Hi Families, here's your "need-to-know" info for your Buya and Crash Students:
1. 4/30 "ParenTeen Gathering" BBQ - A time to come meet the other parents of teenagers that call Shoal Creek home. Would really encourage you to come by the home of Doug and Sue Wager to meet other parents that are going through the same life stage as you. Please RSVP here so that we now how much meat to buy, and so you can sign up for a side or dessert.
2. "Vamos!" St. Louis Road Trip, Sat 5/21 - Save the date for our annual trip to St. Louis for Skyzone, The Zoo, and City Museum. REGISTER HERE.
Here's are the events/programs that are available for our Shoal Creek "Buya" and "Crash" students:
"Buya" program every Sunday at 11am in the Underground for all 6th-8th grade students.
"Crash" (9th-12th grade) students can meet in The Atticevery Sunday from 10:35am-11am for free breakfast, then attend the 11am service in the Auditorium as a group by sitting in the balcony.
Wyldlife Club for Buya Students - Currently available every other week at South Valley Middle School in Liberty, from 3pm-4:15pm. Contact Justin Talley for next Club date.
Liberty, Liberty North, Kearney HS's Young Life Club - Every other week at the home of Rick and Jayme Paul (8603 N Sycamore Ave, KCMO), 7:45-9pm. Contact Justin Talley for next Club date.
Oak Park High School Young Life Club - Every other week at the Oak Park High School Library, 7:45-9pm. Contact Justin Talley for next Club date.
Staley High School Young Life Club - Every other week at 1218 NE 102nd Ct, Kansas City, MO 64155, 7:30-9pm. Contact Justin Talley for next Club date.
Wanting more information about what Shoal Creek offers for students that you don't see here?Contact Justin Talley, or start following our Shoal Creek Students Twitter account--@SC3Students--to be connected with the latest happenings.
On Saturday May 21st, our student ministry is taking its annual "Vamos!" St. Louis Road Trip to four of St. Louis' funnest (that's right--funnest!) locations, including:
Chesterfield Mall
Sky Zone
St. Louis Zoo
City Museum
This is our biggest student ministry event of the year and the 6th or 7th time we've done this 18-hour road trip. Each year is a blast, and a great way to spend a beautiful spring Saturday.
Any 6th-12th grader and their friends are invited. Registration cost is $25/participant. You can pay through Paypal during the registration process, or get me (Justin Talley) cash or a check. Registration covers admission into Sky Zone, City Museum, and pays for a t-shirt the student will get to keep. Not included in the registration cost are any food/drink. Students will need to bring their own money for any lunch, dinner, snacks or souvenirs that they want.
Please register at the link at the top of this post. After you complete our online registration form at the link above, you will also need to follow the directions in the confirmation email we send you for filing out the St. Louis Sky Zone's online waiver that goes directly to Sky Zone. If you have trouble filling out Sky Zone's online form at their website, then attached to this post is a pdf waiver you can download and fill out instead--but please try to do that only if you cannot complete the Sky Zone online waiver.
Especially needed to make this trip as fun and safe as possible are 8 adults that can be chaperones for the day.If you are a parent that has availability on the 21st, PLEASE consider helping me make this a wonderful and SAFE day for all the students by going with me to oversee our students and their friends. We will waive your registration fee if you can help chaperone.
Looking forward to make this year's trip just as spectacular as the last! Contact Justin Talley if you have any questions.
I had the privilege of interviewing former Shoal Creek student Hannah Goodwin, who is currently a sophomore at Missouri State University in Springfield. As Hannah went through seven years of our student ministry programs, and was "born" into Shoal Creek when it started 20 years ago, I thought she might have some insight into how to get the most "out" of Shoal Creek for current student families. I asked Hannah three questions:
What were some of the most impactful factors that affected your spiritual journey at Shoal Creek?
What was it like for you to leave your spiritual community at Shoal Creek and transition into college?
What would you like to say to current Shoal Creek students on a spiritual journey?
Check out what she has to say, and let me know whether or not you think this helps you as you understand the spiritual journey your student in currently on.
For me, there were a couple really big take-a-ways:
1. At the heart of good "ministry" (student or children or adults--doesn't matter) are always meaningful, authentic, RELATIONSHIPS. Programs, services, or groups alone can NEVER create lasting spiritual movement in the life of another human being. There always has to be one purse picking up the calling of God to pour their life into another person. For our student ministries, it is VITAL that we find some adults at Shoal Creek who are willing to say "Teenagers matter! And I want to do something about it!" Would you think about what God might be saying to you about this? Currently, we very much need some adults like the "Emily's, Sue's, Erin's and Ashley's" that Hannah talked about, so that we can make our current Shoal Creek teenagers feel accepted, loved, and pursued.
2. Transitioning from the Shoal Creek spiritual community to a post-HS community will be one of the biggest challenges they've ever experienced so far in their lives. There's just no way around it, and no student escapes it. They are going to be challenged to make new friends, and the core of their identity will in a sense come under attack. As they try to fit into their new culture/community, they're going to try to figure out how much of their faith to "let show" to the new people, new classes, new professors, new employs, etc.--is "acceptable". Their desire to fit in and find acceptance will challenge their core beliefs and values. AND, most significantly, we (the adults and parents), aren't going to be their to hold their hand. They'll be left to navigate that on their own. The reality that is coming at them in the future should shape how we parent now. Which leads me to what I think is Hannah's biggest theme that she's trying to communicate...
3. Start finding ways to get them out of their comfort zone NOW! Help them figure out how to make their faith less about "Shoal Creek" or "going to Church" or even "attending a group"--help them develop their own personal, individual relationship with Jesus Christ. Hannah is not the only former student to emphasize this point. I did an interview with another former SC student named Philip Potter (which you can find here), and he emphasized almost the exact same need for students to not rely on Shoal Creek, or Sunday services, or small groups, for their own spiritual journey. In both cases, these students addressed how much more they wished they had read their bible on their own as the fueling force in their spiritual journey, instead of just defaulting on the surround programs or community to fuel their spiritual journey.
As parents and adults, it really is up to US to help our students develop their own personal spiritual journeys by placing a priority on reading the bible personally. That starts with us. If we cannot on our own determine what God is saying to us through the bible, our children have very little hope of figuring out for themselves how to figure it on their own.
If you need help figuring out where to start with reading the bible for yourself, then check out this link to several sessions Shoal Creek offers each month to help people figure out how to Read the Bible, Attend a Group, and Begin to Serve (all three really highly correlative factors for positive spiritual growth).
Point blank--there's probably nothing more important to the long-term health of your students spiritual journey (and quality of life) than teaching them how to read the bible weekly, and discerning what God is saying to them personally through the bible.
As parents and an adult community of mentors, we have to model reading the bible to them. Not only that, we have to invite them to do that with us, by creating time around the bible as a parent-child due, so that what God says starts to matter most in their lives as well as ours.
Attached is also a "3-Column Study" guide that will teach you how to read the bible for yourself, so that you can teach the exact same principles to your student. This kind of activity needs a weekly presence in our homes to help our students have the best chance they can at knowing Jesus from now into eternity.
Hi Families, here's your "need-to-know" info for your Buya and Crash Students:
1. 4/30 "ParenTeen Gathering" BBQ - A time to come meet the other parents of teenagers that call Shoal Creek home. Would really encourage you to come by the home of Doug and Sue Wager to meet other parents that are going through the same life stage as you. Please RSVP here so that we now how much meat to buy, and so you can sign up for a side or dessert.
2. Possible April 23rd Event for 6th-8th Graders, "All-City Wyldlife" - Wyldlife has an active Club in Liberty, and I'm searching for families with students who want to start a "Wyldlife Club" in the schools in the NKC District. I'm firming up details this week and the next, but there may be an opportunity for any SC students, plus any families, who want to find out more about what Wyldlife is and how to get involved, to go with me to this All-City event that will be out in Legends on Saturday evening the 23rd. If you're interested, stay tuned for an official event post.
3. Interested in Golfing for a Good Cause? Then check out this spring golf tournament, set up by Young Life.
4. "Vamos!" St. Louis Road Trip, Sat 5/21 - Save the date for our annual trip to St. Louis for Skyzone, The Zoo, and City Museum. Registration info to be out in the next couple of weeks.
Here's are the events/programs that are available for our Shoal Creek "Buya" and "Crash" students:
"Buya" program every Sunday at 11am in the Underground for all 6th-8th grade students.
"Crash" (9th-12th grade) students can meet in The Atticevery Sunday from 10:35am-11am for free breakfast, then attend the 11am service in the Auditorium as a group by sitting in the balcony.
Wyldlife Club for Buya Students - Currently available every other week at South Valley Middle School in Liberty, from 3pm-4:15pm. Contact Justin Talley for next Club date.
Liberty, Liberty North, Kearney HS's Young Life Club - Every other week at the home of Rick and Jayme Paul (8603 N Sycamore Ave, KCMO), 7:45-9pm. Contact Justin Talley for next Club date.
Oak Park High School Young Life Club - Every other week at the Oak Park High School Library, 7:45-9pm. Contact Justin Talley for next Club date.
Staley High School Young Life Club - Every other week at 1218 NE 102nd Ct, Kansas City, MO 64155, 7:30-9pm. Contact Justin Talley for next Club date.
Wanting more information about what Shoal Creek offers for students that you don't see here?Contact Justin Talley, or start following our Shoal Creek Students Twitter account--@SC3Students--to be connected with the latest happenings.
Never B-B-Q alone, especially if your the parent of a teenager!
Raising teenagers is can be a rollercoaster, and is definitely something that at times requires the assistance of others as we try to navigate this up-and-down life-stage. With that in mind, we invite you to join our Shoal Creek parents of teens for a good old fashioned backyard BBQ to hangout and to get know each other a little bit more.
This event is for parents of teens, so please try to make arrangements for your kids to have fun doing their own thing for this night.
Main dish and drinks will be provided, but please bring a side dish or dessert to share if possible.
