Mondaymail… on Tuesday! 5/27/08 May 27, 2008

Good morning!

Tuesday is the new Monday, at least after 3-day weekends. I hope you all had marvelous Memorial Day weekends and that barbecue scorching was kept to a minimum.

1. Life in the youth department has come to its semesterly close, using the last evening activities to talk about having the inner self and the outer actions line up. I could have quoted Chesterton but instead just used pop culture, adding in some of Fr. Johnston’s comments on holiness from that day’s sermon since there isn’t currently any Sunday school to link the “big church” and youth curriculum. Talking about hypocrisy in ourselves and the necessity of working to correct places in our lives (even if we fall and fall again) might be a nice complement to our talk.
2. I hate to say it, but we have even more staff changes afoot in the youth department. I’ll start with the happy: Tiffany Luxon has joined us as our new administrative assistant! She is going to be our wonder in the office, helping me smooth out and sail along the adventures of forms, finances and the postal system. Secondly, my compadre in ministry, our senior high youth leader Nick Strobel, will be leaving us between the end of June and mid-July as he has accepted a wonderful position in South Carolina. We’ve been lucky lucky lucky to have him but wish him well as he goes forward!
3. Back to happy news: Our consultants are back in town and ready to have fun with us! Please come join us for an excellent talk with Mark DeVries, youth guru extraordinaire, on Wednesday, May 28^th, which is TOMORROW, at 7 pm in the Memorial Chapel. Light desserts will be served by our fabulous caterer Patrice. I am personally very excited about this opportunity and hope to see you there!
4. This weekend there will be no EYC or Chi Rho, but the summer series starts again with Chi Rho on Wednesday, June 4^th, at the Bilbo residence located at 4611 Royal. The fun will begin at 5:30 followed by a movie at Northpark. I need volunteers for drivers, so please let me know if you can fill in there!
5. Nick and I are starting up a more in-depth Bible study which will also begin next week on Tuesday, June 3^rd, in the EYC room. We’ll be covering Ephesians. This is a chance for youth who are rising sophomores upwards as well as any adults who might be interested to really dig into the scriptures and work on a more Bible-based learning than topical.
6. If you haven’t gotten your forms or money in for the mission trips, that’s A-okay, but the sooner the better to help out our financial office!

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all!

In His Grip,

Bev

Mondaymail 05/19/08 May 19, 2008

Good Morning one and all!

 

So, I did break my arm at broomball. Amazing. I now have a shiny grey sling but no cast. I will not be letting people sign my arm, especially having seen this week what Madi can do with a sharp permanent marker! My office has in fact dried out from that freak water balloon accident.

 

Down to business, though, as there is much on my plate!

 

For starters, this Sunday was a good mix of fun and serious. As we are keying down for the summer, we spent our last Sunday school of the year with EYC and chi rho working on how to do personal Bible study, using the lectionary texts as examples. We did a round each of lectio divina, a meditative method of reading the scriptures, and inductive Bible study. I’ve attached a form on lectio divina, which is a meditation/prayer practice that starts from scripture. Inductive Bible study is more structured and works through more of the nitty gritty of each passage, using the progression from observation, interpretation and application—what are the mere facts of the passage, what do they mean in context, and how does this affect my life today. lectio divina sheet

 

In Chi Rho and EYC during the evening, we explored that flipside of Bible study, prayer, and the various ways we can pray—either through writing or drawing, using icons and candles, the prayer book, praying with friends, drawing in the sand, etc.

 

When chatting with your youth, it would be a great time to share what you do to study the Bible and remain in prayer on a constant/consistent basis.

 

Next week is our last Chi Rho and EYC of the school year, and there will be NO Sunday school, which concluded for the year yesterday. We do need a family to provide food, so if you would be willing, please let me know!

 

Summer chi rho will begin June 4, and summer EYC will commence on June 8^th. If you have a pool and grill you’d be willing to let us use, please let me know, and thanks to those of you who have already volunteered!

 

There are still spots open on the Brownsville trip, so feel free to join if you haven’t yet. EYC and Chi Rho students are welcome, essential really, on this trip. Many of the current youth point to it as the trip that really got them involved and made them think about their faith in a new and practical way.

 

I hope this reaches you all in the excitement of the summer approaching! Good luck as you support your youth as they are taking their finals—it’ll be over soon if it’s not already!

mondaymail 05/12/08 May 12, 2008

Good morning one and all and a happy belated Mother’s Day! This will be quite brief as I seem to have inured myself in a most unfortunate fashion playing broomball yesterday with the youth. It was a great time! I think Sean Draper gets points for being most willing to hit the ice to save or make a shot, and Max Morganfield was downright amazing even though he was wearing crocs. Also, don’t fear for our girls. They kicked some serious booty as well!

In Sunday school, we discussed the Gospel and lesson from Acts, focusing on Christ’s divinity and the power and boldness that allows us as well as the reunification of man in Christ through the power of the Spirit and how that reversed the Tower of Babel. It would be a great chance to discuss with kids how having reassurance and proof makes us more bold either in our faith or in more earthly matters.

We are winding down, having just two more EYC/Chi Rho nights before the summer swim and film sessions begin. I have a few names in for people willing to host those but could certainly use more!

We also have settled on having Mark Devries give a parenting seminar on Wednesday, May 28 at 7 pm in Memorial Chapel. We will also have some of Patrice’s (Brumley, not Miller!) scrumptious goodies. I highly encourage that you attend and benefit from his wisdom and walk away encouraged!

Please don’t forget to get those mission trip forms in!

I do apologize for being so brief today, but hopefully the doc will fix me up later!

Mondaymail 5/05/08 May 6, 2008

Dear Parents (and you sneaky youth reading!)
 
The past week was one of our last big ones as we wind down the school year and rev up the summer! Going forward, we’re moving towards those staples, mission trips and summer splash! Details below include BROOMBALL this Sunday and Summer Splash apps. Here’s the rundown:

1. Most importantly, we have a wonderful opportunity coming our way to hear one of the premier experts on parenting teens, Mark Devries. He is the founder and president of the consulting group that has been helping us with our youth ministry this year, and he’ll be in town to work with us. We’d love to offer you and other parents the chance to hear him speak and offer his expertise. We are clearing the exact date with his assistant, but he will hold a seminar on parenting in Memorial Chapel at 7 pm on May 28th or 29th. I will email you as soon as that date is firmed up. I have not yet met the man but am looking forward to it with much anticipation. He comes highly recommended on all fronts, and this is truly a remarkable opportunity for all of us! Please RSVP to me at bsteele@incarnation.org. We will have desserts and coffee.
2. There was no EYC or Chi Rho Sunday school due to Senior Recognition, but that was decidedly a good thing! The congregation was delighted to see the parents and youth together and get to share in this important time in our seniors’ lives. And the pictures were pretty cute too! A HUGE thanks to Teresa Clarke for all of her organizational finesse and to Ernest and Susan Beecherl for hosting the luncheon. Following this, we did have crud wars with a twist. Instead of letting the senior and junior highers beat up on the poor, defenseless confirmands, we joined together the underclassmen to send off the seniors in fine style! The best moment was probably watching poor Madi try to get the chocolate sauce and ketchup out of her hair…. Due to timing, the EYC sermon was suspended, but Chi Rho discussed making good choices and choosing friends who set us up to make those choices. This was brought on by the Miley Cyrus photo shoot in Vanity Fair and how we occasionally get caught up in the moment and do something we later regret. We talked about Ephes. 4:14-15 and what it means to make choices that guide us towards being more Christ-like.
3. For Chi Rho and EYC this Sunday, May 11th, we’ll be going to play broomball. Adult drivers are needed, as is an approximate youth count. Please let me know if you or your youth will be attending.
4. There will be NO Chi Rho retreat this weekend due to conflicting schedules.
5. Summer Splash applications are due THIS Friday, May 9th. Please remind your youth!
6. There are still spots open for the Brownsville mission trip and 3 open for the EYC mission trip. Please let me know if you or your youth would like to attend either. Forms are available on www.cotiparents.com.

–
In His Grip,

Beverly Fonville Steele

Mondaymail 4/28 May 6, 2008

Gooooooood Morning!
 
I hope you all had a fabulous weekend, including some good time spent at the Missions Sunday dinner. A major thank you to Liz Dunn for helping corral everyone! The outreach department was very pleased with the youth and with the evening overall.
 
So, per the usual:
 

1. Fun moment: Missions Sunday in general was a fabulous return to childhood. There was much frisbie throwing, including a throw by Madi which decapitated the plastic fellow on top of the luau stick. The kids were also much enamored with the tricycles meant for 3-year-olds. Idea for a Christmas gift?
2. EYC and Chi Rho time were spent at missions Sunday, and in Sunday school they worked together on 1 Peter 3:1-8. The discussion focused on times when when God wills suffering into our lives. Sometimes God calls us to situations that are uncomfortable, awkward or downright painful for the glory of the Gospel because people knowing Christ are more important than our being constantly in cushy and comfortable situations. You might want to bring up moments when you felt called to do something or say something that was uncomfortable for you but that you knew needed to be done/said and how that worked out for you as well as what your inner sense of obedience felt like and did for your spiritual growth. Alternately, if you’ve been through something painful but seen good come from it, that would also be a topic that should resonate following the lesson.
3. Next Sunday is Youth Sunday! Here’s the schedule: 9 am in the Big Church will be our service. There will not be two simultaneous youth services in the chapel and church, only the one in the Big Church. Youth will be the ushers, lector, intercessor, and acolytes. One or two seniors will give the homily. Following the service, we will have our recognition ceremony in the Great Hall with photos of the seniors and a presentation of gifts. If you haven’t gotten your senior’s photo in to me, that’s fine, but please do so. It would be great to be able to recognize everyone in the Great Hall complete with photo. After the recognition service, the seniors and their parents are invited to the home of Dr. Ernest and Susan Beecherl for a potluck luncheon. If you are a senior parent and have not let Teresa Clarke know what dish you would like to contribute, please do that at your earliest possible convenience.
4. The Chi Rho retreat, previously scheduled for May 9-10, is being postponed due to various scheduling difficulties. We will have an alternate Chi Rho activity in the summer.
5. This is a friendly reminder that Summer Splash staff applications are due by May 9th, which is not this Friday but the Friday following.
6. Another friendly reminder that if you have signed up for a mission trip but are going to be unable to attend, May 1st (this Thursday) is the last day to cancel without owing money.
7. With the school year drawing to a close, I’m sure there are a few concerts and shows in which our talented youth are participating. If you would let me know when they are, I’d love to pop in and maybe bring a few of the youth along!
8. We are coming up on the summer, which means that our splashing around at people’s houses for the Chi Rho and EYC evening fun. If you would like to volunteer your house for a little grilling and swimming, please let me know!
    
   There’s always more in store, but those are the main points for now! Have an excellent week!