An Afternoon With Bishop Gayle
Virtual half-day retreat
For middle- and high school aged youth
Saturday, March 20
2:00-4:00 and 5:00-7:00
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Join the Diocesan Youth Council and Bishop Gayle Harris for a virtual half-day retreat on Saturday, March 20!
From 2pm-4pm, we'll get a chance to sit down with Bishop Gayle and talk about faith and society, and about how our faith impacts the way we interact with the world. Then, we'll break for an hour and return at 5pm for fun virtual games, including the premiere of an exciting new game: “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, Bishop Gayle?”
You are welcome to pick one session or the other, or join us at both!
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Arise, Shine: A Sermon Series for Adolescents
The season after Epiphany focuses us on how Christ is made manifest in the world and in our lives. This five-week series of sermons seeks to help teenagers see Christ in themselves and the world at a time when overlapping pandemics make that more challenging.
The sermons in the series, while addressing the young people directly, will bring messages that will be relevant and important for parents and for all of us who see ourselves as our young people's communities to hear, making any and all of these worth considering in place of a congregation's Sunday sermon.
This series, offered by the Diocese of Massachusetts Adolescent Mental Health Network, will be made available on diomassyouth.org as a resource for clergy and youth workers.
February 14 - The Rev. Christopher Whiteman,
Assistant Rector, Trinity Church, Concord
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Updates to the Online Youth Worker Gathering
In place of our usual Youth Worker Gathering on the third Thursday of the month, we encourage you to check out the Episcopal Youth Ministry Network's Youth Worker meeting, open to anyone serving on the parish, diocesan, provincial, or regional level of Youth Ministry. The topic for this month's meeting, on Thursday, February 18th at 3pm Central, will be updates to the Episcopal Youth Event plan. The zoom information can be found below.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 972 0062 2680
Passcode: 049865
So as not to conflict with future meetings, our regular Thursday afternoon Zoom calls will be moving to the first Thursday of the month at 3pm, beginning in March. To suggest topics for future youth ministry sessions, or to volunteer to demonstrate a game or activity or lead a discussion, contact the Rev. H. Mark Smith, Diocesan Youth Missioner.
Children’s Formation online gatherings are offered twice a month. For suggestions for the children’s formation sessions, contact Martha Gardner, Missioner for Networks and Formation.
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Mission Strategy Discussion Guide
for Youth Groups
The Mission Strategy Committee of the Diocesan Council is seeking input from members of the diocese as they work to update and revise our mission strategy. In an effort to ensure that young people, a typically underrepresented group in the church, have an opportunity to give reflections, we have put together a discussion guide for youth group leaders and other mentors. We hope that this guide will facilitate reflection and conversation, around both the diocesan mission strategy and the business and mission of your parish.
If you intend to submit feedback to the Mission Strategy Committee, please plan to do so by March 26. Feedback in the form of documents, scans, photos, chat logs, or whatever else is relevant, can be submitted to missionstrategy@diomass.org. Questions and concerns can also be directed to this address.
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Ongoing Education and Formation Opportunities |
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The Diocese of Massachusetts now has a ChurchNext diocesan formation school, enabling participation in more than 400 avail-able classes offered by ChurchNext at no cost. More than half of the courses are designed for group settings (and can work easily on Zoom), and discussion questions are provided. Congregations can organize classes into particular tracks, depending on their needs. Visit https://diomass.pathwright.com to learn more.
Additionally, the diocese has purchased a “season pass” which allows several people to take one or more 2021 Vibrant Faith MasterClasses at no cost. These are a focused look at one aspect of lifelong faith formation, presented by an expert teacher. The goal is to enhance knowledge, skills and confidence for leading faith for-mation that transforms people and communities. Learn more here. For more information or to register, please contact Martha Gardner, Missioner for Networking and Formation.
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LivingWorks Training Available Now! |
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LivingWorks Start training is a 90-minute online suicide prevention training being offered to clergy and lay leaders who work with those disproportionately affected by suicide ideation, depression, and anxiety disorders. 50 licenses have been purchased on behalf of the diocese for those who would benefit most from this training, particularly those ministering to youth, young adults, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ individuals, essential workers, and veterans. Licenses will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please reach out to Jennifer Garrett to reserve a license, or to Youth Ministry Fellow Eva Dalzell if you've got any questions.
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Resources for Youth Ministry |
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From Many, One: Conversations Across Distance
Last month, the Episcopal Church released "From Many, One: Conversations Across Distance," a campaign that invites participants into deep conversations with friends, family, and neighbors in an effort to encourage deep listening and sharing, and to build trust and empathy across difference. A guide outlines the four questions (What do you love?, What have you lost?, Where does it hurt?, and What do you dream?) around which the program is built, provides context for the project, and includes prayers to accompany these conversations. The Episcopal Church's webpage for the campaign includes many more resources, including sample videos covering the four questions, small group conversation guides, and supplementary materials. The guide and resources are also available in Spanish.
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Please note: The unsubscribe link below will remove you automatically from other diocesan mailing lists. If you would like to be removed from the Youth Ministry News distribution, but continue to receive other communications, please e-mail the Rev. H. Mark Smith.
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