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 Weekly E-News October 18, 2013
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Dear youth and parents,
In a couple of weeks I will be submitting the final headcount for our high school ski retreat to Crested Butte, Colorado, and we have a great trip planned. I often get the question: "Why do a church ski trip? It seems like a lot of effort for a recreational activity!" That's true, but in my ministry I have found that it's worth it for two reasons.
1. It gives many youth an opportunity to experience God's creation in a way that they otherwise wouldn't. Some families ski regularly, but many do not. Skiing is expensive and difficult to arrange (especially in our area) - unless an organization like the church takes care of the arrangements, provides a discounted group rate, and (in our case) offers a lucrative fundraiser to earn money for the trip. Thanks to the church, youth can encounter the beauty and solitude found in a mountain glade - and consciously seek God's presence there.
2. Skiing provides a natural way for youth to connect with people outside their normal peer group. One of the biggest struggles in most youth groups is the tendency of youth to cluster into their pre-formed groups based on school, neighborhood, sports teams, etc. But on the ski slopes, those groups dissolve pretty rapidly as people realize that it's WAY more fun to ski or snowboard with people at the same ability level - who may or may not be their best friends. They spend three days traversing the mountain with people they didn't know that well before, and they come home with new connections in their church community.
I'm looking forward to both aspects of our ski retreat this year, and I hope that many of our high school youth are able to take advantage of this great opportunity. If you're interested, use the links in the article below to sign up and I'll see you on the slopes!
Read on for more information about a high school thrift shop outing, CYF Fall Retreat registration, the next TCU football parking fundraiser, and more.
Grace and Peace,
Russ |
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Sign up today for the CYF Ski Retreat to Colorado
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High school youth have the opportunity to explore the beauty of God's creation together on the CYF Ski Retreat to Crested Butte, Colorado. The trip will take place December 27-31, and includes transportation by charter bus, hotel lodging in nearby Gunnison, and three days of skiing, snowboarding, or sipping hot cocoa and enjoying the view. Cost is $650 for skiers/snowboarders and $400 for non-skiers. Click here to download a flyer that covers most of the trip details, and secure your spot on the trip by submitting a $100 deposit to Sharyn Peterson. (If you would prefer to use money from your TCU parking fundraising account, e-mail Sharyn at sharyn@uccftw.com to make those arrangements.)
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CYF lunch and thrift store outing - Sunday, October 27
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Many of our high school youth have expressed an interest in visiting local thrift stores to look for ski clothing for the upcoming ski retreat to Colorado. On Sunday, October 27 all interested high school youth are invited to grab lunch together after the 11:00 service, then visit a couple of local thrift stores to shop for ski clothes (or anything you like, really). Bring $5 to help cover lunch, plus whatever you would like to spend shopping. If you're planning to go, send your RSVP to Michael at michael.yandell@uccftw.com so we can recruit enough chaperones to drive. The group will return to the church by 3:30 p.m.
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Registration open for CYF Retreat 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 1-3, and the CYF Fall Retreat for grades 9-12 is November 22-24. 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 were due to the Youth Office by October 6 for Chi Rho, and forms for CYF are due by October 27. 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 for the CYF Retreat, contact Michael Yandell at michael.yandell@uccftw.com.
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Next TCU football parking fundraiser - October 26 vs. Texas
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Football season is here again, and youth and parents have the opportunity to raise money by parking cars in the church lots for TCU football games. Part of the money raised goes into youth and youth handbell choir reserve funds, and part goes into the individual accounts of those who work each game to use for camps, retreats, trips, and other church events. This year, each hour is worth $50 per family member who works.
The next TCU home game is Saturday, October 26 against Texas with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff. We will need volunteers in 1-2 hour shifts to control access to our season parking lots and direct cars/take money for the daily parking lots. (To ensure an even distribution of volunteers and fundraising income, please plan to work no more than 3 hours.) For this game, we need 10 people there at 2 p.m., another 8-10 between 3 and 5 p.m., and 3-4 people (at least 2 adults) who will get there at 5:00 and commit to stay until 30 minutes after kickoff. If you have additional questions about this fundraiser, please email Mike Morton at m_morton@sbcglobal.net.
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Pick a month and volunteer for Sunday morning bagel pick-up
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From Courtney Perry, Sunday Morning Snackage Coordinator:
 Hello all! We are in need of volunteers for Sunday morning snack pickups for our middle and high school youth. Thank you to those that have graciously volunteered for September, October, November, and December. This easy job, not requiring large amounts of time, entails picking up pre-ordered snacks from either Circle Donuts or Einstein's Bagels and dropping them off in the youth gathering room by 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings for one month. We currently need volunteers for each month from January through August. If you have questions or would like to sign up, please e-mail me at sundaysnackvolunteers@yahoo.com. Thank you!
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New calendar to invite the UCC Youth staff to your events
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Do you have a soccer game coming up? A school play? A band concert? A magic show? Let us know! The youth ministers love to come to these events when our schedules allow, and so do many of our youth ministry volunteers. If you have an event coming up and would like to invite youth staff and volunteers to attend, use the calendar on the white board outside Alison and Michael's office (Room 301 on the 3rd floor) to let us know! Just put your name, the event, time, and location, and one of us will follow up if we're able to make it.
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Make your 2014 stewardship pledge online today
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UCC's stewardship campaign for 2014 is underway, and this year's theme is "Gratefully Received, Generously Given." Please prayerfully consider your pledge commitment and respond by turning in your pledge card or pledge online here by October 31.
Youth: Do you have an allowance? A part-time job? Income from babysitting or mowing lawns? Consider making a pledge to support your church in 2014! Just click here and take a couple of minutes to make your own stewardship pledge.
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Youth events and key dates on the horizon...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 26 - Football parking fundraiser - TCU vs. Texas
October 27 - CYF lunch and ski gear thrift shopping - 12:30 p.m.
October 27 - Trunk-or Treat Event - Youth volunteers needed
November 1-3 - Chi Rho Fall Retreat at Disciples Crossing
November 10 - Youth Sunday at The Search
November 22-24 - CYF Fall Retreat at Disciples Crossing
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| Staff Links
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Russ Boyd, Associate Minister for Youth - E-mail Russ
Alison Nicoll, Assistant Minister for Middle School - E-mail Alison
Michael Yandell, Assistant Minister for High School - E-mail Michael
Sharyn Peterson, Ministry Assistant - E-mail Sharyn
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