Want a preview of what will be happening in DCPC Youth during 2017-2018? Let’s get started!

#1-5 can be found here

6. 30 Hour Famine Returns What is the 30HF? It’s a 30 hour fast where we engage in an ancient Christian practice of going without as much food as we’re used to so we can focus on God’s presence in our lives. But that’s not all! It’s also a way to get a glimpse of what life is like for the millions of people around the world who don’t have enough to eat. Our fast will begin on Friday February 2nd and end with dinner the next day. Along the way we’ll dive into the problem of hunger and what God is calling us to do about it. Then we’ll put those ideas into action by serving at local ministries serving the hungry. And we’ll be doing it all with our friends in the youth ministry of Davidson United Methodist Church!

7. Fall Retreat Let’s start off with what’s the same from last year: we are retreating Veterans’ Day weekend (November 10-12) and middle school and high school will be all together on the retreat. The weekend will be a mix of big group and small group activities. Expect to spend a good chunk of the weekend outside enjoying God’s great creation! Now, here’s what’s new for this year:

• New Camp We are going to be heading to Camp Canaan, an island in the Catawba River near Rock Hill, SC. Camp Canaan is about 45 minutes away, has incredible facilities, and plenty of room for camp-wide outdoor games (hint hint!).
• New Activities The schedule isn’t quite set yet, but Canaan has some great options for really cool activities: archery tag, ziplining, knockerballs, Frisbee golf, and team building. Let us know what you are interested in doing!
• New Worship Leader We will be bringing in Cameron Moore to lead worship for our retreat this year! You might remember Cameron from worship at Massanetta Springs Middle School Conference in 2016. Cameron is an accomplished independent singer/songwriter and leads the Saturday night service at Davidson United Methodist Church. He will be leading us in worship a couple times on Saturday and Sunday morning.

8. New Small Groups Here are the Small Groups you can expect next year:

• 6th & 7th Girls
• 6th & 7th Boys
• 8th Girls
• 8th Boys
• 9th Girls
• 9th Boys
• 10th & 11th Girls
• 10th & 11th Boys
• 12th Graders

So that’s 2 of our groups from last year modified and 2 added. Maybe that seems like it’s not super exciting, but here’s the exciting part: we made a goal of going from 7 Small Groups in 2016-2017 to 9 Small Groups in 2017-2018 and we are on our way to that goal!

9. Youth Rooms Renovation Rachel Lewis joined the Youth Committee in January as one of our Session representatives and brings with her a background in interior design and decorating. She has been hard at work reviewing our Youth Lounge and Small Group rooms and putting together a plan for refreshing them and bringing them in line with how we’re using them now. You can expect some fresh new looks downstairs in the Congregation House when we kick off again next fall!

10. You Choose Preview and lend your voice to the selection process for the Youth Group series that we will be exploring in middle school and high school Youth Group!