| Hospitality
and fellowship at the YOUTH MINSTRY LEADERSHIP PLANNING RETREAT at Lutheran
Hills was great! Plus, the Bears and the Colts won, so the weekend was really
good! Here
is the summary of what's happening:
The LYO re-start is well on
its way. A letter from Rebecca and Todd was sent last week to all churches in
the synod. That letter gives you their information on the LYO gathering that will
happen in Ft. Wayne in tandem with the 2007 I-K Synod Assembly on June 8-10, 2007.
Rebecca
Brode is the contact for LYO. Her email address is rebeccabrode@gmail.com.
She is also a good resource person for what's going on in the two eastern conferences
as far as youth ministry is concerned. Rebecca is the youth director at Gloria
Dei in Crestview Hills, KY.
Hope Moran at St. James Lutheran in
Greenfield, IN, is a good resource for what's happening in the central part of
the synod. Hope's e-mail is hopelmoran@yahoo.com.
The first Sunday in March is when there is a gathering to share the best practices
in youth ministry. The band from Christ the Savior Lutheran Church will be there.
Churches from the whole central area are invited.
The Northern
tier of the Synod will also be focusing on Leadership training & the best
practices in youth ministry. The input so far is a weekend at a church in the
N Central Conference. The most favorable date will be in July. Church youth
groups would send a leadership team of 2 adults and 3 youth if possible. If only
one adult and 1-2 teens could come, that would be a good start. Creating
mission/ vision statements andgoals, setting a calendar with a balance of fun/educational
and service projects plus learning about small groups and peer ministry would
be included. More
on this will be coming in an e-mail to youth directors in the Northern tier of
the synod. Sue Schoech is serving as the facilitator/contact for the Northern
part of the synod. Sue's email address is characterclues@yahoo.com
More e-mail contacts connecting youth coordinators will be added as possible.
The count is up to about 50 and growing! We know there are more youth coordinators
with hearts for kids sharing The Good News with teens. Thanks
again for all you do to strengthen youth ministry in our synod! God's
peace Susan
Schoech | 
