National Youth Conference (NYC) takes place next summer, July 21-26, 2018, in Fort Collins, Colo., at Colorado State University. This Church of the Brethren conference is held every four years for youth who have completed grade 9 through 1 year of college (or the age equivalent).
The Church of the Brethren Workcamp office is excited to announce the 2018 workcamp theme: “Loving God, Loving People.” The theme is developed from the scripture 1 John 4:19-21 (The Message) which touches on the necessity for loving others in order to truly love God.
The life of this program volunteer: a ministry of presence means being with a family when they find out, “Indeed, your infant is blind.”
Fourteen young adults from various Church of the Brethren districts traveled to Nepal to assist in post-earthquake recovery in Dhading District, east of Kathmandu. Assisted by Heifer International staff in Nepal, the young adult workcamp worked at two school sites in the mountain community of Kebalpur, which was not far from the epic center of the April 2015 earthquake that killed over 9,000 people. The workcamp group was led by Church of the Brethren staff members Emily Tyler and Jay Wittmeyer.
What a joy it was to take part in the 2017 Young Adult Conference over Memorial Day weekend. Dozens of young adults (ages 18-35) gathered together at Camp Harmony in Western Pennsylvania District for a weekend of reflection, fun, and worship.
Ministry Summer Service orientation began June 2, when the six interns to serve in MSS this summer arrived at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. Their mentors arrived Monday, June 5, and the orientation ended Wednesday.
This year’s Christian Citizenship Seminar (CCS) took place from April 22-27. The theme was based on Native American rights and food security. Thirty-eight high school aged youth and their advisers from as far as California to as close as Pennsylvania, and states like Kansas in between, were a part of this year’s CCS.
I’ve found that social media does an amazing job of keeping track of timelines I could never have kept straight for myself. While scrolling through my Facebook feed during a time of leisure at this year’s Christian Citizenship Seminar, I stumbled upon pictures of me and other 2015 CCS participants enjoying the city life in Washington, D.C. and New York. The energy of my companions and the dynamic cities we explored together left me even more excited to learn about the issues surrounding immigration, which was the theme of CCS the year that I attended as a high school junior.
Each May congregations are encouraged to celebrate the contributions of members of all generations to our life together. The first Sunday in May (May 7) is National Youth Sunday, a day when youth are engaged in planning, organizing, and leading worship. The entire month is designated as Older Adult Month, an opportunity for congregations to celebrate God’s gift of aging and the contributions of elders in our midst.
Participants in National Youth Conference (NYC) 2018 will focus on the theme “Bound Together: Clothed in Christ.” The scriptural theme is from Colossians 3:12-15: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.”
