Fall 2009

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CHILDREN & YOUTH

NEWS

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION

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Family Devotion

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I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. ~Matthew 19:23-24

Inside this Issue: Family Service Opportunities

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Fun Family Outings

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Summer Travels

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Let’s Akaloo!!

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Teen Devotion

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Music to Check Out

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Middle School Youth

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High School Youth

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Pictures from the Summer

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We Need You!

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As summer comes to an end and regular activities resume, we get back into the daily grind of doing too much. These are great activities to remind us that all that stuff doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things! ACTIVITY #1: Pretend that you have to leave your house quickly. Give everyone 10 minutes to gather up their favorite toys, books, stuffed animals and other items. Everything you are going to take with you must fit in your backpack or be tied to the outside of the backpack. You must be able to wear the pack on your back when it is full. Ready, set, “Go! You have 10 minutes.” Take time to look at the different items they packed and ask why they selected each item. Before doing the next activity, set the backpacks aside and read Matthew 19:23-24. Hold up the needle. It is impossible for a camel to get through this hole in the needle! Jesus is saying that it is impossible for a rich man to get to heaven. Why? Because when the rich man dies, he is no longer rich as the world defines rich, he can not take his stuff with him! The rich man and the poor man go to heaven with the same amount of material possessions—nothing. ACTIVITY #2: Make a small tunnel using a line of chairs - or be creative! The tunnel needs to be small so that everyone will have to remove their backpack to successfully get through. Create rules that will make sure you go slowly and cautiously. For example, you can't move the chairs. Or, if you don't mind a little mess, place glasses of water on top of the chairs and if any water is spilled, they must start over. Put on your backpack and get ready to play a game. You each have three attempts to get

through this tunnel. See if you can get through faster on your third attempt. Get ready for your first attempt! Don’t try to go through wearing your backpack! In order to succeed you have to take it off. Just leave it behind - don’t push it in front or drag it behind as you go through the tunnel. Jesus talks a lot about money and possessions. He warns us not to fall in love with “things” or to treat money as more important than people. Jesus warns us not to love money, toys, cars, our home, etc. more than God. Talk about some examples of loving money and people more than God. Not giving to the poor. Reading all kinds of books but never the Bible. Complaining about going to church where we can worship God with others. In the first activity you had to pack your backpack. Is there anything in your backpack that reminds you of God or represents your spiritual faith? In the second activity you had to crawl through a tunnel. What if your house had been on fire and you had to stay low and crawl along the floor to get out safely? People who try to escape a fire and cling to things may not get out safely. Jesus' story is about a man not just trying to get out of a burning house, but a man wanting to get to heaven. We need to be careful not to let “things” become more important than people or God. Those “things” so easily get in the way of our relationships with Jesus and with each other! Close in prayer - thanking God for all the things you are blessed with and remembering that he is more important than any thing! Adapted from www.famtime.com.

Family Service Opportunities

MUST

The MUST Shelter always needs your help!! MUST needs people willing to prepare and serve meals for the following days this fall: Lunch August 1 Breakfast August 3 Lunch August 24 Lunch August 25 Breakfast August 30 Lunch August 31 Breakfast September 1 Lunch September 7 Dinner September 7 Lunch September 13 Breakfast October 5 Lunch October 11

Lunch October 19 Lunch October 26 Lunch October 27

More dates are available on the bulletin board outside the gathering room. Your family can prepare the meal on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. For more information, contact Marianne Varley. The Shelter also is in particular need of the following food items: canned meats, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, jelly, dry milk, tomato sauce/paste and large size diapers (size 4,5, 6). They are also in need of Cereal, soup, spaghetti, canned fruit, canned pasta, canned vegetables, canned and dry beans, Mac and cheese, Baby Food, rice, boxed meals, and can openers! You can put these and other nonperishable food items in the collection site at LCR.

Fun Family Outings PUMPKIN FESTIVAL STONE MOUNTAIN PARK FRIDAYS - SUNDAYS OCTOBER 2-31

CAGLE’S DAIRY FARM SEPTEMBER 4 - NOVEMBER 15 With two different locations and over 60 total acres of corn maizes, Cagle’s Dairy Farm is a great place for your family to celebrate fall! Open Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $10 a person. For more information, visit http:// caglescornmaize.com.

Visit the pumpkin tumbler, watch the great pumpkin puppet parade, dress up in your favorite costumes for the children’s costume parade, compete in the pie eating contests, participate in the trick or treat scavenger hunt, and more!

INDIAN FESTIVAL AND POW-WOW STONE MOUNTAIN PARK NOVEMBER 5-8 Experience Native American culture through dance & drum competitions, music, authentic craft demonstrations, cooking samples and storytelling activities. Learn about primitive skills such as flint-napping, bow making, fire starting, open fire cooking and pottery.  Or, find that one-of-a-kind holiday gift in our artists' marketplace, where worldrenowned Native artists and crafters demonstrate their skills and offer items for purchase.

Where in the World Did We Go This Summer? Children & Youth at LCR traveled all over the place this summer, from Florence, Alabama to Ancient Rome! For details about our summer, check out http://lcryouth.wordpress.com. Here’s a recap of what we did.

AFFIRM 2009

FLORENCE, ALABAMA

This year, 8 youth and 5 adults from LCR attended Affirm. Hillary Nelson’s recap of the event was featured in the Southeastern Synod E-Newsletter: “My experience at affirm this year was excellent! I was in the group Revelations, where we basically explored more in depth about ourselves and others. Some nights were pretty emotional for some and others it wasn't that big. I, personally, almost started to get emotional when one of us would interview the other about the most influential person in your life so far. Revelations had it's own theme this year called It's all about me. It was really nice, each group session that we played a song and had a verse. We would then write in our prayer logs about the song and/or the verse. It was a great time to relax and just have some one on one time with God and ourselves. One night we even were asked questions and had to stand in the agree, disagree, strongly disagree, and strongly agree area based on our opinion. Some of the questions I was very neutral about and it was interesting hearing others opinions and some questions had some pretty heated debates. I also had a great small group this year and we all really clicked! Lost and Found was awesome and one night two of the groups were stuck in a tornado warning with them! That was so great of them to not just sit there, but take the time with each one of us and talk to us. I loved worship this year, because even though it was different this year it was also unique. For example, we would start out worship with say the peace or do communion different ways each night. I realized by

the end of the week how much I really did enjoy the worship despite the previous complaining I was exhibiting the first day. I also loved learning new songs and also worshiping with old ones as well! It was pretty exciting when Revelations won the volleyball touranment and I really enjoyed the talent show being held in the auditorium. It was also exciting to be on the SESLYO Board for my first time this year and even more fun reconnecting with everyone at our meetings and just seeing them all around in different groups. I also loved reconnecting also with old affirm friends that I have met over previous years and also meeting new friends as well. Affirm overall has helped me develop more and more in my faith as I have gotten older! I also look forward to each affirm year because of that!”

MIDDLE SCHOOLERS GO TO LUTHERIDGE 3 youth from LCR and 5 youth from Brumby celebrated Fourth of July at Lutheridge for Middle School Explorers week. This has become quite a tradition for these youth and they had a great time exploring their faith and the great outdoors! Ask them their stories!

WOW 2009

KNOXVILLE, TN

In July, nine of LCR’s youth and two adults attended Win Our World urban ministry experience at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Knoxville, TN. Most of our youth were apprehensive as well as eager when we arrived on Sunday. Despite their hesitation, we were quickly greeted with overwhelming and upbeat excitement by the WOW staff. Each day, we were split into small groups and given mission assignments at locations all over Knoxville, including the Knoxville Area Rescue Mission

(KARM), Beardsley Farm, Wesley House, Project Live, the Salvation Army, and more. Many of our days began at 6:15am serving breakfast at the KARM shelter down the street and ended around 11pm after a full day of worship, mission work, leadership development activities, and nightly devotions. Through our long days together, we developed strong friendships and relationships with one another as well as with youth from St. John’s and St. Andrew’s in Columbia, SC while working for the glory of God and building his kingdom in inner city Knoxville. Working with our homeless and needy neighbors during our WOW mission experience, our faith and understanding grew through relationships and conversations at each of these mission sites. One example in particular stuck out to us the most. Chris Osberg, Mitchell Frey, Andre Leon, and Danny Ritchie spent a day at Project Live – a mission started to help local elderly through conversation and yard work in order to keep them in their homes. Their Project Live site was at the home of an elderly gentleman by the name of Leon Womack, who has been confined to his home for quite a while now. During a conversation with Leon after their day full of hard work of “mowing down a jungle,” as Chris put it, Leon expressed his gratitude to the guys by telling them that he “didn’t know that youth like you guys still existed” but was thrilled to see that they still did. Another favorite mission site of the week was the Wesley House – a safe haven for inner city schoolaged youth. When we arrived at the Wesley House, all the eyes of children lit up with excitement. They were so happy for every youth that arrived at the house to play with and care for them! After simple card games, conversations, and some amazing basketball plays, our youth realized how privileged they are compared to the situations these kids call life. The dreams and ambitions that these

disadvantaged kids have put our own lives into drastic perspective. There were so many other stories we could share with you, and I’m sure you have heard many already. Besides mission work and faith building, WOW encouraged youth to find “beauty in the mess” in ourselves, in our family, in the church, and in the world. Because of this newfound awareness, the youth that attended are able to open our eyes to God’s grace and amazing works everywhere we go; from the slums of Knoxville to the downtown city of Atlanta. Through the leadership development and youth empowerment they gained through this fantastic week, they have been encouraged to bring back our excitement from WOW in order to lead change for the better here at LCR. So LCR, get ready…because here the youth come!

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL ANCIENT ROME

In July, over 100 children, youth and adults discovered what it might have been like to live in ancient Rome in the years just after Jesus’ death. LCR was transformed into an ancient Roman marketplace, the house where Paul was kept under house-arrest, and an underground cave secretly used by Christians as a gathering and worship space. We learned all about how much God loves us, how his love changes us, and saw with our own eyes how a Roman guard’s own life was changed by the story of Jesus Christ. If you missed our trip, you can experience ancient Rome through pictures posted on the LCR webpage - just click on the “About LCR” tab and go to the Photo Gallery. We are so thankful for all the volunteers that helped make Rome happen. A special thank you to Barbara Kirk, Sue Koeneman, and Jill Robertson who served as the planning team for the week.

Here We Go ... Let’s Akaloo! We are so excited to begin our Akaloo journey! Rally Day was an awesome experience - if you didn’t get a chance to put your handprint on the wall, make sure you find a chance to do so! The downstairs rooms have been transformed from plain rooms into rooms ready to Akaloo - take a tour of the rooms next time you’re in the building! Crystal still needs registration forms for several children. If you have not yet turned in forms for your children, please do so as soon as possible. We want to make sure we have accurate information! We always have room for more along our Akaloo journey, so make sure to bring your friends along!

Take 5 for Faith

This summer, we introduced Faith5, which stands for Faith Acts In The Home. To help you remember to Take 5 for Faith, we sent placemats home on Rally Day - if you didn’t get one, make sure to pick one up from the Gathering Room! 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 ALL the phones on silence and gather in a room of the convener’s choice. Then take turns going through these five simple steps: SHARE highs & lows of the day. What was the best thing and the worst thing that happened to each of you during the day? READ and highlight a verse of Scripture in your Bible. Don’t worry if you don’t know what to read - each Sunday you’ll get a bookmark with suggested verses for each day. You can also signup for a daily email reminder! TALK about how the verse relates to your highs & lows. PRAY for each other. Pray for your highs & lows, for your family, and for the world. BLESS one another. Remind each other that you are children of God.

Akaloo Wish List Several classes are looking for items that you might have. If you have any of the following, or know where we could get them for an inexpensive cost, please contact Jill Gadebusch, Gloria Frey, or Crystal Oxner. Picture books for children ages 2-4 Beanbags or other large floor pillows Carpet squares Couches or other comfy chairs Area rugs DVD player

Teen Devotion: What will you plant in your garden? For he has actually sent to us in Babylon, saying, “It will be a long time; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat what they produce.” ~Jeremiah 29:28

Plant 4 rows of “P’s”: Prayer Praise Patience Peace

study Let us show up for meetings Let us really love self and neighbor

Plant 4 rows of squash: Squash gossip Squash criticism Squash complacency Squash saying what you cannot do

And you know no garden is complete without some turnips: Turn up to church on Sunday Turn up to Bible study Turn up when you feel like it AND when you don’t Turn up to help one another

Plant 4 rows of lettuce: Let us show up for worship Let us show up for Bible

And to conclude our garden, we must have some thyme: Time for God Time for each other Time for family and friends Time for ourselves. Take care of your garden by following these directions: Water freely with patience and cultivate with love. There is much to be harvested in your garden

and this is the prayer I pray for you - Lord, let my heart be good soil. Eat what your garden produces. As you begin your new school year, think about what you will plant in your garden, how you will cultivate it, and what will it produce as your year goes on?

~Taken from a sermon by Rev. Larry Clark at the 2009 LYO Convention. Rev. Larry Clark is the Executive Director of the Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta.

Music & Movies to Check Out CAGE THE ELEPHANT For fans of Kings of Leon and Beck, you can check them out at http:// www.cagetheelephant.com.

JOSHUA JAMES

For fans of John Mayer, Joshua Radin, and Ray LaMontague. Joshua’s new album focuses on some of life’s biggest questions. Check him out at http:// www.joshuajames.tv.

500 DAYS OF SUMMER Starring Joseph GordonLevitt and Zooey Deschanel, the film touts itself as “not a love story, but a story about love.” Featuring fantasy dance sequences, ‘60s fashion and songs from Temper Trap, Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin, and Belle & Sebastian, it could be the

feel-good “story about love” of the season.

I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER Starring Hayden Panttiere, it’s another of those “high school nerd tries to get popular girl” movies. Just an all around feel good movie, so I’ve heard.

Middle & High School Youth Middle School/Confirmation

This year, Confirmation consists of two parts: Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. Youth in 7th-8th grade are invited to participate in Catechism instruction taught by Crystal Oxner and Pastor Dave on Sunday morning between 9:45am-10:45am in the middle school youth room downstairs. All youth in 6th-8th grades are invited to participate in Wednesday night service learning activities from 6:30 pm - 8:00pm! All parents of middle schoolers and all 7th-8th grade youth are invited to join us at 9:45am on August 23 for an informative meeting about what Confirmation will entail this year.

High School

There are two opportunities for high school youth to engage in fellowship and Bible study this year - on Sunday morning and on Wednesday evenings. During the Sunday school hour, high schoolers will engage in Akaloo and take a look at how the Gospel of Matthew applies to their everyday lives. Throughout most of this fall, on Wednesday evenings, high schoolers will be exploring the Gospel According to the Simpsons.

All Youth

Several times this fall all youth 6th-12th grade will be invited to combined events. Mark your calendars for the following: Sunday, September 20 - Youth-Led Worship Planning Meeting from 1:00pm - 5:00pm Sunday, October 4 - Youth-Led Worship Planning Meeting - final details & some rehearsal from 1:00pm - 2:30pm Wednesday, October 7 - Rob Bell @ Cobb Energy Center Saturday, October 24 & Sunday, October 25 - Youth-Led Worship Rehearsal & Worship Services Wednesday, October 28 - Trick or Treat for Canned Goods Wednesday, November 25 - Thanksgiving service project (this will be sometime during the day!)

Quotes from youth who attended WOW 2009 “The trip to WOW showed me many different sides of the city Knoxville.  I learned a lot and really started to understand the Beautiful Mess of the creation around us.  Serving breakfast at KARM to hundreds of our neighbors really showed me that people are able to find beauty and happiness in even the darkest of situations.  People insisted on praying before they would receive their meals, smiled at us as they came in, and thanked us for serving.  It just amazed me that God was so clear and obvious in even the worst of conditions.” ~Katherine Boda “The part that meant the most to me was the prayer walk on Friday.  Seeing all of these people on the street was really depressing.  Then, we saw a man with a baby and a woman with two small children.  This really hit home for me because I had never noticed homeless children and I questioned if God loved them as He loves me, why do I have all the things I do and they don’t?” ~Andre Leon “The week at WOW taught me about ‘holy chaos.’  Basically, the world, church, family, even ourselves can be viewed as beautiful messes.  We may see something as dysfunctional, but when you spend time with that thing, you learn that beauty exists there.  This beauty can be a multitude of things, like a smile, a symbol, or a thank you.  I learned that by viewing everything as a beautiful mess, my faith, along with the community’s faith, will grow.” ~Mitchell Frey “The excitement and love for inner city mission shown by the staff and leaders of WOW really spread to all of the guests of WOW.  This sense of community made me feel like I was working for something larger than our individual church, but for the ELCA and world as a whole and for all those who really needed us.” ~Brian Boda “This week at WOW, what amazed me the most was serving breakfast at KARM on Thursday morning.  I didn’t know there were so many homeless people on the streets.  It touched me at how some of those people didn’t accept any food until they had prayed.  I didn’t know such faith was possible under such rotten circumstances.  It was incredible” ~Paige Jordan “It amazed me how much of an impact we made.  I’ve always been told that if you do something nice for someone they’ll appreciate it.  Well, duh – but it was great to

experience it.  Everyone was so grateful and even though they didn’t have much, they still said thank you.  It makes me want to at least try to be more thankful because I have so much to be thankful for and I take way too much for granted.” ~Emily Glass “The thing that meant the most to me this week was when I went to Mr. Womack’s house for Project Live.  I spent a good bit of time talking to him and at one time he stopped and looked at all of us and said “You know, I didn’t know people like you still existed.  I am so thankful for your help.”  He was so thankful and wanted to talk to us as much as possible.  This was the moment that meant the most to me.” ~Chris Osberg “What meant to me the most was discovering the beautiful mess in Knoxville, TN.  The moment I walked outside on the streets of Knoxville I realized that all the homeless people were God’s children even though they didn’t live the best they could.  All they had were some belongings, or nothing at all.  Every time I passed them at least one of them said hi!  When I went on a water wagon, my heart was lifted.  It just amazed me how they were still able to put a smile on their face and appreciate all that we had done for them.  This would have to be one of the best moments of this week.  To me the homeless people were a great example of a beautiful mess.  They might not have been living in the best conditions but you could still see the faith in their hearts.” ~Leah Kelm “WOW was a great experience.  I loved everything about it.  We had a wide range of opportunities for taking the splendiferous love of Christ out into the Knoxville community.  God can be seen, felt, and heard in this neighborhood with a prevalent homeless population.  We all saw so much beauty in this humongous mess.  I’d say my favorite experience was Thursday.  Danny and I were sent on a unique mission opportunity with some people from St. John’s and St. Andrew’s: we got to go fishing with some of the people staying in the shelters at the VMC.  It was just like going to a lake with your family or friends; we laughed and joked, snacked, fished, and swam.  All the ‘guests’ on our boat had a really great time – so great that they were making plans so that we could stay.  I loved them all, and was ecstatic that we had such a grand day out.” ~Becky Ritchie

LCR Children & Youth Need You! Have you been looking for a way to get involved with Children & Youth Ministries at LCR? There are many different ways that you can help - contact Crystal if you are interested in any of these (or any other) opportunities!

SUNDAY SCHOOL

Although we have a full slate of teachers, there’s still room for you if you feel called to serve in this way. All of our youth will be akalooing, so whether you are passionate about the little bitty ones, the really big ones, or the ones in between, there’s a place for you to be involved with Akaloo. You can be a substitute, you can team teach with other teachers who are already preparing to Akaloo, or you can be part of the team that plans Intergenerational Events throughout the year.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY Children’s Ministry Team

The Children’s Ministry Team is the visionary team behind Children’s Ministry at LCR. We meet monthly to think about and plan Children’s Ministry events including Sunday School, Family Events, Vacation Bible School, and all things children!

First Communion

We need someone to help coordinate this very special event! Our fourth graders and their parents will receive first communion instruction on Sunday September 13 after the 11:00 service. Any older youth who has not yet received first communion is also invited to participate. We will celebrate their first communion on World Communion Day, October 4.

Christmas Pageant

All children and youth are invited to participate in the annual Christmas Pageant. Helen Phelps, our Director of Worship and Music, needs dedicated adults to help coordinate this incredible seasonal event. We’ll need adults to help with directing the pageant, creating and fixing costumes, preparing cookies for the cookie reception, and more!

Easter Egg Hunt

We need someone to coordinate this annual event. Traditionally held on Palm Sunday, our older youth hide eggs for our younger youth. If you want to be involved but find that you are too busy for a regular commitment, this is a great one-time job for you!

YOUTH MINISTRY Middle School

This year, our confirmation program consists of Wednesday evening service opportunities for all middle schoolers and Sunday morning Catechism instruction for 7th-8th graders as well as various other youth events throughout the year. There will be an informative meeting for all 7th-8th grade youth and parents and all 6th grade parents on August 23 from 9:45-10:45am in the Middle School Youth Room. We need faithful and dedicated adults to help with these awesome youth!!

High School

Senior High Bible Study continues on Wednesday nights and we need faithful and dedicated adults to come hang out with us! Our first series this fallWe’ll share dinner together and begin a 13-week series on The Gospel According to the Simpsons! We will use episodes of The Simpsons to explore the Gospel in a new and exciting way. If you are interested in helping lead our worship time at these gatherings, please contact Crystal. Adults - if you are a fan of the Simpsons you are welcome to come hang out for this series. We’re not sure what our next series will be! For more info about children & youth ministries at LCR, check out the bulletin board in the Gathering Room, or contact Crystal! Lutheran Church of the Resurrection 4814 Paper Mill Road Marietta, GA 30324

Crystal Oxner, Director of Children & Youth Ministries Phone: 770/953-3193 E-mail: [email protected]