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 Weekly E-news
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Dear youth and parents,
Sarah, Bell, and I are on our way to Nashville for the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) after a stop in Memphis tonight to see old friends. This gathering takes place in a different city every two years and brings together thousands of Disciple clergy and laypeople of all ages for worship, learning tracks, mission work, and lots of informal fellowship. It's sort of like a big family reunion for our church. Because I serve on the leadership team for the Disciples Youth Ministry Network, I will be helping facilitate a learning track for youthworkers at the event. Your prayers are appreciated as we try to do General Assembly with a 14 month old!
Also, many of you are aware that Sarah had a seizure back in January and our family life turned VERY CRAZY as we balanced a baby, two full-time jobs, and a mom who was not allowed to drive. I'm happy to report that as of today Sarah has been seizure-free for six months and is finally driving (and loving it). Thanks to everyone who prayed, chauffered, brought food, and generally gave us some extra grace because of our family situation over the last six months. We definitely felt the love of this congregation!
Grace and Peace,
Russ
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click on  next to any headline to vist the related Facebook event. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Church-wide Harry Potter celebration on Saturday, June 23
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 Several of UCC's ministry areas are collaborating on a huge Harry Potter celebration on the evening of Saturday, June 23 (7-9 p.m.). The family-friendly event will include games, activities, and snacks from the series, plus the opportunity to play quidditch and a chance to go view the final film together.
All the details are coming soon, but mark your calendar now and spread the word to your Potter-phile friends! |
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See photos from the CYF Mission Trip to Los Fresnos online
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UCC's high school youth and adult sponsors are headed back to Fort Worth tomorrow after a week working with Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries in the Rio Grande Valley. We've posted lots of photos from our week of work repairing and reroofing a house, along with plenty from our play time as well. Take a look at
www.cyfmissiontrip.org and "like" our page if you're a Facebook user.
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Like thinking about snow? Help plan the 2011 CYF Ski Retreat
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 From Ginger Alford, Youth Ministry Committee chair: It's the perfect time of year to anticipate this winter's UCC Youth Biennial Ski Retreat tentatively scheduled for Dec. 28 - Jan 1, returning in time for participation in the Boar's Head Festival. Youth in grades 9-12 are included and participation in Sunday youth programming will be required. Preliminary planning has just begun and a team is being formed to pull all the pieces together: researching travel and cost options, booking bus and lodging, preparing informational flyers, staffing sign-up tables, and coordinating payments options and working with Russ to lay out a detailed travel itinerary. If you can help, please send e-mail to alfordfamily@charter.net. If you want to go and will be in high school this fall, watch the UCC Youth E-News for September registration dates. |
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Think reminders are helpful? Sign up for UCC Youth text alerts!
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 Our youth ministry is excited to offer text alerts as a way to stay connected! Typical text alerts will include reminders for meetings and events, as well as time-sensitive announcements if an event is moved or canceled due to weather. After you sign up for alerts, you will automatically be added to the appropriate group (Chi Rho or CYF) as well as any events for which you register (camps, mission trips, retreats). That way you only receive texts that are relevant to YOU! Messages will go to parents AND youth to ensure everyone is on the same page, and we're committed to sending no more than two alerts per week to avoid straining your service plan.
Sound good? Here's how to sign up:
1. Send the following text message to 1-423-299-3299:
Join #UCCFTW YourFirstName YourLastName
(Example: join #UCCFTW Russ Boyd) 2. You will receive a confirmation text. Reply YES to the confirmation.
3. You're done! We'll add you to the relevant groups and events. |
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Youth events on the horizon..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 10-16 - Eighter's Camp at Disciples Crossing (8th grade, meet at 1:30 p.m.)
July 23 - All-church Harry Potter Party followed by movie screening
July 27 - Texas Rangers baseball game - meet at 5:45 p.m.
August 2 - Chi Rho outing to Burgers Lake - meet at 1 p.m.
August 5 - CYF trip to Granbury for movie at Brazos Drive-In - meet at 7:30 p.m.
August 12-14 - Back-to-School Retreat for incoming 6th-12th graders
August 21 - Promotion Sunday and Youth Ministry Orientation
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More ways to keep up...
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Staff Links~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Russ Boyd, Associate Minister for Youth - E-mail Russ
Herbert Murray, Assistant Minister for Chi Rho (grades 6-8) - E-mail Herb
Jessica Vacketta, Assistant Minister for CYF (grades 9-12) - E-mail Jessica
Sharyn Peterson, Ministry Assistant for Congregational Life - E-mail Sharyn
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