Away on Continuing Education

Hi everyone,
I will be away on Continuing Education at the Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry (you can see a link here).  I will be away until after Mother's Day so am posting the next couple of weeks worth of ideas. 
Hope you enjoy them and I hope to return from the Forum on "Hope" with more good ideas and news to share!

God in Music

*With your youth:
"How will you find God in music?” is an idea for exploring how God speak to us through the music we listen to. See Tim’s idea at Playlist idea link. *If you use this idea you may want to be sensitive to and even have a discussion around artist copyrights instead of just burning the songs for everyone. Instead you could instead invite folks to view music videos on You Tube (be sure to preview first for content) or you could invite each youth to bring a favourite song (which you preview) and then compile a playlist from them which you could share with the group the next week. There are also some on-line playlist sites. Ask your youth for their suggestions on playlist sites.
Make sure that you include a selection of your own choice as well (appropriate for youth consumption) and be prepared to explain how God speaks to you through that selection.

* Just for You ~ An on-line Copyright Guide for Congregations produced by the United Church of Canada can be found at Copyright info link. It is most helpful anytime you use copyrighted materials whether they be visual (movies, videos, photos, art), audio (music, printed music), or written (books, articles, comics, etc.).

Christian Family Sunday/Mother's Day

*With your Youth:
Some discussion questions on the topic of family adapted from The Source For Youth Ministry (http://www.thesource4ym.com/) *please keep in mind that this idea comes from a site that does not necessarily reflect the theology of the United Church of Canada. You may have to adapt other articles as needed should you choose to use them.

1. Would you rather hang out with your family or your friends, AND WHY?

2. What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened on a family vacation?

3. What is the goofiest rule your parents have for you and/or your siblings?

4. Who thinks your parents punish them too much when you break the rules? What would you do differently if the roles were reversed and you were the parent?

~There is also an idea for a youth and mom (or grandma or aunt or other significant female) event called “Mother’s Day Mom-O-Rama”. I’ve put the link here Mom-O-Rama link. *please keep in mind that this idea comes from a site that does not necessarily reflect the theology of the United Church of Canada. You may have to adapt other articles as needed should you choose to use them. Under “I Love you Belly Much” it talks about having the males do this exercise with their moms but I don’t know why the females in your youth group couldn’t participate in the balloon bellies as well. I’d do the opposite of popping the balloons at the end of the activity and instead give a prize to the person(s) who still have there’s inflated [and maybe even in place!] at the end of the evening as a reward for taking such good care of their “little one”. One other activity I’d do is get the youth to tell you who they will be bringing along with them ahead of time. Contact their adult and get them to give you a baby or toddler photo of the youth. You could post them at the event or scan and put on power point and have everyone try and guess who each person is. A small group worship giving thanks for the family of God would be a great way to end off the event together.


* Just for You ~ Check out the article on Family Ministry as it pertains to youth and their leaders at Family Ministry link *please keep in mind that this idea comes from a site that does not necessarily reflect the theology of the United Church of Canada. You may have to adapt other articles as needed should you choose to use them.
There is also a Family Ministries page on the United Church of Canada website.  You can access it here at Family Ministries Page link.

Camping Sunday

* The final Sunday in April every year is designated “Camping Sunday” in the United Church. Do you have youth that attend or lead at camps? Come of your youth might volunteer to lead or take part in a Camping Sunday worship. For ideas see What is Camping Sunday About? worship link or Camping Services link.  You can also find helpful resources at the We Are Camp awareness campaign.

~Alternately you might consider taking your youth group on a weekend camping retreat together (see the Exploring Faith through Camping link) or help link them with a United Church summer camp in your area. You can find a directory of them here at United Church camps links . Camps are usually a youth program that is easier to garner adult volunteers to help as many adults have fond memories of their own camping experiences. Remember before incorporating any adult volunteers in your program to have them complete some form of screening. Information on this is available at Faithful Footsteps link and Duty of Care link.


* Just for You ~ If you’re really keen on camps read the United Church Camping Standards Handbook which can be found at this link Camping Standards Handbook link . The theological rationale found on page 7 is especially well put.