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Dear Fourth Church Youth Volunteers,
I'm writing on July 5, mere days after both our Detroit and Cuba mission trips ended. Both of these trips were unqualified successes. Our students met people who are appreciably different from them, in places that were not familiar, while doing strenuous physical and mental work. I believe they experienced the accompaniment of God and the embrace of the church, too.
Both of these trips benefited from terrific leadership teams. In Cuba, Stephen Hauser, Gretchen Wahl, and Luke Beasley accompanied our students in building new relationships with their Cuban peers. In Detroit, Ned Morley, Josie Phelps, Julie Cook, Marianne Berger, Greg Kershner, and Lisa Stracks did it all: driving, preparing meals, pulling weeds--you name it, they did it.
Trips and retreats are an increasingly important part of twenty-first-century ministry with youth, and they are unique opportunities for adults and adolescents to build Christian community together. Next year's events calendar has at least ten trips or retreats on it (and I can't guarantee there won't be one or more added). If you've been on twenty of these or none, or if you are a weekly youth volunteer or not, I hope you will consider helping to lead a trip. You won't regret it.
Speaking of that calendar, we've been tweaking it since I first shared it with you in June. We added a new weekend retreat in February called "Our Whole Lives" that will focus on sexuality and relationships. We also added six "Leader Lunches" during the year. These will be informal gatherings of all youth volunteers to provide time for community building and feedback.
Look at the calendar here
. Another minor change or two may emerge in July, but by August the calendar will be locked down. Official-like.
One last thing. After a yearlong experiment with moving Confirmation to 10:00 a.m. on Sundays and inviting eighth-graders to stay for Junior High Sunday School at 11:00 a.m., I am persuaded that spreading our Sunday morning youth programs over these two hours works less well for volunteers and parents than when they were all at 11:00 a.m. So, come September, the Sunday morning youth schedule will be
- Youth Choir at 10:00 a.m.
- All-youth bagel fellowship at 10:30 a.m.
- Junior and Senior High Sunday School and Confirmation at 11:00 a.m.
May the remainder of the summer fill you with joy and delight. You deserve it.
Yours,
Rocky
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Fourth Presbyterian Church
126 E. Chestnut St., Chicago, IL 60611
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