This web page is sponsored by the Northeastern Ohio Synod ELCA Youth Subcommittee. This site gives access to resources, web links, blog site and various other tools that will envigorate youth and family ministry.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
To train, equip, and grow a community of passionate, dedicated youth leaders and to empower them to be able to develop strong youth ministries, which love, serve and grow in Christ.
SO WHO'S YOUR NEIGHBOR?
Who is the youthleader in the ELCA church down the road? Have you talked to them, bounced ideas off of them, had your youth groups get together for social and spirital get togethers? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then we have the solution. In the last couple of months our committee has diligently been trying to get contact information for all of the churches in our synod. The task has been daunting, to say the least, but we are up to the challenge with your help. When our committee members call for contact information for your youth groups please give them as up- to- date information as you can. This will help in the forming of network groups and conference get togethers. If you would like to send your information to us, go to youthrocker@gmail.com and we will make sure it gets onto our list. Any questions can be directed to, Judy Peach, at (330)273-1773 or to our email .
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES:
Remember Youth Specialties, The Core, will be in Cleveland on Saturday May 3. The topic this year is called, "Generation Change" and is for youthworkers and teen leaders. Registration can be done through their website www.youthspecialties.com/theCORE or by calling 888-346-4179 Customer Care. Connect with other youth groups in your area, make it a day and have some fun!!!
Mark your calendars for the ELCA YMNET Etravaganza for next year in New Orleans. The dates will be January 28-February 1. This would be a great chance to get to know the city and do some networking before the next National Gathering to be held in New Orleans in the summer of 2009.
YouthWorkers Resources
It is very hard sometimes to find just the right program for our youth groups. Some of us have been lucky and have found curriculum that really clicks. Some are still looking. Below are some popular websites for curriculum.
Augsburg Fortress is a popular source for all of us ELCA Lutherans. For those leaders who are not of the Lutheran persuasion or those who are new to the faith this is the place to go for good ELCA Lutheran basedcurriculum. Their website is www.augsburgfortress.org.
Our own Karen Kaufman, head of the Synod Resource Center, is also a good place to go for curriculum ideas. She can be reached at the Synod office, 330-929-902, or via email at kkaufman@neos.elca.org.
Least we forget, the ELCA website at http://www.elca.org, also has curriculum suggestions on top of ideas for starting youth groups and keeping them going.
For those of you who know the Lutheran faith forwards and backwards and feel comfortable with resourses from other publishing houses, there are two good resource networks out there. The first is Youth Specialties, which has curriculum for Junior and Senior High, plus games and self help books for us leaders. Furthermore, if you get on their email list they periodically send free downloads of curriculum and other activities to try. Their website is http://www.youthspecialties.com.
Group Publishing is another place to go for a lot of choices in curriculum and for books dealing with Youth Ministry. The books are especially helpful for those of us who are new to Youth Ministry and are finding that the youth groups of today are quite different from the ones we knew and loved. Their website is http://www.youthministry.com.
Group Magazine is also a great periodical resource to get. It has alot of ideas for Worship, Sunday School, Youth Groups, and a whole lot more. You can sign up for this via credit card at 1-800-447-1070, or through the website listed above.
These are just a few of the many places we can go to find curriculum ideas for our youth groups and Sunday School classes. I am sure there are many more out there and many more good ones that some of us are using now. That's why we need to network, to share all of this valuable information. If you have curriculum ideas to share go to youthrocker@gmail.com and let us know.
Let Your Opinions and Needs Be Heard!
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We are still trying to get as many surverys as possible from youth leaders and pastors in our snyod. So far we have only gotten about 20 back. Please take a moment and fill out a survey for us. Copies can be found in the February Unified Mailing or by connecting to the link below. This will help our committee in meeting your needs and the needs of our youth. To do the survey on line access the link, fill the survey in, save it to your computer, and email as an attachment to: youthrocker@gmail.com.
PROUD MOMENTS
DURING THE COURSE OF MY MANY YEARS IN YOUTH MINISTRY, THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES WHEN I'VE TRULY BEEN SO PROUD OF THE YOUTH IN MY GROUP THAT I JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE TO PUT MYSELF. TIMES WHEN THEY HAVE SHOWN LOVE AND COMPASSION TO THOSE IN NEED. WHERE THEY HAVE TRULY GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF THEM AND HAD A WONDERFUL TIME SHOWING GOD'S LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE TO OTHERS. TIMES WHEN THEY WERE HAVING SO MUCH FUN WITH EACH OTHER AND BEING SO ACCEPTING OF EACH OTHER THAT I COULD DO NOTHING BUT SMILE AND THANK GOD FOR THIS SPECIAL MOMENT. I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT HERE AND HAVE FELT THIS WAY MANY TIMES. WE NEED TO SHARE THESE MOMENTS WITH EACH OTHER AND THE YOUTH IN OUR GROUPS. HOLD THEM UP NOT AS EXAMPLES BUT AS CHILDREN OF GOD WHO WE ARE PROUD OF AND WHO WE WANT TO SHARE WITH OTHERS WITHIN OUR SYNOD. I MAY NOT GET TO KNOW YOUR KATIE OR YOUR TREVOR, PERSONALLY, BUT I CAN SHARE YOUR JOY IN THE MOMENT WITH YOU AND WITH THEM.
IF YOU WANT TO SHARE THESE MOMENTS WITH THE REST OF US YOU MAY SEND THEM TO THE SYNOD OFFICE, ATTN: YOUTH SUBCOMMITTEE, OR EMAIL US AT YOUTHROCKER@GMAIL.COM. IF YOU HAVE A PICTURE SEND THAT ALONG TOO. WE WILL POST YOUR MOMENT ON THE WEB SO THAT WE CAN ALL ENJOY YOUR MOMENT AND IN THE PROCESS GET TO KNOW YOUR YOUTH!!!
get to know your youth
As we all know, today's youth are plugged in, turned on, and moving so fast that it is hard to keep up with them. Their lives are so different from our youth. In our youth we'd talk to our friends at school, do a phone call or two at night, and then sign off until the next day. These kids are plugged into their friends continually via their phones, by texting, on the computer, and maybe occasionally face to face. It's hard to get to know them when many times we can't even get them all together! So we need to make sure that our time together with them is truly a time of getting to know each other and learning to like and lean on each other.
With this in mind there are two books that you may be interested in. For those of us who are not the greatest conversationalists in the world or are still trying to connect with our youth the books , What if....? or 450 unfinished sentences, may be a help. Both of these books go from the serious to the funny and are a great way to get your youth talking with you and each other.
Examples: What if you stopped blaming others and took responsibility for your life?
What if you could protest against only one issue?
What if you could relive one day of your life?
I frequently daydream about......
One characteristic I received from my parents that I wish I could change is.....
The best way to eat an Oreo cookie is.......
Both of these books can be ordered through Youth Specialities or can be found at some of the local Christian Bookstores.
Our blog site is at https://service.thrivent.com/cpsblog/blog/youthandfamily/, and yes it is still lonely. This could be the start of a wonderful relationship for all of us involved in our synod's youth and family ministry. The blog is the first of many ways we will be developing to communicate, share and learn from each other. After all, we are all in the trenches together so let's lean on each other and grow our youth ministries together. Check out our blog page today. P.S. don't like the topic but have something you need to discuss, feel free to write it down and ask the rest of us for input.
Great Links
ELCA Youth Ministry Resources: These are great information sheets provided by the ELCA which address a wide variety of topics helpful to all those working in the area of youth ministry.
http://www.elca.org/youth/helpsheets/
Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO)
http://www.neos-elca.org/lyo/lyo.htm
Elca YouthMinistry Network
In a Quandary??? Need a Solution???
Submit a question or predicament for our blog discussion to YouthRocker@gmail.com.
NEOS ELCA Youth Subcommittee Members
Judy Peach, Youth Subcommittee Chairperson, ( YouthRocker@gmail.com)
Pastor Ann Paynter, Pastoral Advisor, (grace1@wadsnet.com)
Tim Haggett, Junior High Ministry Director (nhaggett@gmail.com)
Bruce Breslin, Youth Director St. Jacob Massillon, (bmabres@sssnet.com)
Julie Pressnell, Director of Youth & Family Ministry, Zion Lutheran, Valley City
(mandjpres@ncwcom.com)
Mary Ann Sima, LYO Adult Advisor (maryasima@aol.com)
Britt Vickstrom, Youth Pastor (britt_ssmartyr@sbcglobal.net)
Devon O'Brien, Webmaster