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 Weekly E-News July 11, 2014
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Dear youth and parents,
I returned home from the CYF Mission Trip late Sunday night, and I've been in recovery mode all week. We had an amazing journey where we learned, worked, and played together on the Yakama Reservation, the mountains of Washington, the coast of Oregon, and downtown Portland. Click here to see pictures from our trip, and be sure to ask one of the participants about it. I guarantee you they will have some great stories to share!  I also wanted to let you know that I will be leaving on Monday for Annual Training with my Army Reserve unit, the 176th Medical Brigade. As the Brigade Chaplain I will be providing religious support to the brigade staff and supervising chaplains in Combat Support Hospitals and other medical units during a simulation involving thousands of service members at Fort Hunter Liggett, California. I will return on July 31 and look forward to sharing about my experience. My guess is that I will have fairly limited communications during the exercise, so be sure to contact Susan Henry, Alison Nicoll, or Michael Yandell (contact info at the bottom of this e-mail) if you need to reach the youth ministry staff during my absence.
Read on for more information about Sunday school sabbath month, a UCC outing to a Fort Worth Cats game, a CYF Whirlyball outing, summer fellowship events, and more.
Grace and Peace,
Russ |
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High school outing to play Whirlyball tonight
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Youth in grades 9-12 will take a trip to Hurst tonight to play Whirlyball, an exciting game that combines basketball, lacrosse, and bumper cars. The group will meet at 7 p.m. to carpool to the facility for two hours of play, and should return to the church by 10:30 p.m. This is one of the most popular youth outings each year, and a great opportunity to invite a friend.
NOTE: We need to confirm how many players we have so that we can ensure there are enough seats. To RSVP or to volunteer as a driver, contact Michael Yandell at michael.yandell@uccftw.com. Want to learn more about what the heck whirlyball is? Go to whirlyballmidcities.com to learn more!
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Chi Rho heading to Main Event this Wednesday - RSVP now!
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We want your feedback on Sunday night programming!
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UCC's youth and children's ministries are looking at different options for our Sunday evening programs. Some of the changes under consideration are:
- Moving up the start time for group meetings
- Dinner after group meetings end
- No dinner at all or dinner once a month
- Adult/parent study parallel to youth/children's programs
We have created a short survey to gather feedback from parents, volunteers, and participants, and your input will be crucial in helping the staff put together the Sunday evening program for this year. Click here to take the survey, and please share this survey with others so that we can get as much feedback as possible!
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Sunday school sabbath month continues this Sunday
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Sunday school classes for youth and children will continue a month-long break this Sunday. (Preschool childcare is still available all morning each Sunday.) This Sunday School Sabbath is intended to provide a period of rest and renewal for teachers, participants, and families at UCC, and allows time to do some things you may not normally do on Sunday mornings. What can you do with that hour each Sunday morning? Here are some ideas:
- Enjoy breakfast from Fuzzy's in between services in Room 207
- Sleep in and take your time getting ready for 11:00 worship.
- Go to the 9:00 service, then go out for brunch with family or friends.
- Invite a friend to worship and show them around the building.
- Grab a couple of seats in one of the many conversation spaces throughout the building and catch up with someone you haven't talked to in a while.
However you choose to spend this time of rest and renewal from our usual programming, we hope it's a life-giving and rejuvenating time.
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Latte With The Ladies at Buon Giorno Coffee tomorrow
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Latte With The Ladies, a monthly intergenerational gathering for women at a local coffee shop, will be this Saturday, July 12. Ladies of all ages are invited to gather at Buon Giorno Coffee (915 Florence 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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UCC Youth summer fellowship events - join the fun!
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UCC's youth ministry is sponsoring a number of fun fellowship events this summer, so be sure to mark your calendars. Here's what's coming up:
Chi Rho (completed grades 6-8)
July 16: Outing to Main Event - 1 p.m.
July 30: Swim day at Forest Park Pool - 7 p.m.
August 13: Texas Rangers game - 6 p.m.
CYF (completed grades 9-12)
July 11: Outing to play Whirlyball - 7 p.m.
July 30: Outdoor movie night in Sundance Plaza - 8:00 p.m.
August 13: Texas Rangers game - 6 p.m.
Watch the e-news each week for details on these events and we'll look forward to seeing you for some summer fun!
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Youth events and key dates on the horizon...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 6-12 - Eighter's Camp at Disciples Crossing in Athens
July 7-12 - Chi Rho Camp at Disciples Crossing in Athens
July 11 - CYF outing to play Whirlyball - meet at 7 p.m.
July 13 - Summer Sabbath continues (no Sunday school until August)
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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
Brenda Mapel, Summer Youth Ministry Intern - E-mail Brenda
Kirstin Meyers, Summer Youth Ministry Intern - E-mail Kirstin
Susan Henry, Ministry Assistant - E-mail Susan
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