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 Weekly E-News November 8, 2013
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Dear youth and parents,
Alison and I are both out of town this weekend, returning on Sunday afternoon to help set up for Youth Sunday at The Search. Alison headed back to Iowa yesterday for an ordination interview with the Regional Committee on Ministry, an important step on her path toward ordination to Christian ministry after she graduates from Brite (most likely in 2015). Please keep Alison in your prayers as she meets with clergy from her home region who are tasked with both shepherding and challenging seminary students preparing for ordained ministry.
I am driving up to Oklahoma City today to keynote the fall CYF retreat for the Oklahoma Region. The event will bring together over 100 youth from Disciple congregations across the state for fellowship, prayer, worship, and mission work. Most of our gatherings will be hosted by First Christian Church, and an interesting aspect of the event is that in addition to three keynotes for the youth, I will also be preaching the Sunday service at First Christian and the retreat participants will join the congregation for worship. I also have a large chunk of downtime on Saturday, and have made arrangements to meet up with our students at a couple of colleges in the area for lunch and dinner. Should be a full weekend, and I'm thankful for the invitation to share keynotes and a sermon this weekend that will hopefully resonate with the youth and adult sponsors.
Read on for more information about Youth Sunday at The Search, Latte With The Ladies, a work day at Disciples Crossing, registration for the Disciples Class, and more.
Grace and Peace,
Russ |
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Youth lead worship at The Search this Sunday evening
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Youth in grades 6-12 will be leading The Search, our alternative worship service, this Sunday night, November 10 at 5 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Over the past week, many of our middle and high schoolers have been planning the service, preparing sermons, writing prayers, and creating prayer stations. This year's theme is "Same, Better, Worse?" and the service will focus on things that help (and hurt) both our spiritual and overall health. We hope you're able to join us in worship for this special service!
YOUTH: Remember to be present in Fellowship Hall at 3 p.m. (or as close to 3 p.m. as you can make it) to set up, decorate, and walk through the service.
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Latte With The Ladies this Saturday at Cafe Brazil
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Latte With The Ladies, a monthly intergenerational gathering for women at a local coffee shop, will be this Saturday, November 9. Ladies of all ages are invited to gather at Cafe Brazil (2880 W. Berry St.) between 9 and 11 a.m. for tasty beverages and informal conversation. Invite a friend and drop in this Saturday morning!
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Volunteer for a Disciples Crossing work day - November 16
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On Saturday, November 16 you're invited to participate in a workday at Disciples Crossing, our church camp in Athens. The group will gather in the UCC parking lot at 7 a.m. to depart, and will return around 6 p.m. Lunch will be provided by Disciples Crossing. To sign up (or ask questions) contact Jessica Vacketta at jessica@uccftw.com by November 13 so transportation, food, and site duties can be finalized.
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Quick poll for middle school parents on sexuality courses
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Parents of 6th-8th graders:
We are finalizing the dates for our "Just Say Know" sexuality education courses for youth and children this winter. We have two sets of dates that we could schedule the middle school workshops, and we need your feedback. Please click here and take just a minute to let us know which set of dates (January 19 & 26 or February 16 & 23) works best for your family. Thanks!
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Disciples Class prepares youth for baptism or confirmation
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Youth in grades 6-12 interested in learning more about baptism/confirmation and church membership are encouraged to participate in this year's Disciples Class. The 12-week course provides a helpful introduction to what it means to confess your faith, join the church, be baptized or confirmed, take communion, share your gifts, and more! This year's class will take place on Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m. beginning with an orientation on January 12. Click here for more information on the class, or click here to register online. The registration deadline for this year's class is December 15.
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Sign up online for Sunday morning bagel/donut 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. Click here to visit the sign-up page and select a month to volunteer. Thank you!
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Youth events and key dates on the horizon...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 10 - Youth Sunday at The Search - 5 p.m.
November 16 - Work day at Disciples Crossing - meet at 7 a.m.
November 22-24 - CYF Fall Retreat at Disciples Crossing
November 30 - Football parking fundraiser - TCU vs. Baylor
December 1 - Hanging of the Greens service led by youth - 6 p.m.
December 27-31 - CYF Ski Retreat to Crested Butte, Colorado
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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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