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Come Join us for a Hayride!
What: Fall Harvest Festival and Hayride
Hotdogs, marshmallows, cider pumpkins
Bring a treat to share and marshmallow sticks
When: Sunday, October 22, 4-6 PM
Where: Markin Glenn Park, 5333 N. Westnedge
Exit east from Westnedge. Look for the shelter by the tennis courts.
How Much: $5.00/car park entrance fee
Small group family discussions are taking place with those who have youth in middle school and high school to help one another reflect on the assets we have as a congregation to use in our youth ministry offerings and out of all those assets which are needed and wanted - and who will help facilitate those programs. Parents and youth are involved in these conversations.
Beginning on October 29, high school youth are invited to meet on Sunday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 in the upper floor rooms that overlook the back parking lot. Both the youth room (with couches and chairs) and the game room (foosball, pool, juke box, ping pong, etc.) will be located there until the lower level renovation has been completed. Until the south entrance (from the parking lot) is completed, enter at the north stairs/elevator entrance (Bronson Park side).
Middle school youth are invited to gather for pizza and pop at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays in the temporary child care/choir lounge beneath the Sanctuary. After eats, we have activities (movies, etc.) and discussions about faith and life. Come and bring a friend. When the upper level of our church house is available, this group will meet in the youth room and game room on the south end (overlooking the parking lot).
Some of our high school youth and adult leaders were in Denver recently to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of PeaceJam. Nobel Peace Laureates who work with PeaceJam, including Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, were there and spent time with hundreds of youth from all over the country, helping them learn to become peacemakers in their communities and the world. Watch for announcements about this year's PeaceJam group of church youth.
Youth and Westminster choirs have begun the fall season with regular weekly rehearsals. Youth Choir (grades 4-8) meets on Wednesday afternoons from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and sing once or twice a month at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday worship service. Westminster Choir (grades 9-12) meets on Sundays after the 10:30 a.m. worship service and sings once or twice a month at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday worship service. Please join us!
Hey Youth!! Please fill out this survey and return it to Kenny Sparks. We'll use this to start some new small groups at the church!
The Spring Break Mission Trip
The spring break mission trip resulted in a variety of experiences. Helping the churches of Toronto with ministries to homeless folks, struggling youth, and food pantries were some of the highlights of the trip in which nine of our youths and four adults traveled by leased van to Toronto in seven hours and set up our sleeping bag "home" in St. Stephen-in-the Field, a historic Anglican church that is no longer "in the fields" but along a busy city street, complete with trolley tracks and a trolley running on it!
During the course of the week, we worked at several sites where the churches of Toronto have missions for the homeless, hungry, and lonely to find sanctuary. We attended several Anglican worship services, including one at Trinity College, where we each were garbed in an academic gown for the occasion (notice the great pictures)!
Knox Presbyterian Church happened to be the location of a program called “Out of the Cold” that several downtown churches take
turns hosting. It was a four-hour dinner and recreation events for youths aged seventeen through twenty-five, who were either “on the street” or living in sparse circumstances. We helped serve dinner and sorted clothes and food for the food pantry that would be available to those young people before they left. Basketball, bowling (yes, a church with bowling
alleys!), and other recreational events were available for the young people.
We got up at 3:30 one morning to get to St. Barnabas church to prepare breakfast for a number of homeless folks who start coming in
the door at 6:00 a.m. We participated in a worship service before returning to St. Stephen’s for a nap! All Saints Church, one that had obviously had
a large congregation before the neighborhood became increasingly poor and run-down, was the site for an all-day project of doing numerous
tasks to help with their drop-in ministry. The church had removed its pews and now had tables, chairs, a television, library, and other amenities and served lunch to a good number of neighborhood as well as homeless people. It was somewhat like our “Ministry with Community” drop-in/lunch program.
A Blue Jay’s baseball game, a trip to the CN Tower, a visit to the city’s museums, and some free time to shop and hang out at a nearby Starbucks provided the contrast in our experience of Toronto.
Pictures
Updated 10/17/2006
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