Ashton UMC Youth Ministry: June 2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Breakfast Club Week One

This morning was the kickoff for this summer's breakfast club. We gave the new IHOP off 29 a try. Chelsey had the Strawberry Serenade, Bobby had the pancake platter and Paige and David both went with the all-chocolate option - chocolate chip pancakes washed down with chocolate milk.

Here's some video of four people enjoying breakfast:

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Michael's backflip

Vacation Bible School was lots of fun this last week. At the VBS party Friday night, Bobby captured this video of Michael doing a backflip off one of the picnic tables on the playground.

2007 Summer Schedule

Hey guys-

Below is the schedule for this summer. I'm looking forward to seeing you at
these events.

June
27 Hang Time (Snacks, games, Bible study) 6-8 PM, Youth Room

July
4 Independence Day – No Hang Time
11 Hang Time 6-8 PM, Youth Room
16-21 Mission Trip To Philadelphia
18 No Hang Time
25 Party at The Beatty’s. Party begins at 6PM.

August
1 Hang Time 6-8 PM, Youth Room
8 Hang Time 6-8 PM, Youth Room
15 Hang Time 6-8 PM, Youth Room

BIG WEEK 2007 is August 20-25
20 Messy Olympic Games 6-9 PM at the church
21 Work at SHARE Warehouse in Hyattsville. Meet at church at 10AM. Bring a sack lunch. Back at church at 3PM.
22 Mini-Golf and Batting Cages at Rocky Gorge. Golf is $6/round. Batting Cages are 18 pitches/$1. Meet at church at 6PM. Back at church at 9PM.
23 Cookie Delivery to Mission Trip Donors. Meet at church at 6PM. Back at church at 9PM.
24 Pool Party at The Lloyd’s. Party begins at 6PM.
25-26 Lock-In featuring: dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger, cosmic bowling, movies at the church. Cost: $22. Meet at church at 6PM. Pickup after 11AM worship service on Sunday.

Every Sunday all summer long – Bible study 9:30AM Grades 6-12 in the Youth Room

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Hang Time Starts This Wednesday!

Join us this Wednesday night from 6-8PM for the first week of Hang Time, our summer midweek event. There'll be snacks, games and we'll practice putting a wire through an inflated balloon without popping it and learn what that has to do with God. See you there!

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Date Change for Lock-In

Hey guys-

Our beginning of the summer lock-in, scheduled for
Saturday June 23rd, has become an end of the summer
lock-in. It's now scheduled for Saturday, August 25th,
as the finale of BIG WEEK 2007, a week
long-extravaganza of fun events and mission projects.
So save the week of August 20-25 and stay tuned for
more details.

Youth Group Sunday Night!

Hey guys-

Come join us for youth goup this Sunday night from
6-8PM. We'll have dinner, play some games, create
clouds indoors and talk about how God guides us. See
you there!

Mission Trip Registration Closed

Hey guys-

Just a note to let you know that registration for our
mission trip in July to Philadelphia is now closed.

Friday, June 1, 2007

No Youth Group Sunday, Next Youth Group June 6th

Hey guys-

We won't meet Sunday, but we will be together this
Wednesday night the 6th from 6-8PM for an evening of
dinner, games and burning snack foods.

Cool Music by People I Know Who Are Christians - Click on album name to listen.

Please Don't Make Us Sing This Song: Songs From The Voice Volume 1 You've never heard a worship CD like this. Why is it that the Bible has lines like: "Blessed are they who splatter your babies' brains against a rock." (Psalm 137:8 and 9 - check it out) but almost all worship music is "Happy happy joy joy," written in a major key? Part of a larger, really cool project by Chris Seay, a friend from Texas, this CD samples the whole emotional range of the Psalms, from mourning and cursing to tears-of-joy praise. And it doesn't SOUND like every other Nashville worship CD - a little reggae, a little the-pots-and-pans-in-my kitchen.
Fuel and I Cannot Ignore by Dropknee My friend Jordan Fowler's band. The link is to his blog, because I can't find the CDs online. Jordan's the worship pastor at NorthWood Church in Keller, northeast of Fort Worth, where I spent a year training to be a church planter. Dropknee is my second favorite worship band, and Leonard Sweet likes them better than U2 and says Jordan works a room better than Bono. Their sound is alt-rock, kind of Vertical Horizon.
Songs For A Revolution Of Hope, Vol. I Some songs by my former pastor, Brian McLaren, and some others including my friend Nuc Vega, his wife April and his brother Posido, who make music together as Harp 46. By clicking the link, you can download them for 89 cents each. My favorites are "Let's Confess," a great rap about the sin spiral, and "With Kindness" which we used to sing (in a much plainer arrangement) as a benediction at Cedar Ridge.

Books For Parents - Click on title to browse

Parent To Parent: Raising Kids In Washington A phenomenal resource from the Parents Council Of Washington, a consortium of DC-area private schools. In addition to excellent, readable chapters on all aspects of adolescent development by experts at NIH, it has great chapters on DC-specific parenting challenges like Beach Week.
A Tribe Apart: A Journey Into The Heart Of American Adolescence A year with high school students in Fairfax County. Both this book and "Not Much Just Chillin'" are recommended for parents interested in the emotional terrain of adolescence in the DC suburbs now.
Not Much, Just Chillin': The Hidden Lives Of Middle Schoolers A look at the lives of students over the course of a year at Wilde Lake Middle School in Howard County.

God In The Movies - Warning: Not made by Billy Graham or Disney, these films all say true things.

The Last American Virgin Comedy. Poorly acted by people who are not still in the biz 25 years later, but with a great 80s soundtrack. This film and Cameron Crowe's classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Both came out in 1982 and both are based on the writer/director's real experiences.) are powerful depictions of the awful and lasting emotional cost of teenage sexual acting-out. Parents who want their teens to defer sexual activity until after marriage should watch and discuss this movie with their students.
The Big Kahuna Comedy. Danny Devito, Kevin Spacey. This is possibly the best movie ever about how people who wouldn't say they're Christians have deep thoughts about God and why sadly they don't often share those thoughts with the self-identified Christians they know.
Say Anything Comedy. John Cusack, Ione Skye, Joan Cusack, John Mahoney (Frazier Crane's dad). Written and directed by Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire). A classic film about older adolescents launching into adulthood and their families. John Cusack's response to the question: "What career are you interested in?" is beautiful.
Little Miss Sunshine REALLY dark comedy. Steve Carrell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin. A movie about children and adolescents that is not FOR either. Past the grandpa who shoots heroin and the fact that the nicest person in the movie is a gay literature professor recovering from a suicide attempt, this movie says some profound stuff about families. This film's great truth: when words fail, touch connects us with those we love.
Dogma Comedy. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl), Alan Rickman (Snape in Harry Potter), Chris Rock. Writer/director/actor (Silent Bob) Kevin Smith is a devout but very unconventional Catholic. Unconventional means George Carlin as a Cardinal trying to get people to come back to church by inventing Buddy Christ, and Allanis Morisette as God. Definitely offensive but not blasphemous, the film is a great, faith-filled examination of the limitations of literalist religion and the way church people try to remake God in order to please prospective church members.

Ashton UMC Youth Ministry