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 create a community of passionate, dedicated youth leaders empowering them to develop strong youth ministries, which love, serve and grow in Christ.

 

 

  NEW ORLEANS INFORMATION

NEED INFORMATION ON THE NEW ORLEANS GATHERING?  GO TO THE ELCA WEBSITE AT WWW.ELCA.ORG AND CLICK ON GATHERING.  ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED WILL BE ON THE WEBSITE.  IF YOU ARE STILL CONFUSED OUR SYNOD COORDINATOR FOR THE GATHERING IS DARLENE WAUGH, AT MESSIAH, FAIRVIEW PARK.  HER EMAIL ADDRESS IS: dwaugh@messiahfp.org. 

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

THE JUNIOR HIGH GATHERING DATE HAS BEEN SET FOR OUR SYNOD  ON NOVEMBER 6-8, 2009.  THE JUNIOR HIGH MINISTRY TEAM IS WORKING VERY HARD ON PLANNING THIS WEEKEND.  IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING PLEASE EMAIL TIM OR NATALIE HAGGETT AT: nhaggett@gmail.com

THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON DECEMBER 7, 2008.  LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED.  PLEASE COME AND HELP PLAN THIS NEW MINISTRY OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR YOUTH.

 

FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR YOUTH:PART 2

 In our continuing discussion on providing a safe haven for  the children and youth in our church, I have been doing some research for all of you.  Hopefully it will help your move forward in providing a safe environment for the children and youth of your church. 

 

History of the Movement:

    In 1992, the Church Council of the ELCA adopted "An ElCA Strategy for Responding to Sexual Abuse in the Church."  The goals of this strategy are to provide education and training on sexual abuse with the hope of preventing this in our churches. 

 

To Implant a Program in your Church:

•   Educate your volunteers and clergy on what sexual abuse is especially where it relates to children and youth. 
• Call your local YMCA and see if you can piggyback onto one of their child abuse training programs. 
•  Go to the www.elca.org and go into youth and family ministry.  Then do a search of safe haven for children.  On that website if you look on the top of the page they have suggestions where you can go for help in setting up a safe haven for children.  The site www.elca.org/legal/congregations/safeguarding.html has resources which you can use in doing child abuse training.  If you go to "Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Within Youth-Serving Organizations:Getting Started on Policies and Procedures" by the Dept. of Health and Human Services you can download how to set up policies and procedures in your church.   
•  Contact your local Dept. of Health and Human Services and see if they can do a child abuse program for you.  They occasionally have these programs for childcare providers.  What you learn in these can be used for teenagers, too.  
• This may be a wonderful way to meet fellow youth leaders in surrounding churches by going together and having a program for all children and youth volunteers and clergy. 

      BACKGROUND CHECKS:

   If you decide to do background checks you need to decide: 

• Are you going to do the BCI or the FBI or a combo of the two? A combination of the two is the most comprehensive type of background check.  
• How are you going to educate and inform your volunteers about background checks and why the policy is in place? 
• How will your church pay the fees for the background checks?  Will each individual be responsible for paying the fee or will the church put the fees in their budget?

1. Contact your local police/sheriff department and ask if they can do background checks for you. 
2. Go to the www.elca.org and again go into the youth and family ministry section.  Under safe haven for children on the home page is the following website, www.elca.org/safeplace .  On this website is a sidebar for resources and under that is a number of organizations that have agreed to do background checks for the ELCA. 
3. Ask around your church, there may be someone who is in the background business or has contacts that can help you in this process.

  The task be seem daunting to start, but is it not worth your peace of mind to implemnt a safe haven for your children and youth?  Any further questions can be directed to the NEOS Synod Office or you can contact our subcommittee via our blog site at https://service.thrivent.com/cpsblog/blog/youthandfamily/.

 

MISSION MINUTES

    So how many of you were able to take a mission trip this past summer?  Many of us try to go on mission trips during our off years for the triannual youth gathering.  Many of us would like to go on a mission trip but aren't to sure how to put it together.  Pastor Ann Paynter from Grace, Wadsworth and Pastor Britt Vickstrom from St Stephen Martyr, Canton both went on Mission trips this summer with their youth.  Following is a little synopsis of their trips and how they went about finding somewhere to go.

 

Pastor Ann's Trip:

Pastor Ann has gone through the Texas-Louisianan Synod three times in finding a project for her youth.  Her contact person was Pastor Robin McCullough Bade for the trips.  This year they went to New Orleans and helped to build a deck and a staircase so that a 2nd story apartment could be made available for use.  They began with twenty people from 14-70 years of age but unfortunately by the time the trip took place only five ended up going due to illness and the rising cost of air fare.  Pastor Ann always sees worth in these mission trips.  It brings home to everyone involved the common humamity of us all and the awesome power that is in all of us to do a lot of service.

Pastor Britt's Trip:

Pastor Britt took 8 youth from St Stephen Martyr, 1 from Bethel Lutheran and one from the Chapel in Green to Philadelphia.  She found out about the trip from YouthWorks (www.youthworks.com).  While in Philadelphia they worked with the Salvation Army, St. Vincent De Paul and Trevor's Place, which is an emergency and transitional home for homeless mothers and children.  Her crew really worked hard under very hot conditions, with no air conditioning breaks available, but it had a profound impact on all of the youth.  

When it comes to planning a mission trip both Pastor Ann and Pastor Britt say there are many avenues you can take to see where help is needed.  Habitat for Humanity has many different locations where you can go and help build a house.  Pastor Ann says just calling around to different synods in the country and asking where you can help is a good resource for planning a trip.  Pastor Britt has worked with YouthWorks many times and says that it is a wonderful organization with great trip ideas.  Lastly, you can go to the ELCA Churchwide website and go under Service and Adventure to find many worthwhile and fun excursions for your youth.

Romans 12:13 

"Share with God's people who are in need." 

                       

 

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

Bruce Breslin, of St Jacob Lutheran in Massillon, reminded all of us at the last youth sumcommittee meeting how wonderful it is to empower our youth and work with them to think outside the box.  His last youth led worship service started out looking like every other service that happens every Sunday throughout the year.  His youth looked at the bulletin and started planning their service to match what is always done. 

That's when Bruce took matters into his own hands, tore up their service plans and told them to let their spirits soar and to think "outside the box". 

"Do something different" he told them.  "Make the service your own."

What evolved Bruce said was not only different but it really showed the youth of his church that even at their age they can make a difference in their church just like Timothy did in days of old.  Age shouldn't be a deciding factor in the work of our churches.  All thoughts and differences should be accepted especially when it comes to the spiritual growth of our youth.  Let them make a difference and be different just like Bruce and his pastor did.  You may find, just as they did, that "thinking outside the box" is sometimes a welcome change for both your congregations and your youth and what a way to grow their souls and their feeling of usefulness within the church!!! Here! Here!

FOR ALL CHURCHES IN SUMMIT AND STARK COUNTY

Have we got a program for you and it's free to boot.  The program is possible through a grant with Akron Children's Hosptial and is called, "Respect. Dating Violence Prevention".  The program is in many of your area high schools with student embassadors working within the schools to help the program along.

St Jacobs's in Massillon recently had the group come out for two nights to their church.  The first night was for youth and parents and dealt with youth and the Internet.  They talked about cyber bullying and predators on the web and how to keep safe when using the computer.  They also informed parents  how to tell if their youth were cyber bullies and how to stop the process. 

The second night was just with the church youth and their youth leaders and was a media presentation.  This night is strictly PG13.  They talked to the youth about how our culture directs what it means to be a man or woman in our society and the unhealthy cultural norms that we must protect ourselves against.  This night was bibical based , though in the school setting it is not.  They also have other program offerings, including date violence preventation and hurting others or being hurt yourself.

The program is very interested in working with area churches and their youth.  During the school year since they work so much with area schools and there are now only two on staff their time is somewhat limited.  Summer months are open for them and they would love to come out to your church. So keep them in mind and make plans now to have them out to your church.   This is definitely a worthwhile program to look into.  Hopefully soon they will be available in Cuyahoga Co.   You can contact the program through Melissa McClain at (330)543-8404 or mmcclain@chmca.org.  Melissa does mostly Summit Co. but she can direct those in Stark Co. to the Stark Co. representative. 

 

 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.

 

 

Karen Kaufman alerted us to a new curriculum resource that you can reach online called, "The Thoughtful Christian". It's website address is www.thethoughtfulchristian.com.   There is a cost for the downloads from $5 for one session through $18 for a four-session unit.  If you want to do unlimited sessions for a whole year the cost is a little dear at $350.  This resource has been out there for quite a while for adults but just recently has gotten into youth curriculum.  Examples of some topics found on the website for youth are: 

•       What does the Lord Require? 
•       XBox Ethics: Is it all Just a Game?
•       Consumerism: If I had a million bucks I'd?" 

  

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. 

 

  

 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

http://www.elcaymnet.org

 

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)

Britt Vickstrom, Associate Pastor, (britt_ssmartyr@sbcglobal.net)

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)

Devon O'Brien and Judy Peach, Webmasters