YOUTH MINISTRIES

A Message from Debbie

Director of Youth Ministries

Every Sunday until mid-March, Trinity’s youth rooms were open from 9:30 - 10:30 am as a safe space for youth to process their week and how it intersects with their faith.  Students also engaged in the story of their faith in Holy Scripture, explored the liturgy and prayer book, and built relations with adults of faith.

Adults who help with youth: Debbie Cox, David Henson, Dave and Katherine Hensley, John Hall, Doug Scothorn, Carole Hilderbran, and Elizabeth Boulter

Diocesan Youth Council

The Diocesan Youth Council is a group of youth and adult leaders from the 6 deaneries in the diocese who work with the Canon for Youth, College, & Young Adult Ministry to carry out the mission for youth ministry programs. Membership on this committee is open to all youth (grades 10-12) and adults who are actively involved in their local congregations and have had some exposure to diocesan-level youth programs. Members serve for at least one year, and may be re-appointed for up to three years. The Youth Council assists the Missioner in discerning a vision for youth ministry in our diocese, planning the Spring & Fall Youth Conferences, designing other ministry and mission opportunities for diocesan youth, as well as helping set the policies and procedures for leading them. They meet for training and planning weekends months prior to the actual events. 

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Youth Council 2020-2021: Anna Anderson and Harrison Best

January 2020

"Forma" Conference

Atlanta, GA. - January 21-24

Beth Chestnut and I attended the Forma Conference, which was called “Rooted In Jesus." It is a professional organization for a broad range of ministries in the Episcopal Church.

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While there, we ran into Alan Yarborough, former Trinity Youth and current Church Relations Officer in the Office of Government Relations for The Episcopal Church.

Midnight Manna

January 25, 2020

Midnight Manna is a service party for high school youth at Manna FoodBank, which was on Saturday, January 25 from 9:00 -12:00 pm. We had several youth attend. This is an annual event.

Diocesan Skate Party

February 9, 2020

This was a diocesan event at the Smoky Mountain Sk8way in Waynesville, NC on February 9, 2020. We had eight of our Trinity youth attend.

Spring Conference

February 28 -

March 1, 2020

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The diocese has a Spring Conference weekend for high school youth every year, which is held at Lake Logan Conference Center.

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The theme was “The Way of Love” and continued from the fall conference. We had seven Trinity youth attend. 

THINGS BECAME A LITTLE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR

Confirmation

Both the Confirmation Retreat and Confirmation Sunday were cancelled.

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We will have eight youth in line to be

confirmed with the next Confirmation Class.

Diocesan Events

Many of the Diocesan Events for our Youth were cancelled this year.  These included the Beginning in the Middle, and "Splash."

Camp Henry

Camp Henry is our diocesan camp at Lake Logan Episcopal Center. This year, Camp Henry limited camp this year. They had Camp Henry Outdoor School and Family Camp. We had 5 youth participate this year.

Camp Henry Counselor: Morgan Dotson

Youth Sunday

Youth Sunday was May 3rd and two seniors, Katie Stevens and Elliott gave the homily virtually.  Gray Pearson played the piano. Harrison Best, Katie Stevens, Elliott Hensley, and Sydney Butler sang during the service. Miles Gardner read the Prayers of the People.  This year, we recognized 12 high school seniors. Also, we recognized 8 college students on our website.

David Henson and I went to the home of each 2020 high school graduate with balloons and cupcakes to celebrate their graduation.

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CLICK BELOW AND WATCH OUR VIDEO.  YOU'LL LOVE IT!

Call on Me, a Gift for our

Rising 6th Graders

Those leaving Rite in the Middle to join the Middle Schoolers.

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Beth and I sent the book, “Call on Me, A Prayer Book for Young People," to rising 6th graders along with a personal letter to each of them.

This prayer book designed for teens draws on the Book of Common Prayer, the Bible, and events that occur in their daily lives. This creative compilation of over 100 original prayers offers simple and insightful instruction about prayer. It offers a wealth of diverse prayers on all manner of topics from prayers for the days of the week to seasons of the year. Youth will find prayers to celebrate personal achievements and to address obstacles to grace and faith. There were 14 rising 6th graders.

Sixes on Sundays

Sixes on Sunday started gathering again in  September.  It is FOOD, FUN, and FAITH. Sixes on Sundays are six core gatherings throughout the year. We made it a priority as we built our community and our faith together. These six Sundays start at 6:00 pm, with dinner, games, and faith. Each Sunday, we  focused on one core aspect of our faith together.

We were unable to go on our annual mission trip, so I wanted to offer Summer Service Wednesdays, which provides youth service hours at various non-profit organizations in our community. We went to Lake Logan, Manna Food Bank, Veterans Restoration Quarters, Church of the Advocate, and Steadfast House.