Education & Enrichment
for Youth

Confirmation 2009-2010
Bible and the Mission of God
Our theme this year is “Bible and the Mission of God.” Throughout the year, we’ll be studying the bible and every week asking ourselves the question, “What mission is God calling us to through this bible verse?” Our lessons for study each week will be from the lectionary text for that week, and our primary document for connecting Wednesday confirmation lessons with at home Bible study will be the Taking Faith Home resource published in the bulletin each week.

Students:
Confirmation is an awesome time in your life. It’s your chance to learn about the faith you were baptized into, and affirm (celebrate) that faith. We do everything we can to make sure that confirmation is an adventure, and that it helps you make friends, and feel closer to God and meet Jesus. Here are the list of expectations we have of you to ensure that confirmation is an exciting and enriching experience:
• Participate in Wednesday worship with your
   family (6-6:45pm)
• Go deeper with your small groups and at the
   closing large group gathering (6:45-8)
• Attend Sunday morning confirmation every other
   Sunday for Service Learning Projects
• Daily bible reading, prayer, and activities (use the
   weekly Taking Faith Home hand-out from the
   bulletin as your family guide, or the Faith Five
   structure as a devotional practice)
• Acolyte and Wednesday ushering
• Servant events (held periodically throughout
   the year)
• Potential events this year include: box car loading
   in October, November thanksgiving food drive,
   December caroling, January shoveling, serving a
   meal at Lutheran campus ministry in February,
   putting together college care packages in
   September, making banners for the worship space
   in march & April, visiting, Easter breakfast in April,
   and May church spring cleaning.
• Rainbow Trail Lutheran Bible Camp Backpacking,
    Whitewater rafting, and climbing
• Spend time with your parents (and listen to them)

Parents:
The most important call that God gives to parents is their call to model, teach, and participate in the faith life of their children (Proverbs 22, Deuteronomy 4:10, 2 John 1:4). If your children have been baptized and/or if you desire lives of faith in your children, you as parents and we as a Christian community have entered into that exciting promise to them. Your children learn most from what you role model. They watch what your do. Here are a list of hopes I have for how you will participate in confirmation this next year.

• Attend Wednesday or Sunday worship with your
   child
• Home huddles (a great way to grow together –
   use Taking Faith Home as the basis for your
   prayers, bible reading, and activities)
• Personal bible study and prayer (your child will
   learn more by watching you read the bible than
   they ever will hearing pastors and other leaders
   talk about it; you might even consider
   participating in an adult small group bible study
   yourself.
• Service together (as people of faith, we are called
   to work for justice and peace in the world; is there
   some way your family is called to serve the
   neighbor together?)
• Assist as parent helper/small group leader or
   sub/special event coordinator
• Spend time with your child
• Spending time with family was listed as the
   number one thing that makes young people
   happy, followed by spending time with friends.
• 73% said their relationship with their parents
   make them happy.
• When asked about heroes, half mentioned one of
   their parents.
• Nearly half say religion and spirituality are very
   important to their happiness.

The FAITH 5
Faith Acts In The Home
Care to have some fun, keep your family communicating every night, and grow in your understanding of yourself and God? Try this simple five-step process for the next six weeks and see if it doesn’t help!

Here’s how you do it: Whoever is going to bed first in your home calls “FAITH 5” or “Huddle Up!” Everyone must drop what they’re doing, turn off the television, put down the newspaper or their homework, set the cell phone on silence and gather in a room of the convener’s choice. Then take turns going through these five simple steps:

1. SHARE highs & lows of the day
2. READ and highlight a verse of Scripture in your Bible
3. TALK about how the verse relates to your highs & lows
4. PRAY for your highs & lows, for your family,
    and for the world
5. BLESS one another

You want a great relationship with your kids? You want openness, honesty, caring and sharing in your family? You want to raise a child to be a strong, thoughtful, empathet-ic, positive, healthy adult out in the world some day? You can’t buy that. You have to invest in it. And the investment is the most expensive currency you own–your TIME–aimed at that most precious young person in your life.

Kids spell love TIME. Be intentional. Be consistent. Be caring. Be the parent. Every night. Every home.

No one else can do that for you.

Four Questions
1. For parents of Young Children: What would it be worth  
    to you to have a teenager some day who won’t go to
    sleep without talking to you about their day? Praying
    with you? Blessing you? Would it be worth five minutes?
    Tonight? Every night?

2. For Parents of Pre-Teens: What would happen to your
    family over time if you were able to deep this open,
    caring communication going every night throughout
    adolescence?

3. For Parents of Teenagers: Once the teen years begin
    and drivers’ licenses come into play, communication
    between parents and teens can become a challenge.
    How might this type of five-minute conversation change
    a family if they were intentional and consistent about it?
    Would the benefits outweigh the hassle of trying to
    invest this time of care, listening, and prayer each
    night in your home? Why or why not?

4. For Church Leaders: What would happen to a family
    over time if they made an intentional point of doing the
    Faith 5 most every night? What would happen to your
    church five years from today it the majority of your
    household were doing active listening, scripture, faith
    talk, prayer, and blessings every night?


ELCA Youth Gathering: New Orleans
July 21-27, 2009
Eight youth & three adults traveled to New Orleans for the ELCA National Youth Gathering: Jesus. Justice. Jazz.

Based on Philippians 2:1-8, the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering looked and felt like a servant school. At the center of the Gathering program was a deepening of our awareness of God’s call to servanthood, and a deepening of the basic Christian practices by which we live our baptismal calling to servanthood throughout life.

Programming for the Gathering followed a gospel-centered service learning model that includes preparation, action, reflection, and celebration.

The gathering in New Orleans had over 37,000 young Lutheran youth and adults -- all children of God called to serve with compassion, energy, and excitement!


The ELCA Youth Gathering website is:
www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Ministry/Youth-Ministry/Youth-Gathering.aspx