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 Weekly E-news
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Dear youth and parents,
On Tuesday I will be traveling to Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California for the second conference related to our church's participation in the Sticky Faith Cohort sponsored by the Fuller Youth Institute. I'm thrilled that I will again be joined by Senior Minister Larry Thomas, Director of Children's Ministries Kera Watts, and Chair of the Board of Stewards Steve Midgley (who also happens to be an awesome Sunday school teacher for the 6th-7th grade boys). If you've read about the Sticky Faith initiative, you know that it's not just something that involves the youth ministry - it's a whole church effort. Larry, Kera, and Steve all understand that, and it makes a huge difference when these key leaders are fully on board as we think about how our church can help young people develop a faith that sticks after graduation. I'll look forward to sharing details with you about our experiences on the trip after we return next Thursday.
Read on for information about fall youth retreats, Youth Sunday at The Search, a luncheon with Mayor Betsy Price, and more!
Grace and Peace,
Russ
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Register now for fall youth retreats at Disciples Crossing
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Our youth have the opportunity to join others from Disciple churches around the area for two upcoming fall retreats at Disciples Crossing, our church camp in Athens. The Chi Rho Fall Retreat for grades 6-8 will be November 2-4, and the CYF Fall Retreat for grades 9-12 is November 9-11. These annual retreats offer youth the opportunity to grow closer to God and one another through worship, recreation, prayer, small groups, and interest groups that include options like sports, dance, art, service, photography, and more.
Participants will meet at UCC at 5:30 p.m. on the Friday each retreat begins to share a charter bus to camp, and will return around 12:30 p.m. the following Sunday. The cost for each retreat is $90 and full or half scholarships are available upon request. Registration forms are due to the Youth Office by October 15 for Chi Rho and October 21 for CYF. You can download a form by clicking here.
Parents: We will need adult chaperones to attend these retreats as well. If you're interested in serving as an adult sponsor, contact Herb Murray at herb@uccftw.com for the Chi Rho Retreat and Jessica Vacketta at jessica@uccftw.com for the CYF Retreat . |
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Youth Sunday at The Search - October 7 at 5 p.m.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~ Youth in grades 6-12 will be leading The Search, our alternative worship service, on Sunday night, October 7 at 5 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. This Sunday night at youth groups our middle and high schoolers will be planning the service, prepare sermons, write prayers, and create prayer stations. The year's theme will be "We Are Family" and the service will focus on what it means for church to be a family. We hope you're able to join us in worship for this special service!
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Next youth football parking fundraiser - October 6 vs. Iowa St.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~ From Mike Morton, football parking coordinator:
The next football parking fundraiser is Saturday, October 6 against Iowa State, but we wanted to give you a heads-up - WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS! This effort is a major source of funds for the youth ministry and the primary source of funds for the youth handbell program. This helps improve the overall quality of these programs and helps reduce the cost of these activities for ALL youth.
We realize that everyone is very busy these days. This past Saturday, we had fewer volunteers than I remember in the last 10 years, which resulted in some situations that were far from ideal because we were severely understaffed.
While every volunteer earns funds that can be used toward the cost of retreats, mission trips, handbell choir tour, and other youth activities, the majority of what is raised goes to help fund both UCC's youth ministry and youth handbell program. Our hope was that we could limit volunteers to two hours each week and have more people earn funds to help with the net cost of youth activities. However, we have had 5-6 people work 4+ hours each of the first two games out of necessity.
The game against Iowa State is October 6 with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff. We need volunteers in the following shifts:
10 a.m. - 3 people (min. 2 adults) for 2-hour shift for TCU band and early customers
10:30 - 7 more people (min. 3 adults) for a 2-hour shift at the reserved lots
11:30 - 8-10 people for a 2-hour shift
12:30 - 4-6 people for remaining band parking and finish cash lots
1:00 - 4 people (2 must be adults) for a 2-hour shift at the reserved lots
If you're available for any of these shifts, show up at UCC and sign in at the table in the small north parking lot (by the playground and dumpster). If you have additional questions about this fundraiser, please email me at m_morton@sbcglobal.net .
For a detailed explanation of how our football parking fundraiser works, click here. |
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Youth invited to join Mayor Price for Fit Worth on October 14
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~ The UCC Parish Nurses are excited to host Mayor Betsy Price and several guests for a luncheon on Sunday, October 14 in Room 207 at 12:15 p.m. to discuss how faith communities can support the new Fit Worth initiative. Youth are invited to come learn how to help our community fight the upward obesity trend by using educational tools to make healthier choices related to diet and exercise. Contact Carole Widmann at 817.964.1659 to make a reservation. Click here for more inforation on the Fit Worth initiative. |
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Youth events and key dates on the horizon...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 6 - Football parking fundraiser - Iowa State vs. TCU
October 7 - Youth Sunday at The Search - 5 p.m.
October 14 - Fit Worth Initiative luncheon - 12:15 p.m. in Room 207
October 21 - CROP Walk for hunger relief - 1:30 p.m. at TCU October 28 - Trunk-or-Treat - youth volunteers needed - 6 p.m.
November 2-4 - Chi Rho Fall Retreat (grades 6-8) at Disciples Crossing
November 9-11 - CYF Fall Retreat (grades 9-12) at Disciples Crossing |
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More ways to keep up...
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 | UCC Youth
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 - E-mail Sharyn
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