Fifty youth and leaders gathered at Newman Congregational Church on Saturday, Nov. 30th. They were a joyful group as they ate, sang, dialogued, played games, and created a special candle to take home. This was the third time some youth have attended to this annual event!
After participants were grouped by grades, 5th through 8th, they rotated through four activity centers, each one designed for both learning and fellowship.
Sweet Treats & Sweet Christmas Sounds - Here they made ice cream sandwich cookies and sang Christmas carols around the piano.
Hot Cider & Conversation - While sipping warm cider they discussed preparing for the Advent Season. The discussions among our youth were amazing!
Advent Giant Card Memory Game - As Advent related words from A to Z were explored and their understanding of the Advent season grew. An easy guess was that "A" was for Advent. A new piece of information they learned was that "Z" stood for "Zoe". Zoe means "life" and it represents the "Z" in the Advent alphabet because we celebrate the life of the infant Jesus.
"Holy" Candle Making - Combining crush crayons and ice cubes with melted wax and sequins each youth made a "Holy" (with holes) Christmas Candle to take home with them as a reminder of this experience of learning and fellowship.
This event would not have been possible without the leaders who encouraged participation and then came with the youth to the event. A very special thanks to Kim and Bill Badger, from Newman Congregational Church, who helped Kristin Putney, our Conference CE and Youth Resource Consultant, plan and run the event.
On behalf of all the members of our conference, thank you to everyone who participated in some way to create another memorable experience for our youth.
After participants were grouped by grades, 5th through 8th, they rotated through four activity centers, each one designed for both learning and fellowship.
Sweet Treats & Sweet Christmas Sounds - Here they made ice cream sandwich cookies and sang Christmas carols around the piano.
Hot Cider & Conversation - While sipping warm cider they discussed preparing for the Advent Season. The discussions among our youth were amazing!
Advent Giant Card Memory Game - As Advent related words from A to Z were explored and their understanding of the Advent season grew. An easy guess was that "A" was for Advent. A new piece of information they learned was that "Z" stood for "Zoe". Zoe means "life" and it represents the "Z" in the Advent alphabet because we celebrate the life of the infant Jesus.
"Holy" Candle Making - Combining crush crayons and ice cubes with melted wax and sequins each youth made a "Holy" (with holes) Christmas Candle to take home with them as a reminder of this experience of learning and fellowship.
This event would not have been possible without the leaders who encouraged participation and then came with the youth to the event. A very special thanks to Kim and Bill Badger, from Newman Congregational Church, who helped Kristin Putney, our Conference CE and Youth Resource Consultant, plan and run the event.
On behalf of all the members of our conference, thank you to everyone who participated in some way to create another memorable experience for our youth.
Author
Peggy Matteson
Peggy Matteson is a Commissioned Minister of Congregational Health