Being At Convention

At our recent Diocesan Convention I asked some of the youth reps to write a quick report on the experience.  Kayli Christ, Haley McCrossan and Caitlyn Conibear submitted this joint report.

Being at Convention was a bit boring I guess you could say.  But it was nice to know what's going on in the diocese.  Learning about the Mustard Seed project was pretty cool,  hearing how many churches and their ideas towards the project.  The most exciting part was talking to the bishop and giving him ducks.  He is overly excited to spend time with the youth at upcoming youth events.  Haley, Caitlyn and I had come up with an idea to teach the Bishop "Gangnam Style".  He is very excited to learn the dance.  His exact words were "I need some new dance moves".  He does not know what he is getting into!  There was some fun but also serious moments.  It was very informative at most points and even though the talk about the Fair Share was boring it was interesting hearing everyone's thought about.  So overall we had a good time.

In case you're not aware shortly after Bishop Franklin took office he and the youth of the diocese developed a running joke concerning ducks.  At Convention every time he left the dais he would return to discover yet another duck (mostly small Halloween theme rubber duckies) sitting at his microphone.  Our young people got the chance to observe our form of governance up close.  The Diocesan Youth Representatives are an important leadership position for our high school aged youth.

We will begin the process to select our youth reps for Convention 2013 early in 2013.

Changes on Facebook for EYouthWNY

Youth Commission has spent a large part of the last year working on bringing our Guidelines for youth ministry up to date and in line with the best practices available.  We believe that the effort to keep our standards to best we can be is worthwhile and appropriate.

Well those standards are now complete (download a copy of them HERE) and now it's time to begin making sure that we live up to them.  That will include more opportunities for youth and adult leaders to prepare themselves plus clearer statements of who we are and what we're trying to do.

It also, inevitably, means that some things will need to change.

Beginning November 15 the current Facebook group will become a youth only page.  Parents who wish will have access.  Youth Commission has designated a four adult moderator team to insure that the community there is in line with our standards.  The initial team is Youth Missioner Jay Phillippi, Youth Commission Adult Chair Wendy Schumacher, E.J. Gryzwna and the Rev. Vicki Zust.  The team is chosen from established leaders in the overall diocesan youth ministry, balanced for gender and with a clergy representative.

A new public EYouthWNY Facebook page has now been launched which is open to everyone who is interested in keeping up with the news.  Our hope is that both pages will become active communities.  If you put the term "EYouthWNY" into the search box at the top of the Facebook page you will get results for a "group" and a "community".  The group is the original page, the community is the new one.  We invite everyone to "Like" the new page as soon as possible.

In order to insure that we create the appropriate safe area for our young people this means that adults, young adults, and "graduated youth"  need to leave the original group.  This can be done easily by using the gear shaped icon next to the word "Notifications" on the upper right hand corner just below the pictures on that page.  Click on it and you'll get a drop down menu.  On that menu is the option to "Leave Group".  Please click that option.

Our hope and intention for this is to create a space where our youth can safely interact with one another.  A space that is THEIRS and safe.  The best practices standards we examined made it clear that such a space needs to be limited to only those youth in that age group.  For our 'graduated youth' in college or in their 20s-30s I would note that there are Facebook pages already waiting for you to join.

 WNY Episcopal Campus Ministry  and WNY Episcopal 20s & 30s

If you have any questions or concerns please contact 

Jay Phillippi

Youth Missioner

eyouthwny@gmail.com

Youth Leaders at Convention

We have a limited number of slots available for young people who want to understand how we make decisions in the Episcopal Church at our Diocesan Convention this year.  If you would like to be part of the unofficial youth delegation (the official youth delegates have been chosen and named)  you can come and join us in Mayville October 26-27.  If you can only attend on Saturday that's fine as well.

All you need to do is arrange for transportation to and from the Convention.  We can provide both room and board for your stay.  BUT WE MUST KNOW IN ADVANCE!!!!  You must notify the Youth Missioner if you are coming and when.  The youth delegation will be staying at Camp Merz, a Boy Scout camp next door to the convention location.  We can walk back and forth between the locations.

This opportunity is open to High School aged youth.  You must complete a permission form to come.  Download a  pdf version of the permission slip which includes information you will need at:

HERE

If you have any questions contact the Youth Missioner at 

eyouthwny@gmail.com or call 716-320-0733

This week's newsletter!

Don't forget you can receive this news (plus a lot more!) each week as an e-mail.  Just subscribe using the links at the top of the page on www.eyouthwny.org.

Do not miss out on the great fall youth events!  Get signed up today.

  

Next weekend is Journeys for grades 6-8.  This is a great weekend of fun and a chance to get together with friends you made at camp!  Tired of school and the same old routine?  Here's a weekend getaway.  Don't miss out.  We'll be at St. Mark's Orchard Park.  Cost is only $30 and applications are available at the website eyouthwny.org.  Go to the Downloads page!  Come join us!

Happening weekend #30 is also coming up.  We need to have 12 candidates applications in hand by next Saturday.  We are short of that right now.  This Saturday is a HARD DEADLINE!  If we don't hit 12 by then the weekend will be postponed.  Please get your applications in ASAP.  You can e-mail them to me at eyouthwny@gmail.com or fax them (716)483-6406.  If you get it in the mail by Wednesday you should be fine.  

You've probably heard lots of people talk about this weekend away.  It is a lot of fun, music, games, and a faith experience that is really aimed at you.  How do we do it?  Simple, we leave young people in charge.  A great team is waiting for young people looking for a profound and fun weekend retreat.  If you're a Happener already urge your friends to come.  The applications are available at eyouthwny.org as well.

Our new text message service is up and running but you need to enroll in it to get the messages.  At the moment we have exactly ONE person signed up!  Details are available below and at our Facebook page or get in touch with me and I'll help you get set up (But it's REALLY easy!).

  What really is exciting is that you can decide if you want to receive the reminders as a text or an e-mail.  

We've done that by setting up groups for the youth based on your graduating class plus a separate one for adults.

Signs ups are done by either texting or e-mailing.  If you want to receive texts send a text, want e-mails send an e-mail. 

You'll need a code to sign up.  Codes are available at our EYouthWNY Facebook page or get in contact with me.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND CALENDAR

October 5-7 - Journeys #3

October 12-13 - Happening Team Overnight

October 14 - Youth Convention Delegation Meeting

October 21 - Youth Commission

October 26-27 - Diocesan Convention

November 1-4 - Happening #30

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EYouthWNY Calendar Link