Meeting minutes for June 2012 Conference Youth Ministries Team Meeting

Southwestern Conference Youth Ministries Team Meeting
June 2, 2012 9 am
First Lutheran Church

Meeting minutes

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


DEVOTION/PRAYER...

The group meditated on Psalm 139: "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."


2012/2013 PROGRAM YEAR...

We continued to work towards our goal to have our schedule "carved in stone" by the August 2012 meeting. We want to make it easy for churches to collaborate with Conference Youth.  A schedule of events, with spiritual themes, will be made available. Tara will speak with the Combined Confirmation team to encourage them to incorporate Conference Youth events as part of their program.

How the program year is shaping up so far...

9/15
Ian presenting at the Women of the ELCA Conference at Chautauqua Suites. "A Field Guide to Young People--and their Care & Feeding." CONFIRMED.

Sept/Oct
Full Circle Training for Adults. Tara is going to float the idea with the pastors that the Full Circle Training could be at the same time as Combined Confirmation. Parents are already driving to a church twice in one evening. Maybe we could convince them to stay for dessert and discussion about how to foster faith? If everyone is amenable to the process, we'd invite parents during the first session of confirmation, then run Full Circle during sessions 2-5. It will be open to more than parents--anyone can come. PROPOSED.

10/26 - 10/27
Youth Worker Retreat at LCLC. Good event at a very reasonable cost. Will encourage youth workers, Sunday School teachers, Confirmation teachers, etc. to attend. CONFIRMED.

11/18  1 pm - 4 pm
Captive Free, a musical and teaching ministry of Youth Encounter, at the Gateway Center. Will do laser tag and other events, too. The theme will be "Invite" (one of the 7 faith practices of the ELCA). Our service/justice aspect will be collecting personal care items for the Captive Free team. For youth in grades 5 - 12. CONFIRMED--Youth Encounter. TENTATIVE--Gateway Center. Ian will follow up with Gateway Center when Pastor Amy is off maternity leave.

2/17  1 pm - 4 pm
Toilet Bowl II. For grade 5 - 12. Will collect paper products for First Things First Recovery Ministry. TENTATIVE. Ian follow up with Gateway Center when Pastor Amy is back.

March or April 2013  3 pm - 6 pm
Pastor on the Plank II. For grades 5 - 12. Theme: Baptism. TENTATIVE. Jamestown Public Schools Spring Break is 3/25 - 4/5, JCC's break 3/27 - 4/7, so those dates are out.

July 2013
Mission on the Mon. 1 week mission trip in McKeesport PA. For grades 9 - 12. TENTATIVE. Jeannine Gambrel at Gloria Dei is taking a group of girls on this mission trip this summer. She will report back on the experience so we can decide if we want to pursue it as a conference-wide event in 2013.

Santa's Secret Shoppe was removed from our schedule while JNP evaluates if/how it wants to pursue this event in the future.


PRAYER SUPPORT...

The team put together a collection of prayers for the Youth Gathering, so churches in the Conference can "pray along" with the youth. We will put the prayers on the Young Lutherans website, Facebook, and in church bulletin inserts.

The national Youth Gathering folks have put together a blessing litany for youth, appropriate for the Sunday morning before the Gathering. Ian will pass that info along to the churches.

We still want to have a collection of youth prayers for every day of the month. We thought we could build the prayers around the 4 questions of adolescence: Who am I? Where do I fit? What am I good at? Am I capable of love? If everyone chipped in and wrote several, we could make this resource a reality in time for September.


LEARNING...

We continued learning about the "Triple A" adult framework. We talked about the intentionality that fosters faith formation with young people. I used the terms "hand holding" (being present) and "finger pointing" (positive sense, like in the "notice that" way we do with toddlers. The key question for discussion was "How do you practice faith?" A great framework for setting an example and having faith conversations with youth is The Four Keys.

Key #1: Caring Conversations
Caring conversations often happen at bedtime, mealtime, travel time, home sick time, vacation time, or candle time. They express an interest in others, their hurts, their joys, concerns, and dreams, their values and faith. Caring conversations require time to be available to listen and to speak. Congregations are encouraged to help families identify the holy ground of their lives where precious, caring conversations take place, and where lives are strengthened and nurtured by the love and mercy of God through the support, guidance, and genuine interest of others.

Key #2: Devotions
A devotional life is a way to practice the presence of God through the Word of God. Many families and individuals need help with the language of prayer and faith in daily life. A devotional life is more of a consciousness and way of life than a formula to accomplish a certain task. Family devotions connect the generations with faith, hope, and love in a world that speaks and operates on a different basis than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Key #3: Ritual and Traditions
Rituals and traditions are those patterns of behavior that can be expected to occur on a routine basis and communicate certain meaning in life. The way people greet one another each day, a table grace, bedtime prayers, the blessing of a Christmas tree, and a birthday or baptismal anniversary celebration are all examples of family rituals and traditions that can effectively communicate the good news of Jesus Christ.

Key #4: Service
Serving one’s neighbors is the calling all are given through the life and message of Jesus Christ. For a Christian, service is motivated by the life we have first received from God. Service communicates that love to others, and is a concrete expression of one’s own faith and values. Family service projects have been shown to be a vital way to pass on faith from generation to generation. Children and youth are greatly influenced by what they see in the lives of others, especially parents and other family members.

These materials were drawn from the Full Circle Triple A Training Manual by Tom Schwolert and Lyle Griner.

Please share these tips in church bulletins, etc.

UPCOMING MEETINGS...

July: No meeting
August: 8/4/12
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.)