A Letter To Our Parents Concerning Summer 2015

Dear Parents of Youth,

I am writing you to let you know where we are heading this summer and into the fall. As we leave May and enter June, it seems time has sped up and the end of the school year is here and summer is going to be over before it began. I am very excited for this summer.  We are trying something new by asking families in the church to open up their homes and hearts to our youth and host us for special get “togethers” throughout the summer. 

I am also excited for this summer for another reason.  Youth ministry cannot be a solo act.  I cannot do this alone and so I have a team of youth leaders to help me out.  After much prayer and many conversations, I really see the need to take this summer to develop and pour into the leaders that I have.  If I were to position myself to bear the weight of the youth ministry on my shoulders alone, I would be placing myself and our community at great risk of becoming ineffective for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  An often over looked part of a youth pastor’s role is the development (the encouraging and equipping) of other youth leaders.  This is just as much youth ministry as running a Bible study or planning an outreach event. 

The purpose of our events this summer (you will find the summer schedule below) is to stay in contact with our students throughout the summer.  My focus will be on developing our leaders and redeveloping our ministry.  With our new vision in place, there are many good changes that need to be made.  The old "tried and true" methods and programs of youth ministry are quickly becoming more and more irrelevant to a post-Christian world.  The leaders, a select group of students, and I will be endeavoring to ask how can we build relationships, share Christ, and grow together with the lost and found teens of our community at this point in God's grand narrative of redemption.  This means come the fall our ministry will have a new direction, new programs, new values, and a new name to mark our transition into this new season God is calling us to.  Along with this new season will come many opportunities for you to be involved in what we are doing. 

What is this going to look like? I have ideas and dreams, but this summer will be the time to develop those ideas and dreams with our leadership team.  Before we re-launch in the fall, I want to meet with all interested parents to explain where we've been, where we are, and where we are going as a community of Christ-followers to see lost students found and the found students grow  in Him who is the head, Christ.  I need your prayers, your youth leaders need your prayers, and our students need your prayer, but I am confident that come the fall, we will be in a better position to see the Kingdom advance in the heart and lives of teens in Fulton, NY and the surrounding communities.  In the next week you will be receiving a schedule of our summer events, the dates are all but confirmed, but with weather and other considerations they may be subject to change and we will keep you apprised of all changes and further details.

In His Service, 

Pastor Tyler

Event	Date	Place	Time	Host	Details
Last Sunday Night CRAZE	June 14th	Fulton Alliance
Youth Service	June 21st	Fulton Alliance			No CRAZE
Chicken Night	June 28th	New Hope	6-8pm	New Hope	Drop of 5:30pm FAC Pick Up 8:30pm FAC
Bonfire Kickoff	July 1st	Fulton Alliance	7-9pm	FAC	Families welcomed to join!
Movie Night	July 7th		7-9pm	Joe and Kara Kule	Drop of and Pick up at location.
Curtis House Hang Out	July 19th		2-7pm	Mike and Shelly Curtis	Bring swimming clothing.  Drop of and Pick up at location.
Whiffle Ball Picnic	July 26th		2-4pm	Mike and Sue Malizewski	Hot Dogs and Salad will be available for a late lunch.  Drop of and Pick up at location.
Beach Day	Aug. 5th	Fair Haven	8:30am-5pm	FAC	Leaving FAC 8:30am, Returning to FAC 3:30pm. Families welcome to join. See Dress Code next page.
Burdick’s	Aug. 9th		TBD	Tim & Jan Burdick	TBD.  Drop of and Pick up at location.
Seabreeze	Aug. 19th	Seabreeze	9:30am-5pm	FAC	More details to come. See Dress Code next page.
Pizza Night	Aug. 28th		7-9pm	J and Karen Spurling	Drop of and Pick up at location.