Are you ready to support the junior high youth in your congregation in planning and leading worship for National Junior High Sunday? Many congregations will observe National Junior High Sunday on Nov. 3, but encouraging junior high youth to step into worship leadership is more important than the particular Sunday. Work it into your congregation’s worship schedule sometime this fall.
The next Church of the Brethren Christian Citizenship Seminar (CCS), for senior high youth and first-year college students and their adult advisors, will be April 11-16, 2024, in Washington, D.C. The 2024 theme is “And They Fled: Advocating for Just Immigration Policy,” drawing from Matthew 2:13-23.
On Sunday, Nov. 5, Church of the Brethren congregations around the country will celebrate the leadership of their junior high youth in worship. The National Junior High Sunday theme is “Worried and Distracted,” from the story of Jesus’ visit with Martha and Mary.
For the first time since 2019, junior high youth and their advisors gathered for National Junior High Conference. Eleven districts were represented in the 164 participants who spent the weekend on the campus of Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. Worship, a central piece of the program, invited participants to ask the question: “What Does God Want from Me?”
Recently, I was even more excited than normal to come to Camp Mack because I was looking forward to spending time in community, learning and growing as part of Young Adult Conference. This is my second year as part of the Young Adult Steering Committee, and I love to see our plans change and become reality as the weekend unfolds.
Upcoming Youth and Young Adult Ministries programs and events include National Junior High Sunday on Nov. 6, 2022; Christian Citizenship Seminar on April 22-27, 2023; National Youth Sunday on May 7, 2023; Young Adult Conference on May 5-7, 2023; and National Junior High Conference on June 16-18, 2023.
National Young Adult Conference 2016 will take place May 27-30 on the campus of Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind. Participants will focus on Colossians 3:12-17 and the theme “Creating Harmony.” The schedule includes worship, fellowship, recreation, Bible study, and service projects. Speakers include Christy Dowdy, Jim Grossnickle-Batterton, Drew Hart, Eric Landram, Waltrina Middleton, and Richard Zapata.
The members of the 2016 Youth Peace Travel Team have been announced. As the team spends time with youth this summer at camps across the denomination, they will teach about peace, justice, and reconciliation, all core values throughout the Church of the Brethren’s 300-plus year history.
The 2015 Youth Peace Travel Team has been announced. The team is cooperatively sponsored by the Outdoor Ministries Association, On Earth Peace, Bethany Theological Seminary, and the Church of the Brethren’s Advocacy Office and Youth and Young Adult Ministry Office.
National Junior High Conference will be held June 19-21 on the campus of Elizabethtown (Pa.) College. The conference will invite youth and their advisors to consider Romans 12:1-2. The theme, “Living the Change: Our Offering to God,” asks participants to consider taking their everyday, ordinary life–our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life–and place it before God as an offering.