisy, colorful box than to each other. What I’m advocating for is a time and place for everyone to share life together. Since everyone has to eat anyhow, what better place to do so than around the dinner table? It is a place to grow relationships, check-in about how things are going, and discuss character and values. In his book In Defense of Food, author Michael Pollan writes: “The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from mere animal biology to an act of culture.”

The family meal can also be a place to foster faith formation in the family. “Saying grace,” an act of prayer, is perhaps the most apparent way. Reading a Psalm or a short scripture passage (and discussing it), talking about current events through the lens of one’s faith, and sharing highs & lows of the day are all beneficial, too.

There are also some wonderful protective factors that increase as your relationship with your child grows. A report that just crossed my desk from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse states, “Our surveys have consistently found a relationship between children having frequent dinners with their parents and a decreased risk of their smoking, drinking or using other drugs, and that parental engagement fostered around the dinner table is one of the most potent tools to help parents raise healthy, drug-free children. Simply put: frequent family dinners make a difference.” This is definitely some insight worth heeding in a fast-food, drive-thru culture.

Families are busy and eating together can sometimes be an inconvenience. But the commitment to invest time in each other really pays off in better parental engagement and parent/child relationships. A great tragedy is that we behave as if the key to healthy families is getting enough experts brainstorming around a conference table. We may make more headway by resolving to get our families talking around the dinner table.

This column originally ran in the Times Observer (Warren, PA) on Saturday, January 7, 2012.

Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry news for January 2012

The Shared Lutheran Youth Ministry has many exciting things planned during January. If you know of young people who may benefit, please send 'em our way!

For more details about SLYM, and our January schedule, please check out the newsletter in the link below:

Open publication - Free publishing - More slym

Drop a line

Today's blog is by Tara Eastman, Youth & Family Coordinator at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown.

"...I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers..."

Ephesians 1:16 is a great reminder of the importance of praying for others--and letter writing! Over the Advent season and into Christmas week, I've received many Christmas cards, letters and photos from friends and family all over the country. It's been greatly encouraging to hear from old friends, catch up on news and see what is going in their lives. If I'm totally honest though, I'd say what I love best about receiving these letters is the flood of warmth that rushes over me when I find them in my mailbox--it's such an encouragement to be remembered and connected with others!

In the New Testament, 13 of the 27 books are written in letter form. Letters were the primary means of early missionaries to communicate with their church members back home. These letters were used to encourage, redirect, challenge and help Christians to continue to grow in their faith, even when separated by great distances and challenging circumstances. This art of letter writing is one that has been adapted with the technical advances of email, instant messaging, social networking and Skype; but even as an enthusiastic participant in modern forms of communication, I still find there is something special about receiving a letter. The tangible action of holding, opening, reading, re-reading and saving a letter that reminds the recipient that they are cared for by the writer of that letter.

In this day of constant quick and instant communication, I've begun to think about reviving the slower but tangible act of letter writing for encouragement, faith formation, and mission. Who within our church communities are most affected by distance and challenging circumstances? I'd like to suggest that the largest population of people impacted by disconnect, distance, and separation is our College/Career/Young Adults. Due to increased need for higher and higher education, many young people seek economically sound work placement and education far away from their home congregations. These young people are striving to make their way in fast paced and new environments as a growing rite of passage.

In light of all this transition, young adults could greatly benefit from a connection to a caring, prayerful adult via the means of simple, old-fashioned, faith inspiring, letter writing! Adults have a great opportunity to reach out. The simple act of fostering Christian community through letter writing communicates the message that the recipient is: cared for, prayed over, and important enough to receive a tangible sign from his or her faith community. Letter writing reminds all of us who we are, who we are connected to, and how circumstance and distance don't have to separate us from our community of faith.

In this New Year, consider taking a chance to slow down in one form of communication. Write a letter to a young person that might be feeling forgotten by the distance, pace and challenge of transition into adulthood. The letter you write may be the lifeline they were looking for. Give it a try--drop a line.

Tara Eastman is the Youth & Family Coordinator at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown. She is a musician, painter, writer, and a student at the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. You can follow her blog at Uphill Idealist.

Conference Youth meeting coming up on Saturday

The next Conference Youth Ministries Planning Team meeting is Saturday, January 7 at 9 am at First Lutheran Church, 120 Chandler St. in Jamestown. We'll continue our discussion about the Faith Assets framework from Luther Seminary and plan out details of our next event for youth around the conference. This team is open to youth and adults interested in making a difference in our churches and conference. Contact Ian Eastman at 720-8584 or ifeastman@yahoo.com if you would like more information. The minutes from last month's meeting can be found here.

Thanks to all the youth from around the conference who helped out at Santa's Secret Shoppe last month. It was a huge help for Joint Neighborhood Project and the children appreciated your assistance very much! Did you see our video of the day yet?

Our new website is receiving approximately 100 hits every month. Keep up on the latest news and get inspired at www.younglutherans.blogspot.com.