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- IMPORTANT LINKS:
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- EVENT
DESCRIPTIONS
We felt it would be
beneficial to you as a family to have a brief description of each of the
events that you will find on the Year-at-a-Glance Calendar. This will help you
as a family decide the events in which you would like to take part. Each of
the events that you will read about will fall into one of the four categories
that you find in our mission statement (Serve, Unify, Reach Out & Encourage).
Our priority with each of these events is CHRIST 1st! If you have
any more questions about these events, please contact Jeremy or Phil.
- Fall
Family Series
- Every year in the
month of September we begin our Fall Family Series. This series is designed to
give our families some practical skills that build and strengthen families.
Throughout the month of September, our parents and teens will meet together to
work on building their relationships. We encourage all of our parents and
teens to participate in this time together of active learning. It seems that
Satan works hard on our families, so we need to stand together as the family
of God to defeat him in the name of Jesus our Lord. We feel that it is
important that our physical and spiritual families spend time together. That
is why we have structured this series a little different. Instead of coming
for our usual Wednesday night class, we will meet a little earlier to eat
together as they did in the New Testament. We hope that this will give
everyone a little more time to fellowship with one another.
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- Family
Days (Fall & Spring)
- These days and
fellowships are planned to give families an opportunity to come together, have
some fun, and grow closer to each other and the Lord through worship,
devotionals, and family time. It also provides the family of God a chance to
be together and share in ways that God intended us to.
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- Family
Retreats
- Each fall, we
provide a family retreat specific to certain needs. It is designed as a
three-year rotation where the first year is dedicated to Fathers & Boys, the
second year to Mothers & Girls, and the third year to Families together. A
family that is a part of this Youth & Family Ministry throughout a teen’s Jr.
High and Sr. High years will have the opportunity to take part in each of
these retreats twice. We pray that these special weekends will enhance family
life and relationships.
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- Family Ski
Trip
- Each Spring Break
(except in cases when Spring Break are offset between the schools) we will
offer a Family Ski Trip to Breckenridge, CO. This will usually include four
nights’ lodging, three days’ of skiing, and a great deal of fun.
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- Lads to
Leaders/Leaderettes
- Every year, we
encourage our families to take part in Lads to Leaders. This is a wonderful
opportunity for our teens to learn different leadership skills that they may
use in the Lord’s church. Contact David Dawson for more information.
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- Life
Groups & Jr. High Small Groups
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These are classes that are
designed to impact each teen in the atmosphere of small groups. Our Sr. High
teens meet in homes each Wednesday evening and enjoy great Bible study and
fellowship. Our Jr. High teens meet at the building and then, after a brief
time together, break off into small group discussions. These classes have
proven to be very beneficial to each of our teens.
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- New Year’s
Getaway & Spring Retreat
- During the
Christmas holiday period we will take our teens on a New Year’s Getaway for
fun, reflection, and goal-setting for the New Year. In the spring, we will
have a retreat for the entire youth group designed to be an
outreach/evangelistic effort. We encourage all our teens and families to make
sure and be a part of these special events. Our S.A.L.T. & LIGHT Teams will be
designing these events.
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- Open
Activities
- There will be a
number of activities that you will find on the calendar that we call Open
Activities. Each of these activities fall under one area of our S.U.R.E.
statement giving it a specific purpose. Some of these activities include:
Youth Hayride, Bonfires, Super Bowl Sunday, Christmas Progressive Dinner, Sr.
High Banquet, Little Rock Trip, and more. Each of these is a great opportunity
for our teens to invite their friends to come and be a part.
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Outreach/Friendship Sundays
- Each quarter, our
teens will have an opportunity to invite their non-Christian friends to a
special Sunday designed specifically for them. One of our S.A.L.T. & LIGHT
Teams will design and coordinate these Sundays. We hope that this will give
our teens an incredible opportunity to be more evangelistic and to reach out
to their friends in need of the Lord.
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- Rites of
Passage
- By and large, as a
society, we no longer honor rites of passage as our children grow older. We
feel that it is very important to honor these to help our teens and their
families understand the seriousness physically, mentally, and spiritually of
these transitions in life. Therefore, we provide celebrations to honor four
particular rites of passage: 1) 7th Grade Induction, 2) Puberty, 3)
Driver’s License, and 4) Senior Appreciation. We hope all families choose to
participate in these wonderful events.
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- S.A.L.T. &
LIGHT TEAMS
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The S.A.L.T. & LIGHT
Teams are leadership teams committed to developing the
servant-leadership skills of our teens and allow parents to take part in the
development of these skills by working with the teens side-by-side. The
development of these skills then motivates each of us to serve others by using
the skills in service to the Lord in a number of ways. The S.A.L.T.
team is made up of 7th-12th grade teens who are
committed to serving the Lord through whatever talents He has blessed them
with. The LIGHT team consist of parents and adults who have a desire to
help our teens involve their talents in ministry. This is done by serving
alongside them in a ministry team. We have provided our team members with
several possibilities to involve their talents. The S.A.L.T. & LIGHT
teams will meet the second and fourth Tuesday of every month.
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- Saturday
Night Live (S.N.L.)
- S.N.L. will be
scheduled on one Saturday evening each month. These evenings begin at 6:30
p.m. and are through by 10:00 p.m. One of our S.A.L.T. & LIGHT Teams will
design and coordinate these evenings. They will always have some fun and will
provide an environment in which teens can invite their non-Christian friends.
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- Senior
Trip/7th Grade Trip
- Each Labor Day
Weekend we take our senior class to Branson, MO for a special trip designed to
help them grow closer together and prepare them for their leadership role in
the youth group. In February, we take our 7th Grade class away for
a trip designed to help them get to know us better and become more comfortable
with the youth group as a whole.
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- Service
Projects
- Each quarter, our
families will have an opportunity to serve the Lord by serving those in need.
These service projects will normally take place on a Saturday and will include
things like raking leaves, repairing roofs, painting houses, Christmas Gift
Delivery, and so much more. We hope both our teens and their parents will be
willing to give of their time to help those in need and demonstrate the love
of Jesus Christ.
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- Sunday
Evening Activities
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Note the Sunday Night
Activities scheduled throughout the school year. We will be doing a variety of
activities including devotionals, Movie Nights, Laser Tag and several others.
We will need chaperones and help at these activities. If you are able to help
out with one of these activities, please let one of us know. There will also
be some impromptu activities that may take place on Sunday evenings.
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- Teen
Leadership Conference (TLC)
- Every January a
select group of our teens will be invited to take part in our annual TLC. This
event takes place at a conference center in Branson, MO and will be filled
with training classes on how to be a better servant leader for the Lord.
ONLY S.A.L.T. Team members will be eligible to participate in this event.
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- 3rd-5th
Grade Day Camp
- This exciting week
will include fun trips, activity times, devotionals each day, Bible Bowl, and
lots more. Our teens will serve as counselors for this week.
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- A Work Of
Love (A.W.O.L.) (Summer Tuesdays)
- AWOL is our chance
to serve those in need. We will start at 10:00 a.m. each Tuesday designated on
the summer calendar and will be involved in yard work, visiting, painting,
etc. Plan to bring a few dollars for lunch after we work. The day will end at
2:00 p.m.
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- Back to
School Bash
- We will kick off
the school year with our annual Back to School bash. We will be at one of
Searcy’s parks and will spend the afternoon together eating, playing games,
and having some devotional time. We hope all of our teens plan to attend.
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- Family
Canoe Trip
- All our families
are invited to go with us on our annual Family Canoe Trip on the Buffalo River
usually in the month of July or August.
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- Foreign
Mission Effort
- The Foreign
Mission Effort will take place during the summer for a period of two
weeks. The cost will exceed $600 and only 8th-12th grade
teens are eligible for this mission effort. It will be led by Jeremy and Phil
along with help from other parents and adults. There are additional
requirements for eligibility for this mission effort.
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- Girls’
Getaway
- Dijana, Angie, and
our female summer intern plan a getaway each summer especially for our girls.
We encourage all of our youth group girls to plan to participate!
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- Guys’
Getaway
- Jeremy, Phil and
our male summer intern plan a getaway each summer especially for our guys. We
encourage all of our youth group guys to plan to participate!
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- Local
Mission Effort
- The Local
Mission Effort will take place during the summer for no longer than a
one-week period. The cost will be no more than $250 and all 7th-12th
grade teens are eligible for this mission effort. It will be led by our two
summer youth interns and a group of parents (see “Mission Efforts” page for
more detail).
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Parent/Teen Potluck & 7th Grade Induction
- Our new 7th
graders will be formally introduced to the Youth & Family Ministry on
August 22. Please come and show them your love and support.
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- Sunday
Evening Activities
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Note the Sunday Night
Activities scheduled throughout the summer. We will be doing a variety of
activities including devotionals, Movie Nights, Laser Tag and, several others.
We will need chaperones and help at these activities. If you are able to help
out with one of these activities, please let one of us know. There will also
be some impromptu activities that may take place on Sunday evenings.
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- SPLASHDOWN
- SPLASHDOWN is an
all night lock-in with all Arkansas Churches of Christ at Wild River Country
in Little Rock, which usually takes place in the latter part of June.
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- Wilderness
Trek
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Each summer we take a
group of our teens to Colorado for a weeklong trek in the Rocky Mountains.
There, they will spend time learning how to be alone with God and how to work
together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
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- Way Out
Wednesdays (W.O.W.) (Summer Wednesdays)
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Several W.O.W.s will take
place during the summer. On the Wednesday evenings scheduled, we will plan to
do fun activities either in the Family Life Center, the Youth Center, or other
previously designated areas. Please do not plan to stay later than 10:00
p.m.
HANDBOOK NAVIGATION
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VERSE OF THE WEEK |
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Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself in the Lord and he
will give you the desires of your heart."
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