Back to School sales are in full swing and as the days become cooler than normal for August, I find myself thinking in seasons. Here’s a look at our programming throughout the seasons of the year:
Summer: June began with confirmation at St. John’s! Six 10th and 11th graders were confirmed by the Bishop in a beautiful and meaningful service. July saw almost all of our newly confirmed teens volunteering all day to help at Peace Frogs camp. Many of them gave up a week of work to be there for our children. Talk about taking the confirmation vows seriously! Peace Frogs was an incredible week as we explored the theme of Cultural Kaleidoscope with over 50 kids and counselors. Kids studied 6 countries in depth and presented their findings to their parents at the end of the week. They also learned about people from around the world who live in Minnesota through a trip to the Midtown Global Market. They studied poaching and overfishing at the Minnesota Zoo and learned about sustainability practices at Target Field. The best part about Peace Frogs is watching adults, teens and kids learn together to create a more peaceful world and an intergenerational community at St. John’s!
Fall: As fall approaches WAY too quickly for all of us sending off a child to college, we look forward to the beginning of a new programing year! Children will engage with and wonder about the Bible stories in Godly Play and Sunday School. The youth will learn, discuss and grapple with their faith. Our Pilgrims (rising 9th and 10th graders) have chosen to travel to South Africa and Lesotho in June 2025. They will spend the year learning about Bishop Desmond Tutu’s work in South Africa around forgiveness and reconciliation as well as inequities based on the apartheid system and restorative justice. We will consider how this all relates to our own racial issues in the USA and what our role is as Christians. Our Youth Group is growing and as these very active 5th – 8th graders return to programming on Sunday nights, they are excited to tackle issues relevant to Middle Schoolers as well as to create and run their own service projects. Look for their work around the church come fall! Our oldest teens will be learning about philanthropy and service through in person trips to nonprofits and speakers from St. John’s and the community. We are excited to offer a hands-on program that helps them to take all that they have learned at St. John’s through the years and bring it into the community for greater depth of understanding and work.
Winter: Winter brings some fun traditions for CYF; Advent Wreath Making, the Christmas Pageant and the Ski/D&D Trip! This year is a Silent Auction year and on January 26th. Please consider donating something to their auction asap!
Spring: Although it seems so far away now, our Pilgrims will be getting ready to travel in late June. Our Youth Group will go on their first of hopefully many annual retreats to learn more about The Apostle Paul. Planning will begin for another year of Peace Frogs and spring is always a wonderful time to dream big about what we can offer our children and youth in the following year to help them learn and grow in Christ’s love.
How can you support CYF? Our children and youth are literally the future of the church! St. John’s does such a wonderful job of guiding our kids through age-appropriate programming and allowing kids to question, wonder, learn and serve. This cannot happen without many, many adults taking time to support our programming. THANK YOU to all those who serve! There are MANY ways to support CYF
Programming: Volunteer with any age group, offer to share a special skill/gift/talent you have, help with your organizing skills (I have been told my office is less than ideal ). Please offer your prayers, and gifts as well. St. John’s kids have amazing opportunities, and we have a responsibility to continue to help them grow and flourish. As any empty nester will tell you, it goes fast. I always heard that and thought that it couldn’t possibly be true. It is. We have precious little time as we help our children grow into adults. St. John’s is such a healthy, loving, vibrant and open community. Our kids are so blessed to have the community they have in our church. Please help support this in any way you can and enjoy the rest of summer!
