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JAMO (Jesus and Me and Others)
Open to ALL |
It was another great year for our youth group! The youth wanted to change our name
this year so we did! We will now be called JAMO which stands for Jesus and Me and Others!
Some events which took place over the past year include our annual car wash in May where we
lathered up, rinsed and dried many cars and trucks. We even managed to clean ourselves as well!
Our big challenge of the day was when a huge septic tanker truck pulled up. We got it done in
good time though and we had fun washing it!
In June, we took our annual trek to Bingeman’s water park in Kitchener. This is always a fun time and we even got to launch ourselves head first down a waterslide at break neck speed! I bet you are thinking that is something you have wanted to do your entire life. Well, you are welcome to join us in June for our next trip to the water park! However, remind me to never go on that waterslide called “THE CYCLONE” again. I think they should have added the words “OF DEATH” to its name. It looks fun but really it isn’t. Trust me!
In December, we spent a day selling Christmas trees for the church. We made a few signs, decorated ourselves with Christmas gear and danced to Christmas music by the side of the road. It was a cold day but we were able to sell some trees and receive some honks and waves from cars passing by! We warmed ourselves in the House of Joy with donuts and hot chocolate.
JAMO meets every other Sunday evening from 6:30 to 8pm. We do devotions, play games (marshmallow dodge ball!), watch movies, eat snacks (mostly ice cream as we seem to have a huge supply of that in the freezer even after our meeting where we made a gigantic ice cream sundae). All youth ages 9-14 are welcome to come out and join the fun! Bring a friend!
God Bless!
Brent Stiles (JAMO Youth Group Leader)
It was another busy year for the Christian Education Committee and for our Kid’s Church! A number of marvelous activities and special events took place over the past year!
First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have contributed in some way in teaching Kid’s Church over the past year. Your help is greatly appreciated. There is no greater reward then teaching the Word of God to our children and youth. Also, thank you to our nursery helpers, Marissa Rankin, Kayleigh Rankin, Mariah Farrell, Paige Farrell, Adam Ostrander and Alex Ostrander.
We have continued with the Power Xpress curriculum in Kid’s Church which allows the children to experience one story from the Bible over 5-6 weeks. However, each week they experience it in a different way. That could be through drama, music, cooking, movies, storytelling, games, science or puppetry. The children really seem to enjoy this and it has worked well for the teachers.
We have had a decline in the number of children attending Kid’s Church over the past year which is a little disheartening. We have combined all age groups into one class which is usually taught by one teacher. This makes it a little more difficult to teach many different ages in one group but we are working it out. There may be a number of different factors for the decline but I think the main one is competing interests for our children on weekends. Hockey games and other activities seem to take priority over church. However, we will continue to provide exciting programs and activities in our church and look at ways we can bring children and young families back in. Nothing can prepare children for a life of service, compassion, love and forgiveness then teaching them the Word of God.
On Palm Sunday, the children lead us in the service with a special dramatic presentation and music. Thank you to Sherol Steinberg for helping to organize this. It was very well received by the congregation.
Kid’s Church began in September with Rally Day! We started a new unit called Lost and Found where we heard and experienced the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the forgiving father. In these stories, Jesus teaches us that God’s love is always there for us, no matter where we go or what we do.
In October, we tried something new! A Movie Night was held in the sanctuary and we were able to watch two movies on the big screen! The first movie was called Veggietales: The Pirates who Don’t Do Anything! Our second movie of the evening was a recent release called Soul Surfer which told the true story of teen pro surfer Bethany Hamilton who survived a shark attack and used her faith in God to overcome the loss of her arm from the attack. Attendance was disappointing and I was hoping that more of the older generation would have come out to support the event. However, those that were there enjoyed themselves and even got to snack on popcorn and other refreshments! We may try this again in the spring but sell tickets ahead of time.
Also in October, we held our annual Kid’s Church Halloween Party. This event is always well attended and we all had fun making frightening crafts, playing ghoulish games, going on a creepy crawly hunt and munching on terrifying snacks! Thanks to members of the CE Committee for helping out as well as Stefan and Anastasia Smelsky.
I am also very happy to report that we have had five fantastic youth that were confirmed as Christians
in November! This is always a happy time for our church! These youth worked alongside their mentors for
approximately eight months. A guide was used to teach them about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Worship,
the Bible, Ministry, Baptism, Death, Resurrection and Life in the Church. They read through the entire
book of Luke in the Bible. As well, the confirmands have come together as a group several times to
participate in various activities. In June, they were able to visit the funeral home here in Rockwood
and meet with the funeral director. The purpose of this was to frame the church’s teachings about
death in a tangible, safe encounter with death. Also, the confirmands and their mentors were able to
attend a worship service at Lakeside Church in Guelph. The purpose of this was to show the confirmands
a totally different way of worshiping then the way we do it here at Rockwood. Not all Christians worship
the same way and that is okay. What is more important is that they have a relationship with God and not
the way in which they worship. I have known all of these youth for many years either through their
participation in Kid’s Church or in the youth group. They are a wonderful and very dedicated group.
The confirmands (mentors in brackets) were: Paige Farrell (Mariah Farrell), Jack Farrell (Michele McDaid),
Dillon McDaid (Brent Stiles), Alex Ostrander (Lou Darcie) and Noah Rankin (Victoria Caulfeild).
In December, the children participated in the Hanging of the Greens service. Also, they performed a
special Christmas pageant for the congregation during the White Gift service. They all did a wonderful
job and we will never forget the angelic singing of our very own Heidi Wenger and Genny Barlow! Absolutely
beautiful! Thanks to Sherol Steinberg, Carol Smelsky and Barb Eley for organizing this. Our Kid’s
Church Christmas Party was very well attended and many of the children brought friends with them! We
played Christmas games, made Christmas crafts and feasted on Christmas snacks. We also had a special visit
from Santa Clause who handed out gifts! He was able to take time out of his busy schedule to read us a story.
Thanks Santa — you rock!
As we look to the future, it is our hope that we can add a projector system and new screen to our church sanctuary. I think we need to keep looking at ways we can reach out to the younger generation in our church. According to the United Church of Canada’s Youth Survey in 2011 you will see that when asked about the way people will worship in the next 10 years incorporating technology/media into worship is second on the list (more music, singing, dancing was number one). Today’s youth love technology! Increasingly, churches are adding technology to their sanctuaries to enhance worship and increase attendance. It is the way of the future. I know that the older generation will enjoy the projector as well. The projector could be used to project the words to hymns, videos and devotions onto the big screen. We could involve the older youth as church “techies” whose job is to look after the running of the projector during worship.
It is also our hope that we can add more contemporary Christian music to worship in the near future. One way that has been considered is to play contemporary Christian music through the sound system before the service on some Sundays. This way we can begin to integrate more modern Christian music in with our traditional hymns.
These are words that I found on a Confirmation greeting card and I wanted to share as I thought they were very meaningful. On the card, it lists the Ten Things that God Wants you to Remember. They are: He Loves You. He will go before you. He will strengthen you. He will guide you. He will provide for you. He will delight in you. He will be with you. He will answer you. He will bless you. He will give you rest. He has everything you need because He is everything we could ask for.
It has been a very busy year and we look forward to a wonderful 2012! God Bless!
Brent Stiles
Christian Education Committee Chair, Kid’s Church Superintendent and Youth Group Leader,
on behalf of the CE Committee
Christian Education Committee 2011
Victoria Caulfeild
Michele McDaid
Carol Smelsky
Brent Stiles
Please contact me at 519-856-9372 or thestiles@sympatico.ca
if you have any questions or concerns.
Yours in Christ,
Brent Stiles
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Rockwood United Church
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