SECONCH YOUTH

BLAST program for next year: ask for volunteers for teaching different segments, have a sign up calendar and have people sign up for 3 weeks at a time.

Easter Egg hunt- good turnout, pamphlets were distributed, approx. $60 raised from concessions

Mark has started a theology program and will need an advisory group from the church.

Maundy Thursday program went beautifully-approx. 60 people attended.

Moroccan dinner was discussed at length.

Pilgrim Lodge scholarships need to be in by end of May.

New Orleans mission trip planned for Nov. 12-18 for youth group members over 16. In fall, we’ll push to try and get donations to fund the trip not only from this church but from community organizations or businesses. Our group will be supervised by Mark, Vickey and Scott McLaren. There is question of whether the to fly or drive/collect supplies or money to purchase items needed down there. Will stay at a UCC church & work on repairing other UCC churches.

Some discussion around lack of participation by youth group members recently. Question of whether to schedule differently next spring due to the number of obligations these teens have.

Vickey initiated plans for youth group to participate in Androscoggin Home Health and Hospice’s grocery shopping program for shut-ins. Due to requirement of TB testing, younger children aren’t able to participate. Vickey is exploring ideas for what younger kids can do to benefit from the experience of helping shut-ins in some way.

Carolyn delivered Easter Basket to Margaret that was very appreciated, she passed away soon after but had expressed her thanks in a note. Missy Fagan donated Easter Basket fillings which were very much appreciated by all who received baskets. 20 shut-ins received baskets.

Sidewalk art festival- Vickey straightened out confusion around vendor fee and agreed on $25 fee which would enable us to receive advertising and be included on the map. Date is 7/8/06. Included in advertising will be mention of Lobster luncheon, quilt show and children’s festival. Discussion of name for our part-came up with Children’s Carnival or Festival of Fun. Chris Weston will let us use bouncy house. Will need baked goods for sale and something to sell for kids (popsicles, ice cream, something kid-friendly).

Vickey discussed results of Deacon’s survey. Only 14 people responded to it. Vickey reviewed items which pertained to CE. Committee determined that some of the issues were really not CE issues and others were from only one respondent so it was unclear if any other people shared same concerns. Discussed how Vickey and Mark should give the responsibility of CE decisions to the CE committee rather than taking anything personally in order to prevent burnout.

Some discussion of how the year has gone and some of the challenges and successes and hopes for next year. A big challenge was not knowing what all of the church traditions involving CE were. Next year should go better since we know who is responsible for which events. Having events scheduled on a calendar and having a scheduling meeting with all committees was suggested as a way to prevent this stress in future years. Dan will bring this up with church council.

Vickey and Mark are graduating and wrapping up ACT class next week. It has been a very positive and helpful experience.

Discussion of having a young mother’s group to give more support to this growing population in our church. Having a weekly breakfast was suggested by Margie as something they started to develop at her previous church. Different options were discussed, and it was determined that inviting mothers to meet together in the fall and decide what they want and need would be the best approach. Margie will take this on. We should put it on the agenda for September.

Confirmation is this Sunday and Senior Sunday is June 4th. There are 3 seniors. We were unclear if CE has any responsibilities for confirmation or Senior Sunday. Vickey will ask Deb Ladner, and Dan will call Leslie to find out about gifts. Bibles have been ordered by Dan.

June 11^{th is last day of Sunday School.}

We will have a June meeting on June 6th for planning the Children’s Festival part of the Sidewalk Festival in July.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15PM

Souper Sunday went well. Approx. $200 raised for the general fund.

Noisy Coin offering raised approx. $200 for Pilgrim Lodge scholarship fund

Vacation Bible School model will be God is Still Speaking curriculum which Vickey and Mark have and looks good. Determined the best format/timing would be to kick off Sunday school year. Curriculum is divided into 3 2.5 hour sessions but given difficulty of 3 consecutive night commitment for parents in Sept., committee decided on Sat. morning Sept. 9 (10 AM tentatively) to Sunday Sept. 10 (9 AM leading into 1^{st day of Sunday School). Program to be called Jumpstart Weekend.}

Elliot Munn and Drew McLaren attended SYC and had a great time. Elliot was named President and Drew VP for the next term. This will mean they are eligible to attend Synod during summer 2007.

Elliot and Drew will also attend NE Regional Youth Event July 6-9 at Pilgrim Lodge.

Vickey and Mark will be attending conference May 9-11 for NE Association of UCC educators.

Reviewed new Rotation model for those not in attendance last month. Vickey reviewed how introductory session went and described rotations for 1st theme, Palm Sunday, starting Sunday 3/12/06. Rotations will go through remainder of Sunday school year and cover entire holy week by the end of year. Look on new website for more detailed schedule and information www.freewebs.com/seconchyouth.

Official name for Sunday school program will be B.L.A.S.T. (Bible Learning Adventure Stations). Station names will be Holyword Boulevard (Drama), Raiders of the Lost Art (Arts & Crafts), Joyful Jammin’ (Music), Bible Techs (Computer), Loaves and Fishes Café (Cooking), and Noah’s Arcade (Games).

Vickey and Mark would like to intertwine the content of what the children are doing in the rotations into the worship service during the children’s moment so children can share what they are doing and adults can understand and feel more involved in what the children are doing. This will cut down on the need to prepare extra lessons for children’s moment. Dan Johnson and committee were supportive of this idea.

Another plan for helping parents understand and enjoy what their children are doing is for Mark to burn a CD for parents which will include video footage from various events from the year (mini PL, dramatic and musical projects from the rotations, etc).

It was clarified that the children/youth will be preparing unleavened bread for Maundy Thursday service as has been done in the past.

Mini PL was a success with nearly 50 children participating, and the youth group did an excellent job running the camp as counselors.

Kate Rideout and Missy Fagan volunteered to co-chair CE committee. They will also share responsibilities of secretary unless someone else is willing to take on this task.

Easter egg hunt scheduled for 4/8/06 10-12. The following activities have historically been part of the event, and have occurred at the Norway Fire Station.

Palm Sunday Breakfast, Dads and kids. Mark and Vickey and committee weren’t sure on specifics for this event. Will check with Deb Ladner.

Youth group to help with St. Patrick’s Day dinner, do painting and other odd jobs in church, and anything else needed. V. and M. felt the need to engage the youth group in being more active in service activities. V. and M. will work with them to develop a mission statement and a list of activities to support mission in the church and community.

Vickey and Mark would like for someone else to take over the youth group next year as it has proved difficult to manage this in addition to all of the other Christian Ed. Tasks they have taken on (in addition to family responsibilities). Is there someone who might be interested in this volunteer position?

V. and M. will have Lesson Overview handouts to give to parents after each Sunday school lesson to keep parents involved and informed about what their children are learning. Included on handouts are questions to ask children about and explore further with them during the week. Answers to questions and other related information will be posted on the website each week to make help families integrate info into their daily lives.

New Bibles are available now and were reviewed with Dan. They are exactly like adult Bibles in terms of text. Only difference is some added factual information and maps. It was discussed and determined that learning what the real text is and discussing meaning is a good way for children to understand how to read the Bible. Each lesson will begin with Bible scripture reading and end with writing/working in prayer workbooks.

Youth group aged children will have their own program but will participate in helping or leading the rotations with the younger children according to their interests and strengths.

Discussed possibility of having an Open House sponsored by CE. Mark is interested in this and will figure out a date. ? End of school year? Discussion included other ways to reach out to the community to let people know what is happening with the CE program. Vickey suggested including something for the children at the annual sidewalk art festival. The church already has the Lobster luncheon and added the quilt show last year, both of which were very successful. Adding something for the children (bounce house, carnival games, milkshakes?) makes sense. The festival is scheduled for July 8.

Also related to outreach, committee discussed putting together information packets available at the more public events which could highlight all of the CE events such as Jumpstart Weekend, description of the rotation model and schedule, mini PL, etc.

Vickey reported that valentines and cookies were delivered by Kelsey McLaren and Sam Donatelli to shut ins. They were greatly appreciated, and the experience was extremely positive for Kelsey and Sam.

Vickey would like to try to have younger kids (older elementary age) do more outreach to shut ins and perhaps develop other ideas for mission/service in the community.

Moroccan dinner May 6, fundraiser for CE, will need help serving, setting up, cleaning. Suggestion was made to ask people directly rather than asking as an announcement to church at large.

At least one youth group member is interested in participating on a mission trip. Issue of fundraising was discussed, possibly developing a specific ongoing fund to help contribute as well as specific targeted fund raisers. Suggestions were made about how trips have been done in past, who might have more knowledge of logistics, etc. It was suggested that coordination with mission committee on project would be appropriate.