“To Glorify God, Share Christ’s Love and Make New Disciples”

Youth Council Meeting

September 10, 2008

      In Attendance:   Paige Hampton, Meredith Higgins, Meaghan Ricks, Meredith Ricks, Jon Farrell-Higgins, Lisa Smelser, Pat Jackson

      Meredith Higgins opened the meeting with prayer.

      Retreat.  We reviewed the agenda for the fall retreat (Sept. 13/14) at Camp Heartland.  The theme of the retreat is Walking by Faith, Not Sight (2^nd Corinthians chapter 5).  We expect 12 youth and three adults (Jon, Jeni Dickson and Pat).   In addition to the regular retreat activities, Pat will be including a discussion with the full youth group about what the future may hold for him and the leadership of the youth group.  Pat walked through this with the Youth Council.

       Greening of Trinity.  We discussed this new initiative at Trinity in which many of the youth are interested.  The first step is a meeting on October 8^th at 7:00 p.m.

      Endowment Application.  We discussed the possibility of the youth council preparing an application to receive one of the three planned endowment gifts.  One idea suggested was that we propose to purchase an air hockey table for the youth room.  Such an amenity would help to enliven the youth space and support our efforts to attract additional youth.  We will brainstorm additional possibilities and make a submission.

      Upcoming Events:  We reviewed the following upcoming events:

o       CROP Walk on 9/28.  We have 8 youth signed up so far.  We will promote this further at the retreat.

o       Youth Pledge Day on 10/5.  We will be working with the Property Cmtee to identify a project for us to work on that day.  This will be the youth’s opportunity to meet their stewardship “sweat” commitment.

o       Lock-In at Trinity on Nov. 21-22.  We will be inviting members of other youth groups to join us.

o       Youth Sunday.   We talked about beginning to identify our theme early – perhaps out of the issues we study at the retreat. 

o       Mission Trip – summer 2009.  We will be looking into Heifer Ranch in Arkansas as a possibility.  Another suggestion was that the youth group consider doing an international mission trip.  The Youth Council liked that idea and decided that we should explore it for the summer of 2010.  This could be a good opportunity for the youth to visit Talpatates.  If we were to successfully pursue this, it might make sense for the youth group to do an international mission trip every three years.

      Meredith Ricks closed the meeting  with prayer.