Youth Descipleship
Letter to Parents from
Beth McGuire
Parents,
Yesterday we held the first youth worship service for grades 1
through 12. Following worship we had a discussion about worship and
its importance in our lives. Attached are the bulletin and notes
from our worship discussion. (The discussion page was not
distributed to the youth.) We distributed the lyrics to the songs
we sang to the youth as they entered the room for worship.
Fifteen youth met in room 2 and sat in a semi-circle. We had a
communion table with the Christ Candle and the communion elements.
Abe Bauzo played his guitar and helped us along with the hymns. For
communion, we passed the bread around to each of the youth. One
held the bread while the person sitting next to him/her took a piece
of the bread. Melissa walked around the semi-circle with the cup.
Melissa led worship and I assisted.
From my perspective, it was a wonderful service. It was great to
see different age youth sitting together... interspersed. It was
really heartwarming to see a high school senior sitting with a 6
year old boy on either side of him, sharing the Hymn Supplement
and the bulletin. It was equally heartwarming to see another high
senior helping the 5 year old girl sitting next to him with the
bread during communion. The youth said they liked having worship
together. They showed an eagerness to continue having a youth
worship service as well as to participate in the service. There was
a lot of participation (all ages) during the discussion of worship.
Our next youth worship service will be Sunday, November 14
and the discussion will focus on prayer. We have asked the
youth to help with this and future worship services. Please take
some time between now and our next youth worship service to help
your child use his/her talents and spiritual gifts to make a
contribution to the youth worship service. Some suggestions are
listed below. Please submit items to me or Melissa for inclusion in
the bulletin and the worship service.
-
Songs:
These could be songs from Veggie Tales, contemporary worship
songs, etc. We will obtain the lyrics. We are building a youth
worship hymnal. It will contain some hymns from our Hymn
Supplement, the hymnal as well as contemporary worship songs the
youth find meaningful. Please feel free to send me the names of
songs your children like or sing along to for inclusion in the
youth hymnal.
-
Artwork:
We will need artwork for the cover of the youth worship bulletin
as well as the youth hymnal. This can be based on the
liturgical calendar, interpretation of a Bible story, something
that conveys what worship means to a particular
child/tween/teen, etc.
-
Musical Instruments:
Youth who play an instrument are encouraged to contact Melissa
or me to share their musical talents during worship.
-
Singing:
Perhaps your child has a nice voice and would be willing to sing
a solo or in a small group for one of the hymns one Sunday.
-
Prayers & Poems:
Youth of all ages are encouraged to write prayers or poems that
we can incorporate in the worship service or select poems and
prayers that are meaningful to them.
-
Liturgist:
Read the scripture reading during the service and/or lead
prayers.
-
Greeter:
We will need a youth to serve as greeter and to distribute
bulletins as the youth enter the room to worship.
-
Acolyte:
We need a youth to light the Christ Candle on the communion
table at the beginning of worship.
There will be an offering during the youth worship. It may be in
the form of money, non-perishable food items, toiletries and other
items that can be donated to a shelter, etc.
After the first of the year, we will invite parents and other adults
to attend/visit the youth worship service. We
need a little time to work out the logistics.
In the meantime, please pray with the youth and for the youth as
they learn and experience worship together. We hope they will
develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of worship.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me
or Melissa.
Have a blessed day,
Beth
Get Real Ministries for middle school and high school youth
throughout Hendricks County will resume when school is back in
session. Contact Kendra Mallory for details.
Watch/listen for more about youth events and activities for
2010-2011 in future issues of Church Chat, Minutes for Mission and
on the youth bulletin boards in the hallway.
Please feel free to contact Beth McGuire at 837-8666 or
beth688@sbcglobal.net
if
you have any questions or would like additional information.
Hospitality
Youth Discipleship
Ministry Team has been asked to host two lunches after
second service. The money from the free
will offering will be used for youth curriculum materials
and VBS. Please prayerfully consider helping when it is our
turn to host the lunch. There will be a sign-up sheet for
this soon.
Greeters
& Acolytes
We invite the
youth to greet and/or acolyte for the 10:30 a.m. service on
the second Sunday of each month from September through May.
This is a wonderful opportunity for the youth to serve in
their church. Sign-up sheets are posted on the youth
bulleting boards. The dates we are responsible for are:
Youth Programs & Children's Sermons