National Gathering: Recap

We are headed to the National Gathering in July. Below is a quick highlight from the 2009 National Gathering just to give you a very small taste. In 2012, we will be going back to the city of New Orleans (July 16 - 23). Those students who have finished 8th grade when the Gathring occurs can join us.

Mission Trip: Denver, Colorado

We are headed to Denver, Colorado for our Summer 2012 mission trip. All students who are in grades 7-12 during the 2011-2012 school year are invited to attend this mission trip. We are partnering with a church called The Refuge in northwest Denver. Kathy Escobar (one of the co-pastors) share a little about herself, the church and the ministry that we will be doing while we are out there. The trip is June 15-23. The deadline to register is Sunday, October 23, 2011.

down we go indy mission team adventure 9.6.11 from kathy escobar on Vimeo.

Confirmation Begins on August 21st

Confirmation is here. We are looking forward to another year of confirmation.

This year, we will be taking a look at "bible stories". We will be looking at stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Here is a link to our confirmation webpage with the schedule:

CTS Confirmation Page

Please remember that this year, we are making a few changes. The first change is that we are meeting at 9:30 in the ARC not 10:45. Next, our big group time this year will include worship, scripture and a message that ties in with our themes of wonder, passion and discovery. We will then break up into small groups for our confirmation time.

Confirmation time is a time for us to CONNECT. We have the opportunity to connect with one another, with God and with our world through service.

See you on Sunday !!

The Gathering: Practice Justice

What is the "Practice Justice" day?

Practice Justice is one of three days at the ELCA Youth Gathering (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) to which congregational groups will be assigned. On each of those days, a third of the community will practice discipleship, a third will practice peacemaking and a third will practice justice. In this month’s gNews we are focusing on the Practice Justice day. Subsequent issues of gNews will explain more thoroughly the Practice Peacemaking and Practice Discipleship days. All three of the days are designed to help young people make real the covenant God made with them in Holy Baptism to:

• Live among God’s faithful people,
• Hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
• Proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
• Serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
• Strive for justice and peace in all the earth (ELW pg. 236).

The ELCA Youth Gathering is a witness to Jesus' invitation to hit the streets, to follow one's convictions with actions, and to join in the work God is doing in the world. Even though we know such action isn't about us -- it is all about what God is up to -- many have asked what youth will do in New Orleans in 2012.

On the Practice Justice day, the clean and predictable lives of many of us will get messed up a bit by learning about the ongoing struggles in New Orleans. New Orleanians want us to know about their struggles, they want us to see the truth of their lives because after the initial rush of public interest following Katrina, people have steadily stopped paying attention. Now, six years after Katrina, New Orleans still needs our attention.

On the Practice Justice day, youth and adults will come together in the Superdome to learn about how we make the connection between God’s justice, God’s shalom, God’s intention for the world, and our desire to serve. We will be reminded about how God’s presence made a difference in the everyday lives of those living in New Orleans in 2009 through our service. Then, groups will walk justice as they enter into a multi-sensory experience to help them understand how the catastrophe of Katrina changed the course of history for New Orleanians. Next, groups depart by bus or by foot to practice justice in the midst of the fragile realities of recovery evident in the public education system, in housing and in the shrinking wetlands. At the end of the day, each group will reflect on their Practice Justice experience by debriefing with trained young adults who will help connect their experiences with their own sense of call to live out their baptismal identity in the communities to which they return.

The Gathering deadline is coming soon (September 1). We hope that you will join us in New Orleans July 16-23. This event will only be for the 8th grade students of Crosstrainers.

No Crosstrainers on Feb. 20

Remember, we do not have Crosstrainers on Sunday, February 20th. However, I hope to see many (if not all) of you at church (in the worship service).

Help Needed: MMUTB

Hashbrown and Ham Casserole (We need at least 15 of these)

2 lbs. frozen hash browns, Southern style (thawed)
1 stick melted butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pt. sour cream
1/2 c. chopped onions
10 oz. pkg. shredded cheddar cheese
2 packages of cubed (not diced) ham

Mix all ingredients. Pour into 9 X 13 disposable aluminum pan. DO NOT BAKE…we will bake at the church.

Please bring to kitchen on Sunday, February 20th prior to the beginning of the 10:45 am service.

Please email Stacey Greathouse @ thesogmom@yahoo.com, if you will be bringing one.

Food Items

Six HUGE cans of green beans
Six HUGE bags of corn
150 rolls
Two big tubs of country crock

If you can bring the items, please email Stacey @ thesogmom@yahoo.com

Last month, we served 130 individuals. Our event is now held in a garage. We do not go out to them, they now come to us. However, many of them do live under the bridges of Indianapolis.

Summer Trips

Our Wisconsin mission trip is filled. However, there are plenty of spaces available for Big Stuf and for the Kentucky mission trip (if you are an 8th grader). Here are two videos to give you a "taste" of what you might experience.

Big Stuf Promo



Kentucky Heartland Outreach

Ten Commandments

This Sunday, January 9th, we begin a 5-week study on the Ten Commandments.



Series # 4 – Ten Commandments ( 5 weeks )

January 9th – Introduction to the Commandments
January 16th – Commandments Part 1
January 23rd – Commandments Part 2
January 30th – Commandments Part 3
February 6th – Commandments Part 4

Summer 2011: Parent Meeting

Parent's, we will be having a parent meeting at 10am on Sunday to show you two promo videos for our summer trips. The summer trips are the mission trip to Milwaukee and our church camp experience in Panama City Beach, Florida.

We will meet for about 30 minutes. It is a short meeting that will simply be showing the videos, sharing a little about the trip and a time for you to ask questions.

Hope to see you there.

ACTS

Here is the "philosophy" of ministry that we will be using within our student ministry at Christ The Savior. The philosophy of ministry is "our tool" to help us (as a student ministry) reach the mission of our church: Reaching people to know, love and serve Christ.



If you have a ministry thought or suggestion that we can do in each one of these areas, please let us know.

No Make-Up Class

Initially, we had a make-up class for series one scheduled for this Sunday (November 7th). We will not have the make-up class. We will, however, still have confirmation on Sunday at our normal time which is at 10:45.

We will continue our "creed" series and will take a look at Article One. Hope to see you there.

Apostles' Creed

This morning, we will begin a 4-week study on the Apostles' Creed. We will take a look at it from an introduction viewpoint today and then over the next three weeks, we will take a look at each one of the articles. Here is the "apostles' creed" in a little different format:

ACTS: What Does It Mean ?

In the future, you will be hearing about ACTS. We are not trying to be "sacrilegious" but we will be using it (ACTS) as an acronym to describe a philosophy of ministry. We recognize that each student is at a different spot in their Christian walk and we want to gear ministry to each one of them. Here is a brief summary:

Attract

We want to attract students to Christ and to the ministry of Christ The Savior.

Connect

We want to connect students to God to to fellow students already connected to Christ The Savior.

Transform

We want students lives to transform into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Send

We want to send students out to be the hands and feet of Christ so we can influence our community and impact our world.

No Crosstrainers: Oct. 24

Just a reminder that we will not be having Crosstrainers on Oct. 24. We will resume on the 31st. Have a nice Fall Break.

Big Stuf

Over the next few weeks, we will be putting up many different promotions about Big Stuf. These will be official promo's from them and from other churches that have gone. Big Stuf camps and the ReThink Group is a great organization and they put on a top-notch camp. Check out the promo below. Benbeath the promotion, there is some more information about the camp.



The camp is located on the beach in Panama City Beach, Florida. The great thing about this location for Big Stiuf is that the hotel, meals and worship times are in the same location. Also, Big Stuf rents out the whole hotel. So, it is a secure site. While on the beach, we are out in front of the hotel and with students and adults from the camp there; there are eyes and ears all around.

The beach also has lifeguards and uses the flag system. So, if the waters are choppy, we will know. They will have the flags out and individuals will be checking the area to make sure everyone is following the rules.

We are looking at a great trip. We hope that many students will go on the trip and they can ask those outside CTS to go on the trip. The morning and evening services will uplift them and challenge them and their souls will be filled.

Also, for your information, one of the reasons that I have chosen Big Stuf is that they are the organization that we do our sunday night curriculum from. Also, if you have seen the 7-Checkpoints around the ARC (which have been very important in the lives of the students the last few years), they come from Big Stuf / ReThink. We as a church are connected with them and I (Jeff) have done 5 Big Stuf trips in the past and they are a great group of individuals.

More Later.

Spring Hill: Here We Come !!

In two hours, we will be packing up the buses and headed off to Spring Hill in Seymour, Indiana. We will be taking 60 folks up with us. A few of our students and adults had to "back down" because of some illnesses. We will be praying for you as you are back here resting. This should be a great weekend. The theme is ONE. Next week, we will have many pictures, stories and recaps from the weekend up on the blog and then next week (Sept. 26), we will begin our first series.

Thank-You

Parents, I just wanted to say thank-you for coming out to the CrossTrainers parents meeting. We had a good turnout. Hopefully, the meeting was helpful for you to see what we were doing and to have an opportunity to meet a few individuals and here a little about the ministry and catch a glimpse of Spring Hill and get some of the forms in. Remember, it all starts September 12th !!

Parents Meeting

On Sunday, August 22nd at 10am, we will be having a parent meeting for those parents who have students in Cross Trainers. At this meeting, we will go over the schedule for the year. We will also give you insight on what Sunday mornings will look like for your child. We will also use this time to show you a Spring Hill video (confirmation retreat) and have time for questions and answers. We hope to see you there.