Dear youth and parents,
 
It's good to be back with you after a relaxing trip with my wife, Sarah, last weekend.  We enjoyed spending time with old friends in Houston on our last getaway before the baby arrives.

It's a busy week for the youth ministry staff with the Ash Wednesday service, a Youth Committee meeting on Thursday, and a special event in Dallas tomorrow.  A group of 10 adults who are leaders in our youth ministry and 11 high school youth who are aspiring leaders in our church will be attending the Pathways Conference, an all-day event sponsored by the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary.  The keynote speaker for the adult track at the event will be Mark DeVries, the founder and president of Youth Ministry Architects (the organization we partnered with back in August for the excellent assessment and visioning process).  I'm excited about what our youth and adults will learn at the event, and especially glad that we'll get to hear from Mark firsthand.  Hopefully we'll have much to share from the experience, and good ideas to apply here at UCC!

Grace and Peace,
Russ

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