The New Year - a youth group idea

The New Year is all about reflecting on the past year and deciding what changes you want to make in your life and what actions you are truly proud of. Why not do your reflections by making a time capsule. Do it with your youth group, your family, your church family, your friends - whoever you want!  Decorate a mason jar with a group photo and have each member of your group drop in an artifacts like a photograph, a movie stub, a note of their thoughts, and then on the following New Year's Eve, go through the time capsule to talk about the year you all shared together.

This might be a project you start at the beginning of the year, leaving the jar out and have have people add to it throughout the year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!   GOD BLESS!

"Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth,

nor can prayer alone give an understanding of Truth;

but prayer, coupled with a fervent habitual desire to know

and do the will of God, will bring us into all Truth."

-Mary Baker Eddy

Any communication with the divine is prayer.  Prayer isn't reserved for churchgoers, devout people, ministers and monks.  Prayer isn't limited to words, churches or religious objects.  Prayer is a relationship that everyone has with the mystery we know as God.  Prayer is a basic human activity.

Prayer often begins as a longing in the heart, a longing for connection, a longing to make contact with a power greater than ourselves.  Other times prayer begins as a desperate need for help, peace, strength or comfort.  Other times prayer begins as a deep hope for others - to stop suffering, for the earth's healing, for care of the poor.  Sometimes prayer begins in fear - we reach out for something that will let us know that we will be okay. 

I find it natural to call out to God in the difficult times and to give praise and thanks it times of celebration.  It is those in between, everyday times where I need to make prayer a daily practise in my life.  If I don't make it a daily ritual, I run the risk of it becoming forgotten in my busy schedule.

Praying takes many forms: from highly structured words, to movement, to a silent listening.  Christian prayer may  be physical (lifting up your arms, kneeling...); prayer may be listening (noticing the words, images, feelings that God gives you); prayer may be action (helping a friend); or prayer may be just being (siting and enjoying God's presence in the world).  I encourage you all to explore different prayer forms until you find the one that works for you. 

Find your own prayer:

When do you feel most alive and open to God?  Is it when you are walking, writing, being with friends, singing?

Next time you engage in an activity you enjoy, as God to be with you.

See what it's like to do this activity as a prayer, noticing God with you as you write, play, sing, etc.

How do you feel when you share something you love with God?  How could this activity become a regular time of prayer?

"The great thing is prayer.  Prayer itself.

If you want a life of prayer, the way to get it is by praying...

You start where you are and you deepen what you already have."

-Thomas Merton.

Sources:

Way to Live, ed. Bass & Richter

I'd Say Yes, God, if I knew what You wanted, Reeves.

Merry Christmas!

This quote crossed my path today ... "Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to [people]. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope.… It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope."

As we move from Advent to Christmas, may we carry that hope with us.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Foodgrains Bank trip to Nicaragua

Have you ever wanted to travel internationally and see some of the projects our church supports?  Here's a great opportunity for United Church youth and young adults.  Partial funding support is available, coordinated by the Partners In Mission Unit in our nation church office.  Let me know if you are interested.

-Peace, Nancy. 

Dear Members of the CFGB Communicators Group,

I am writing to you to let you know of the upcoming Youth Study Tour to Nicaragua in May for young adults (ages 18-25). The tour is open to any young adult who wishes to participate, though we particularly encourage young adults who are connected to our member organizations to apply.

While in Nicaragua we will visit some projects and also learn about the larger context in which the projects operate. We will explore various issues dealing with food, farming and agricultural production in Nicaragua. There will also be a homestay (2-3 nights) and a chance to meet with Nicaraguan youth. Ultimately,  I hope that the participants will come back inspired to start/continue working for a more just world through Foodgrains Bank and its members. The website states that the cost is $3,000 but there are a few possibilities to help lower the cost per participant.

All pertinent information can be found on our website: http://www.foodgrainsbank.ca/upcoming_food_study_tours.aspx.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this trip!

Regards,

Roberta Gramlich
Youth Engagement Coordinator
Canadian Foodgrains Bank
1-800-665-0377
204-926-4245

foodgrainsbank.ca <http://www.foodgrainsbank.ca/> fastforchange.ca <http://www.fastforchange.ca/> Join the Food Justice Network <http://www.foodgrainsbank.ca/food_justice_network.aspx>

<http://www.facebook.com/canadianfoodgrainsbank>

Quote of the Week

"No one is too young for God to speak to or to use." - Patty R.

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. - 1 Timothy 4:12

Go to General Council 2012!!

The applications for General Council 41 participants and volunteers is up on the GC41 website: http://www.gc41.ca/

Youth Forum Delegates

Each presbytery/district is invited to name one delegate, aged 15–20, to Youth Forum. Youth Forum delegates have the opportunity to share their gifts and insights with the General Council, while growing in their own community.

Youth Forum delegates are not voting members of the General Council, and participate in the Youth Forum agenda, which will include some time spent within the General Council meeting and time spent as a Youth Forum community.

The role of Youth Forum delegate will appeal to youth who want to connect with a national group of youth, and to explore the identity and connectivity of the United Church through creativity and meaningful interactions with the Ottawa community.

YOUTH APPLICATIONS ARE DUE TO THE PRESBYTERY BY FEBRURY 1, 2012!

December Events

The SWELL:
A worship experience for everyone.  Put four hundred worshippers together in a sanctuary with a live band pumping out rock and hip-hop, synchronised with pulsing lights, images, and videos on two twelve foot screens and you’ve got what Tex Sample calls the spectacle of worship. Or, to the young people in London Conference, you’ve got “The Swell”.  This worship is open to all ages. 
Dec. 17th, 2011
Wesley-Knox United Church, London, ON
6:00 pm: video games on the big screen
7:00 pm: Worship begins

Ice Skating:
A chance to be together and to laugh at Nancy as she tries to skate!  It is free, you just need to bring your own skates (they don't rent them).  Open to both Junior and Senior Youth Groups.  Please contact Nancy to let her know you are coming info@kenesserie.com.
Dec 18th, 2011
Ridgetown Arena (next to the Tim Hortons).
1:30-2:30 pm.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Kent Presbytery Youth Blog!

I hope that this will be a place where you can come to find out about upcoming events, inspirational quotes, resources for leaders and so forth.

Leave a comment and let me know what you would like to see here.

Peace,
Nancy (your friendly Kent Presbytery Youth Ministry Director).