"It's a sin to bore a kid with the Gospel." - Young Life Club Launch Tuesday 9/20

It doesn't matter where you're student goes to high school, I'd love for them to come with me this coming Tuesday (9/20) for the first Young Life Club of the semester. 

If you haven't heard of Young Life yet, or you're wondering what the Young Life is, it's basically what you would think of as a typical "youth group", but instead of the group (called a "Club") meeting on the physical campus of church, Young Life Club meets in the homes of the students, or on the high school campus itself. 

Young Life's Vision and Mission is, "to give every adolescent the opportunity to meet Jesus Christ and follow him by introducing them to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith" through:

• Praying for young people. 
• Going where kids are. 
• Building personal relationships with them. 
• Winning the right to be heard. 
• Providing experiences that are fun, adventurous and life-changing. 
• Sharing our lives and the Good News of Jesus Christ with adolescents. 
• Inviting them to personally respond to this Good News. 
• Loving them regardless of their response. 
• Nurturing kids so they might grow in their love for Christ and the knowledge of God's Word and become people who can share their faith with others. 
• Helping young people develop the skills, assets and attitudes to reach their full God-given potential. 
• Encouraging kids to live connected to the Body of Christ by being an active member of a local congregation. 
• Working with a team of like-minded individuals — volunteer leaders, committee members, donors and staff.

Shoal Creek's mission has always been to reach out to spiritual seekers and turn them into a community of fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, so it is very natural that a relationship between Shoal Creek and Young Life would form, since our DNA of reaching out to the lost as a church is so very similar to Young Life's DNA of reaching out to lost teenagers and getting them on a spiritual journey. 

There are thousands of high schoolers that wouldn't have the opportunity to be on a spiritual journey and would never have the opportunity to learn who Jesus Christ is without Young Life. It's very exciting to me to see Shoal Creek continue to build a relationship with Young Life so that our own Shoal Creek students can learn how to be live like Jesus for the sake of their friends and schoolmates--and have BLAST doing it! One of Young Life's motto's is:

It's a sin to bore a kid with the Gospel.

And I invite you to prove me wrong by sending your student with me on Tuesday night, 9/20, or any other week they're available to go with me!

Please contact me ASAP to get details about exactly when and where we're meeting up.

"MUCKFEST" 2016

High School Families--have you ever heard of "Muckfest" before? Would your high schooler enjoy getting doused in an interesting array of table condiments, shaving cream, color bombs, and general "muck"?

It might just be one of the coolest, craziest things you've ever seen this side of the Mississippi, and it could also be one of the best next steps available for your student and their spiritual journey.

This really is a CAN'T MISS opportunity for your high school student to get involved in a spiritual movement happening on, or near, their school campuses through your local Young Life Club.

High schools from Liberty, Liberty North, Park Hill, Park Hill South, Platte County, Oak Park, Staley and Kearney will all be there to kick off this semesters Young Life efforts.

I am meeting on Shoal Creek's campus at 6pm, and leaving the back parking lot to head to the event at 6:15pm, so I need to know if your student wants to come with me.  I have 9 seats in the SC van and will need help from students who drive or parents who want to help transport. 

Or, better yet, bring them and couple of their friends YOURSELF and get your own first-hand experience as to what Young Life is all about, and how it could be an extremely beneficial part of your student's spiritual journey. The week following MUCKFEST will be the first week that Young Life "Clubs" across the Northland start meeting for the fall.

I'll be taking students to the first Club in our area on Tuesday 9/20, at 7:45pm-9:15pm, so save-that-date for getting your student to that night as well. Again, I'll probably have some spots for taking students if you give me enough notice to be able to save them a seat.

Questions--contact me ASAP!

One Homeless Night

One Homeless Night is an event where young people have a unique opportunity to step into the shoes of their homeless peers for one night, while also providing critical help to programs at Synergy Services. 2,000 youth are homeless every night in the Kansas City metro area, and this is an opportunity for your teen and your family to engage this very prevalent issue.

On Saturday October 15th, across the entire Kansas City metro area, thousands of youth will participate in "sleep-outs" to raise funds and awareness to youth homelessness.

Synergy also has a One Homeless Night Rally coming up on Thursday, September 8 at 6:00 pm at our Youth Resiliency Center (2001 NE Parvin Rd, Kansas City, MO 64116). At the rally we will be able to answer any questions you may have about One Homeless Night, including how to get people involved in your community and how to pick a site. 

If you're interested in participating, please contact me, or visit Synergy Services One Homeless Night overview page.

More All-Family Gatherings and Services at Shoal Creek?

Two weeks ago Shoal Creek tried out an "All-Family" service in place of our normally adult-targeted service. The controlled chaos can't be described, only witnessed! 

Coming out of that Sunday, we wondered, "Could there be a more regular place at Shoal Creek for more "all-family" type gatherings such as this? Would families take advantage of programs and events that were designed to engage the whole family's spiritual journey at the same time? What might happen in a family's spiritual journey if we designed gatherings for the family to grow closer to God together, instead of always splitting them up?"

Have you ever wondered the same thing? Or, if you were able to experience our All-Family service from 8/21, did you come away from it wanting more opportunities to grow closer to God with those you call family?

Shoal Creek is looking for and gathering people who are intrigued by the thought of providing more gatherings and services similar to the 8/21 All-Family service. We're searching for people who are interested in working with others to create spaces for families to journey towards God together.

Might that be you? Might coming to a Sept 11th brainstorming/planning meeting be a next step for your family's spiritual journey?

Please think about it, because we believe that there are families out there looking for a place to learn how to do "family", and Shoal Creek may be the place God is leading them to find. Having more regular All-Family gatherings could be the "hook" that leads them to a place where God can intersect their lives, and you and your family could be a part of making that happen.

If you can't make the Sept 11th brainstorming/planning meeting but are still interested in being a part of this, please contact me and let me know.

First Ever Shoal Creek Family Olympics

Want to help plan for an AMAZING family experience?

Sunday August 21st we will be having our FIRST EVER family Olympics. There will be food, games and prizes for all. Best of all it follows our FIRST EVER all family event at nine thirty and eleven am on that same day! 

A planning meeting is set for this Sunday after the 11am service in the main office area. Lunch will be provided. 

NOTE! The people who attend this meeting will also be on site and working during the Family Olympic event. So to allow families with younger/elementary age children to enjoy the event together, we are looking for adults/teens to attend this meeting and serve who are not at that life stage. 

Please contact Candy Moran if you can make the planning meeting this Sunday, or if you can't make the planning meeting but still want to be a part of the Family Olympics on 8/21.

What do young people really want in a church?

"What do young people really want in a church?" - If you've been wondering what might increase your teen's affinity for church, you might be surprised to find out what really motivates many young people to attend--to be challenged.  As one 20-something put it, 

“I think many churches have fallen into a consumer mindset as a default mode. Churches have tried to appeal to people’s desire to feel good. But the problem is, if you’re just trying to make people feel good, church isn’t going to measure up to that.”

The link and quote come from the Fuller Youth Institute. FYI is going to be publishing a book this fall called "Growing Young", a research-based look at what actually attracts teenagers and young adults to church. They are uncovering many seriously insightful data points from their qualitative and qualitative studies that can help us as Shoal Creek think about concrete steps that families can take to help our students have the fullest spiritual journey possible.

Concerning this particular article and quote, have you and your student thought about finding a place to serve on Sundays? If not, it is worth having a conversation about, as most Shoal Creek students that have found a place to serve on Sunday have continued to desire to attend Shoal Creek all the way through their senior year in high school--a BIG WIN!

If interested in finding a place for you and your student to serve, please contact me and we'll get you hooked up.

Can You Hold A Baby?

"No really, could you hold a snuggly baby for one hour once a week? I mean, sometimes they need to have a bottle or a diaper change or something, but very often we need someone to hold a sweet baby. The infant room first service is in need of a consistent volunteer and some subs, and second service could use occasional subs. 

If every Sunday sounds like too much, could you partner with another individual or family and cover all the weeks each month? We have a form and will do a background check and could then get you plugged in to a great group of volunteers.

Also, we have a need for a consistent adult in the Two year old room first service and Three year old room second service. The requirements for this are to be adept at puzzles and coloring and building with blocks. If you are out of practice with these skills, I am sure they can quickly whip you into shape :) !"

Our Totzone (0-3) Team at Shoal Crek shared this with me last night, and I wanted to make sure it got pushed out far and wide because holding a baby could be an insanely easy way to 1) get your student plugged into serving which, 2) helps teach them that they are a part of God's bigger plan by 3) integrating them into Shoal Creek's mission to provide a safe environment for children on Sundays so that parents can experience God's message to them in the auditorium on Sundays.

Contact me if interested.