Friday, April 28, 2006

‘EXPLORING YOUR CALL’ EVENT FOR YOUTH IS SPONSORED BY BETHANY SEMINARY

An “Exploring Your Call” event for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors is scheduled for June 23-27 at Shepherd’s Spring Outdoor Ministry Center in Sharpsburg, Md., sponsored by Bethany Theological Seminary.

“Do you...want to grow closer to God? Wonder what God has in store for you? Think about sharing your gifts and talents with the church and the world? Then Exploring Your Call is for you!” said an announcement of the event. “Exploring Your Call” is designed to help youth think about God’s calling, consider how to use their gifts, learn how to make life choices in relation to their faith, and make connections with other youth who are hearing God’s call.

The event is free to the youth who are accepted, with their only expense being travel cost to and from the event. Youth may register via e-mail by sending name, address, telephone number and alternate number, e-mail address, best times to be contacted, age on June 22, and “one question you have about God, about life, or about your future” to Jen Sanders, Exploring Your Call program director, at EYC@bethanyseminary.edu.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

NCC General Assembly Seeks Stewards
An Experience in Ecumenical Formation for Young Adults

The National Council of Churches (NCC) is seeking young adults ages 18-30 to serve in its Stewards Program during the Nov. 7-9, 2006, General Assembly of the NCC and Church World Service in Orlando, Fla. The program provides young adults with a unique experience of ecumenical formation, as they serve to help make the assembly happen through volunteer assignments in hospitality, registration, platform assistance, technology, the assembly office, and the newsroom. Stewards must arrive in Orlando for orientation on Nov. 5 and depart Nov. 10. Expenses except personal expenses will be covered by the assembly, through special donations from supporters. Deadline for applications is Aug. 1. Go to http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/2006stewardsapplication.pdf.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Updates! Less than 90 Days until NYC starts!
  • Registration is at a whopping 3571!
  • Superchick is performing on Sunday night!
  • The last day to sign up for Service Projects is May 1! If you want to participate and have not already expressed an interest on your registration, log back in and sign up!
  • There are three Youth Speech Contest Winners: Allen Bowers, Jaime Frye, and Chrissy Sollenberger. Congratulations!
  • There are currently 845 participants registered for the 5K Walk/Run. That means that there are 3 times as many people signed up to go hiking in the Rockies than there are signed up to walk to turn hunger around! It is not too late to sign up! You can log back into your registration account online and sign up today! The National Youth Cabinet is hoping that EVERYONE will participate!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Winners of National Youth Conference Speech Contest are announced.

The National Youth Cabinet has announced the three winners of the 2006 National Youth Conference (NYC) Youth Speech Contest: Allen Bowers, Jamie Frye, and Chrissy Sollenberger. All three youth will deliver their speeches during the Monday morning worship celebration at NYC, on July 24 in Fort Collins, Colo.

Allen Bowers was born and raised in Woodstock, Va. He was baptized on Aug. 8, 1996, and will be 17 in May. He attends Antioch Church of the Brethren in Woodstock, Va., and is president of the congregation's youth group. Bowers has spoken at numerous churches in the past few years.

Jamie Frye lives in McPherson, Kan., where she is a member of Monitor Church of the Brethren. Next fall she will be a high school sophomore. She likes to participate in service projects, including a workcamp in Honduras with New Community Project and a Brethren Disaster Response project in Mississippi.

Chrissy Sollenberger is from Annville, Pa., and attends Mount Wilson Church of the Brethren in Lebanon, Pa. She is a high school junior and editor of the school newspaper. Sollenberger was the grand prize winner of "Messenger" magazine's 2005 youth essay contest.

For more information about National Youth Conference, including full biographies of the speakers, visit www.nyc2006.org.

Source: 4/12/2006 Newsline
Counter-recruitment calls are scheduled for late April.

On Earth Peace has scheduled networking calls for those working on countering military recruitment for April 20 and 26.

"For those who haven't participated previously, the call is a great place to share what's been happening in your encounters with recruiters or work with youth around issues of militarism," said Matt Guynn, coordinator of peace witness for On Earth Peace. "We usually have eight to twelve participants from all around the country--California to Nebraska to Michigan to Maryland. Each gets a chance to share and request input or counsel. Whether or not you are currently active, it's a good place to hear how different groups are approaching the situation and get a little boost."

The calls will be offered on Thursday, April 20, at 7:30-9 p.m. eastern time, and on Wednesday, April 26, at 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. eastern time. Respond to mattguynn@earthlink.net. If responding, please indicate any specific focus or question for conversation.

source: 4/12/2006 Newsline
School Kits to be Collected for NYC Sunday Offering

NYC and Church World Service are teaming up to collect Gift of the Heart School Kits as an offering during the Sunday evening worship celebration. The school kits collected will give children in impoverished schools, refugee camps, or other difficult settings some of the basic tools needed for learning. Each donation must include exactly the materials listed below and will also require $2 to cover processing/shipping. Each kit should be packed in the cloth bag that is included in the list of supplies.
  • One pair of blunt scissors
  • Pads or notebooks of ruled paper 8-1/2" X 11", containing 140-200 sheets of paper. No filler paper, please.
  • One 30-centimeter ruler (12")
  • One pencil sharpener
  • Six new pencils with erasers
  • One large eraser
  • Twelve sheets colored construction paper
  • One box of 24 crayons
  • One 12" x 14" finished size, cloth bag with cloth handles and a closure (Velcro, snap, or button)
For more information, please visit the NYC website: www.nyc2006.org
Young Adult Conference: May 26-28

Just a friendly reminder that Young Adult Conference is coming up, May 26-28 at Camp Swatara in Bethel, PA. Registration goes up from $80 to $100 May 1, so be sure to get your registration in before May 1!

Speakers for the weekend include:
  • Hannah Serfling
  • Marlys Hershberger
  • Bob Etzweiler
  • Craig Smith
Worship Coordinators include:
  • Walt Wiltscheck
  • Becky Ullom
  • Wendy Matheny
And Seth Hendricks will be providing music leadership.

To get information on the theme, as well as online registration, visit the YAC website at http://www.brethren.org/genbd/yya/yac.htm. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to give a call at 800-323-8039 x.286 or an e-mail at etyler_gb@brethren.org.