Frank brought the opening devotion focused on the parable of the sower and the seed from Mark 4. From that devotion there were four points.

The Theme for our Youth Planning and Events for 2005 is:

"Prepare the Child for the Path of Life"

1. Whatever we do must be biblically based
2. Whatever we do -- Let's do ti together
3. Let's take risks -- think outside the box of past years
4. Let's be more inclusive of those students who can't afford every event


1. Discussion on D-Teams: There was a spirited discussion about the D-Team curriculum. Stacy had taken the time to ask all the girls what they would like to study in D-teams and submitted these to Frank. Most of the requests had to do with real life applications. The conversation ensued about the difference between biblical study and topical study. Frank pointed out that D-Teams are the only place that students study the bible in our youth program. He said that Biblical study has to be the primary focus of D-Teams.

Several others agreed. Liz Tracy said that biblical study leads to life applications. The Bible is the basis for answering all the questions students have about life. Karen Binder said that the times she has suspended the bible study to deal with a personal issue, she found out later that the bible lesson would have dealt with the very same issue.

It was decided that D-teams would focus on Bible Study. Personal issues can still be dealt with on a group or one on one basis at the discretion of the D-Team leader. But please don't abandon the Bible Lesson altogether.

There was a conversation about choosing different biblical curriculum for High School and Middle School.

There was a discussion about inviting students to our worship service who are attending D-teams but not attending worship.

It was decided to have quarterly D-Team Leader's meeting to discuss the program and curriculum.

2. Discussion on Communications: Frank reminded everyone of the different modes of communication we are providing for the students and the volunteer leaders: the youth website is updated several times weekly with information for both adults and students. The Student Connection is e-mailed to students every Monday. Volunteers are updated weekly in an e-mail from Frank.

The December 'snail mail' newsletter was not mailed -- due to vacations and the holidays we simply didn't get it done.

Sharyn Poynter brought up the fact that e-mail and websites take the personal touch out of communicating and would like to see more phone calls for information. Mike Bierman said he loved the e-mails as did others. Most of those in attendance said the communication from staff is the best they had experienced.

3. Discussion of Training Volunteer Opportunities: Youth Specialties Core Training is at Calvary Church on Saturday, March 5th from 8:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Please register with the office as soon as possible if you would like to attend. The theme this year is getting to know the modern day teenager.

Frank passed out a detailed list of ongoing Bible Studies at First Church and suggested that everyone needs to take care of their own walk with God and the overflow of their learning and applying will wash into their volunteer work with students. Many indicated they are already participating in a current Bible Study.

4. February - "God's Plan for Sex, Love and Marriage" presented by the Hope Pregnancy Center on the 6th and 13th of February.

5. Parents Meeting in Robey immediately after the Family Sunday Service on January 30th. Frank asked that all the volunteer youth workers be present for the parents meeting.

6. Youth Event Planning - The rest of the meeting was focused on planning youth events. Participants broke up into small groups and brainstormed both middle school and high school events through September.

There are two planning teams consisting of two adults and a staff of students. The highs school team is led by Mike Taylor and Stacy Rowe, and the committee must consist of students from each grade - 9th through 12th. The leaders of the middle school planning team are Lea Harlow and Karen Binder, and their team must include students from 6th, 7th and 8th grade. These four adult volunteers will be responsible to fill out their planning team, take over the leadership training for each team and be responsible for implementing youth events planned by each team.

These are the established guidelines for planning any youth event:
There should be a minimum of one event per team for each month, and at least one common event for both high school and middle school combined on a quarterly basis.

The committees are responsible to plan the event, coordinate with the church and youth calendar, and coordinate with the office for room availability. There will not be any youth event planned that will overlap another youth event.

The teams will be responsible to obtain budget`approval from our financial coordinator Linda Kuhlman before an event can be advertised. Every effort should be made to be mindful of the cost of an event so that all students may have an equal opportunity to participate in every event.

When an event is planned, it must be brought to the monthly Youth Planning Meeting ahead of time for consensus and final approval by staff. Staff -- in particular Frank Fitzsimmons -- is responsible to the Senior Pastor, the Finance Committee and the Executive Committee for all youth related events.

Updates since the last meeting: Staff Parrish has approved the Child Protection Policy and appointed me to administer the policy along with Jean Mansell and Bev Abrams in Education. Look for more on this in the near future.

Thank you for all you do!

Frank

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Ps 37:4
www.firstchurchyouth.net