180º MOVING FORWARD:
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:

Click here to download a PDF Permission Form
for the Confirmation Retreat

Youth Calendar: 2007-2008

FALL RETREAT: Camp Tockwogh in Maryland September 22 & 23
You must sign up by September 16 to attend.

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 with varied instrumental accompaniments.  This fall the choir will have an active part in the dinner theater production “Meet Me at Luigi’s” (see below).  During the choir season, the choir will sing at the 11:15 service on the second Sunday of each month.  They will occasionally sing at the 9am service and 5:30 Feast of Praise service. 

FALL DINNER THEATRE PRODUCTION:  “MEET ME AT LUIGI’S”
After the success of “2 for 1” last fall, our Dinner Theatre productions are now an annual event.  On Sunday, November 18, we will present “Meet Me at Luigi’s,” an interactive dinner theatre with six scenes.  Set in an Italian restaurant overflowing with tourists, the play offers many opportunities for all to be involved in some way.  Auditions for “Meet Me at Luigi’s” will be held Sunday, September 16 following Reverend Miller’s Installation service.  Pizza will be  served at 5:30 with auditions following from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.  Invite your friends to be a part!                      
                    
FABULOUS FRIDAYS (7th and 8th Graders)
Begun in January of this year, Fabulous Fridays are FABULOUS and will continue this program year.  Beginning in October, 7th and 8th Graders are invited to meet once a month on the second Friday for a unique program built around food and friendships: Friendship First!  These meetings will be hosted in the homes of our youth from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.!  In January of 2008, Fabulous Fridays will meet twice a month.  One of the Fridays will be set aside for Friendship First, and the other “fabulous” Friday will be a fun, recreational activity.  The recreational event or outing will be different each month, and parents will sign up to be drivers.  Parents are invited to sign up to host the event or be drivers at the Orientation Meeting on September 9.  

CONGREGATIONAL EVENTS
Throughout the year, events are planned for the whole church family, such as the AIDS WALK in September, the Drum Circle in October, the Advent Workshop in November and All Church Caroling in December.  These events are particularly meaningful because they are intergenerational, and they will be considered an integral part of our total youth ministry at WPC.

ALUMNI CHOIR
A Westminster tradition for all high school and college-age singers, the Alumni Choir leads Christmas Eve worship at 10:00 p.m.  Rehearsals will be:
Thursday, December 20, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 22, 11:00 – 12 noon
Complimentary lunch at Grotto’s following rehearsal
Sunday, December 23, 12:15 – 1:15 p.m.      

SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY      www.souperbowl.org
On February 3, Super Bowl Sunday, we will collect $1.00 donations from our congregation following 9:00 and 11:15 worship.  With very enthusiastic and efficient youth volunteers, we raised over $900.00 last year for the Hanover Food Closet.   Volunteers are needed to stand at key exit points to collect donations at both worship services. 

30-HOUR FAMINE: February 22 and 23
The Famine is an international student movement with over a million young people participating each year!  We participated last year and had a great time!  We will participate in the famine with other area youth groups (grades 7 -12) at Elam United Methodist Church in Glen Mills, PA.

MIDNIGHT RUN:  April 5 and 6 (Tenative)                                  
Students in grades 10 – 12 will participate again in 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. 

NEW!!!!  SERVICE FIRST SATURDAYS: Beginning Saturday, October 6
On the first Saturday of each month, join Reverend Miller at Saturday Morning Breakfast at West Presbyterian Church.  Help is needed to serve breakfast to Wilmington’s homeless population.  You are needed between 7:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.  Come at anytime and help as long as you can!  This program would count toward community service hours and parents are welcome!

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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.

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Jr. & Sr. High Youth