Youth Sunday - Being the Body of Christ

What does it mean to be the body of Christ? I wonder if your organs, cells, skin and bones every ask, "What does it mean to be a part of this person's body?" That's sort of the question we ask when we think about being the Body of Christ. What gifts do we bring to the table? How do we work together? What are we called to do? On Sunday, October 10, we will lead worship at 9 AM and 11:15. Our central theme will be "The Body of Christ" based on I Corinthians 12:12-26. Be thinking creatively how you might participate in this service as we seek to build community and worship God. We will be putting together the service on Sunday, October 3.

Change the World - World Malaria Day

April 23-25 is Change the World weekend. April 22 is Earth Day, and April 25 is World Malaria Day. Malaria is a deadly disease in many countries where sanitary conditions and lack of medical care and vaccines are the norm. We can help! Let's raise enough money to send at least 30 bed nets to Africa (I'm sure we could do more than that). April 24 is World Malaria Day Sleepout. We have a confirmation retreat that weekend, but we may plan a sleep later in May. But for now, break your piggy banks, ask your family and friends to give to this worthy cause! Bring your money this weekend to Crossroads, Sunday School, or youth group or next week to Crossroads or Sunday School. Each bed net costs $10. Let's see how many we can send. Watch this video about Malaria in Africa...

Youth-In-Mission

Congratulations on another successful youth-in-mission auction. We raise $15,600! We will use that to support our ASP trip, Heifer International, and other mission efforts in and around Washington, DC.

Please remember to be at Youth Connection on April 18 from 4-6:30. We will fulfill one of our obligations to auction when we host children from our church for a Wii party! It is important to be there to help!

Food Drive for Bread for the City

Hey all,

We are a part of a church-wide food drive for Bread for the City. We are asking folks to bring the following items to the church between March 1 and March 20. Also, Saturday, March 20 is the Great Day of Service. We will gather at 9 AM to help with the food and other service needs at the church.

Here is the list of food.

Seeking to provide healthy food to their clients, Bread for the City suggest donations of the following items:

Canned Tuna, Chicken, or Salmon
Canned Fruit, preferably in its own juice
1 lb packages of Dried Beans
1 lb packages of Brown Rice
Whole Grain Pasta
Canned Vegetables, low-sodium preferred
Canned Tomato Sauce or Spaghetti Sauce, low sodium
Boxed Cereal
Oatmeal

Other non-perishable food items will be accepted as well. We’ve set an ambitious goal of collecting 2010 items. So please contribute generously!

Our youth response to the disaster in Haiti

There is an immediate need that I think we can help with in Haiti. We are going to be assembling health kits this Sunday morning during the study hour. Please consider bringing whatever you can of the following:

The following new items are requested: hand towels, (no kitchen towels, must be 15 inches by 25 inches or up to 17 inches by 27 inches, wash cloths, combs, nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers please), bath-sized soap (3 oz. or larger), toothbrushes (single brushes only in original wrapper, no child-size brushes), adhesive sterile bandages (Band-Aids), one-gallon Ziploc plastic bags, single dollar bills (for toothpaste).

This is a great opportunity for us to be in service to our friends in Haiti. I hope to see you for worship and Sunday School this Sunday.

Joy and Peace,

Jimmy

Haiti Emergency

I'm seeking suggestions on how you think our group can help with the earthquake disaster relief efforts in Haiti. Please feel free to comment here on ways we can do that, or send comments to jsherrod@mmumc-dc.org.

Confirmation

In Baptism, God incorporates us into Christ's Holy Church. If we are Baptized as infants, there comes a time when it is very important that we affirm what God did and is doing in our lives through Baptism. This affirmation is done through something we call Confirmation. In order to prepare for that, we go through Confirmation Classes. Our classes at Metropolitan begin on Sunday, January 10 at 3 PM. A full schedule of class times will be posted soon.

Register Now! - Fall away at Camp Manidokan

Forget your busy lives and join us for a weekend of transformation, play, rest and worship. We will join together with the youth from Foundry UMC on a weekend retreat to Camp Manidokan October 23-25. You need to register for this no later than Friday, October 9. Space is limited, so get those forms in early. You can find your registration and medical forms here: http://www.nationalchurch.org/youth/juniorsenior.html

The fun begins

Join us Sunday, September 13 for our annual fall kickoff celebration. We'll get together in the youth room for introductions, followed by games and worship in the Great Hall. Did I mention food? Come find out about the exciting things going on in our youth ministry this fall.

Destination Unknown

Do you like surprises? For the next month during Youth Connection, we are going to surprise you with a mystery destination. To keep you on the edge of your seat, we will do the youth program from a different location each Sunday. We WILL still gather first in the youth room before we move to the mystery location. We hope to see you at Youth Connection this Sunday!

Rock Retreat 2009

"Don't let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith and purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

What an amazing weekend! Our trip to Ocean City/Bethany Beach for Rock 2009 was fabulous! Stellarkart, Youthful Praise, Masters Commission, Reggie Dabbs along with 13 youth and three other leaders made the weekend one to remember.

We've been to top of the mountain. Now where do we go? Remember that God will do far more than we can ever dream of or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Hold in your hearts your experiences this past week and remember how you were encouraged and challenged!

Also remember that "I got your back!"

Jimmy

Friday Night Fever

What do you do when someone mentions a lock-in? Run the other way, right? Of course not! We're locking ourselves into the church this Friday night November 14 beginning at 7 PM. We'll have lots of food, games (interactive and video), worship and movies! Be there! Let me know if you are coming. 

Lattes and Guitar Hero

Our first full day at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection's Leadership Institute has been very interesting. Actually, it has been quite overwhelming. In the Rezlife center (their student ministry center), there is evidence of teenagers all over the place. There is a climbing wall, cafe, a bank of video games, basketball court, computer stations, stage, worship area, foosball, pool, air hockey and much, much more. Worship takes place here too! They have a worship band along with lights, cameras and screens.

What to make of this? I don't get the feel that it is gimmicky. It appears to be an authentic approach to reaching teenagers with the story of Jesus. I began to reflect on what draws us in? More specifically, what draws teenagers to church? Is it the decorative chapels or decadent coffee? Is it video games or a vibrantly colored banner? 

After visiting their Rezlife youth group for 7th and 8th graders last night, I can see the fruit of their ministry. This is a place where teenagers can come and build community, share life together, play, worship and talk about God in a safe, non-threatening way. 

So, what draws us in to a place? If you are a youth reading this, what draws you to church? I'd love to hear your comments.

Joy and Peace!

Jimmy

September Settling

Well, we have but one day left in the month of September. Time flies! It's been a great month for our youth ministry. We gathered as a community for the fall kickoff celebration, the 9/11 Unity Walk, and we worked together with the Children's Ministry to pull off the picnic on September 28. All that is just the start!

There's much more to do: worship, playing, service, visioning, playing and more! One of our main goals for the month of October is to vision and put into place some of our ideas for the new youth room space (204 and 206). It's so important to work on this together as we plan for the future of our program. We'll get started with that on Sunday, October 5 during Youth Connection at 5 PM.

I'm off to Kansas City on Tuesday to the Church of the Resurrection's Leadership Institute. It should be fun and informative. I hope to bring back lots of good ideas for our youth ministry here at Metropolitan. I would welcome you to respond to this post with your ideas for our youth room and our youth ministry here at Metropolitan.

Let me know your thoughts!

Peace!

Jimmy