180° - A New Direction: Youth Ministry at WPC

Diverse, fun, and meaningful programs for students in grades 7-12. Here are the many pieces of the whole. Pick your pieces!

Our 180º Youth Program now has its own Blog!

2-for-1 Dinner Theatre
Sunday, Nov. 19, 5:30 p.m.
Click here to see dress rehearsal photos

Youth Choir

All youth in grades 7-12 are invited to be part of Westminster's Youth Choir. The choir sings a variety of music from traditional to contemporary, often with piano accompaniment but sometimes with other instruments as well. In the fall of 2006, the choir will have an active part in the dinner-theater production, "Two for One" (see below). During the choir season, the choir will sing at the 11:15 a.m. service on the first Sunday of most months and at two 9:00 a.m. services, one in the fall and one in the spring. The choir will also sing on Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday. Also, the choir has been invited to participate in a Youth Choir Festival in February and to give a benefit concert for Appalachia Service Project at Covenant Church in Springfield, Pennsylvania.

"2 FOR 1" Westminster's First Dinner-Theatre Production

On Sunday, November 19, 2006, at 5:30 p.m., the youth will present "2 for 1": two one-act plays with music celebrating our oneness in Christ. The first play, Body Parts, takes its lines from I Corinthians Chapter 12: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ." The second play, The Guest, places the audience in the home of a family gathered for Thanksgiving dinner. Present are the in-laws, the grandma, the crazy aunt, but who's the guy sitting on the sofa? Everyone has a theory but the whole family makes a humbling discovery. Auditions for "2 for 1" will be held Sunday, September 24 from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Invite your friends to be a part!

THE 9:45

For all high schoolers (grades 9-12), The 9:45 is a monthly breakfast gathering in our own café in Community Hall. We will meet for breakfast at 9:45 a.m. on the fourth Sunday of each month beginning October 22. Come out and enjoy fellowship and food!

Fabulous Fridays

Beginning in January, 2007, 7th and 8th Graders are invited to meet twice a month on Friday evenings. One of the Fridays each month will be set aside for Friendship First, a program hosted in homes that will be built around food and the concept of friendship. The other "fabulous" Friday of every month will be a fun, recreational activity. The recreational event or outing will be different each month, and parents will sign up to be drivers.

Congregational Events

Throughout the year, events are planned for the whole church family, such as the congregational picnic in September, the Harvest Festival in October, and All Church Caroling in December. These events are particularly meaningful because they are intergenerational, and they are considered an integral part of our total youth ministry at WPC.

Special Youth Events

Youth everywhere seem to like and look forward to events away from the church building. This year, we will take some trips and engage in some projects with a purpose. We will walk together in the AIDS Walk; we will support the Hanover Food Closet through our special Souper Bowl collection on Super Bowl Sunday; we will join youth from a lot of other churches in a 30 Hour Famine at Elam United Methodist Church; Sr. Highs will participate in a MIDNIGHT RUN: they will travel to New York City on a Saturday night to feed and clothe the homeless on the city streets. On Sunday morning, they will worship together in an inner-city church.

Retreats

In recent summers, the Junior High Youth have visited Massanetta Springs (Click here to see photos from 2006.) and the Senior High Youth has visited Montreat Center. Even more recently, in the fall of 2006, 20 teens and 6 adults spent a fun weekend at Camp Tockwogh. (Click here to see the photos.)

For questions or additional information, contact us by phone or e-mail; we would love to hear from you.

In Christ's peace,
Susan Moseley, Christian Educator
Mary Beth Davis, Director of Youth Music

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The Spirit of Youth Ministry
by Susan Moseley, Christian Education Support Leader

In early August, 2005, I participated in The Spirit of Youth Ministry National Conference in Hartford, Connecticut. Even before I registered, I felt a sense of urgency about attending that I just couldn't shake. It is now three weeks later, and I am still feeling the aftershocks of this powerful event, and feel compelled to share what I learned with you.

The Spirit of Youth Ministry Conference was the first venue for presenting the results of a four-year research project to study congregations across the United States that consistently establish faith as a vital factor in the lives of young people and to discover what accounts for their effective approach to ministry with youth.

At registration, I received a huge three-ring binder full of both the quantitative and qualitative research results. Too much information! However, as the leaders presented the data, their enthusiasm for what they had witnessed in the "exemplary" congregations was contagious. Here are a few of the most compelling insights from the research results.

Adult Education is critical. In order to have youth who seek spiritual growth and who engage their faith through study, questions, conversation, prayer, retreats, etc., it is necessary to have adult models, mentors, and leaders who are actively engaged in and committed to Christian Education.

Youth must be involved in the total life of the church. The more opportunities for young people to interact with adults of mature faith, the stronger the possibility that they will grow into mature faith. Also, teenagers must be equipped and encouraged to be leaders in the congregation, not just in Youth Fellowship.

Meaningful worship is central for effective youth ministry. Congregations with exemplary youth ministry practice the presence of God as individuals and community through prayer and worship. When we offer Sunday School and worship at the same time, we are diluting the importance of each.

Mess Matters! Youth Ministry is not a neat and tidy endeavor. Congregations with youth of vital faith seemed comfortable with chaos, and were willing to take risks, because they were keenly aware that they were participating in God's work which is bigger than any of our plans.

This is just a taste of 44 Congregational and Youth Ministry Assets that are descriptive of churches with effective youth ministry. However, the genius of these places seems best described as a "something bigger, something more, something almost mysterious." A culture seems to emerge that is more powerful than its component parts. It is the palpable and pervasive sense of the living, active presence of God at work.

If you would like to know more, please call me (654-5214, ext. 103) or visit the project website: www.exemplarym.net.