spring 2011 newsletter
DESCRIPTION
youth newsletterTRANSCRIPT
Hello!
Spring is here again. Well, spring term is at least. The weather has yet
to join us.
I hope you all had an awesome Christmas. It seems like a long time ago
but this time last month I was up to me eyes in Christmas parties,
sausage rolls, scotch eggs and twiglets. It certainly keeps me busy, and
I like to see it as preparation for Christmas day! The Christmas holidays
never quite seem long enough, but they happened, are now over and
we’re back in to the routine of our normal activities.
This term is shaping up to be a fantastic term. God is already giving us
clear signs of where He wants us to go and what he wants us to look at,
schools work is on the increase and there are some exciting possibilities
on the horizon.
Thanks for reading and as always please let me have any feedback.
Nick Francis
Youth Minister
SPRING TERM 2011
Last Term
The Autumn term always holds lots of promise and busyness,
and it did not disappoint this year.
Hill End came and went with enormous success with nearly 80
young people and leaders spending the weekend learning what
we need to “Keep the fire alight”. Amid some awesome times with
God we spent time in Oxford, learnt how to play Ninja and had
the obligatory water slide.
The Milton Keynes fireworks were another highlight of the term
with hot dogs and refreshments provided by Jill Downing
afterwards (see photo on front page).
Schools work shows great signs
of growing. Plans are underway
for a Christian Union at Akeley
Wood, the RLS CU continues to
grow with support from both
myself and Dave Criddle—the
parish church children and youth
worker. We have also, after 2
years of praying and trying, finally
been allowed inside Buckingham School
and took some assemblies there.
Growing Leaders came to an end in December. It’s been a great
8 months learning and exploring leadership with the young people
who joined the course. We ended with each young person being
presented with a certificate and card to remind them of what they
had learnt. Our hope is that we will see more of these young
people being involved in church life over the year.
Finally, ecumenical and circuit relationships blossomed. With the
arrival of Dave, and Darrel in Bicester, God is opening up lots of
new doors and exciting opportunities—watch this space!
NEWS...
The Christmas Party
COMING UP...
Here is an overview of what is
coming up this term at Well
Street:
Bible in a year
Starting in February I will be
beginning a Bible study which
will cover the whole Bible in one
year. Several young people are
joining me in this.
House Groups This term the house groups,
amid their studies and activities
will be doing a trip out—ice
skating in Milton Keynes. Want
to find out more, or be part of a
housegroup? Speak to me!
Questions for God
Our monthly cafe service is set
for a facelift. Starting in
February we are focussing on
questions for God which people
have submitted. Topics ranging
from suffering, dinosaurs, the
future, heaven and much more
will be covered. We’re very
excited about the possibilities
and look forward to seeing as
many of you there as possible.
W h a t a r e w e
learning?
A brief paragraph on what
groups are studying this term:
Both React & Chill’n’Chat are looking
at the Bible this term—the different
genres, what they mean, how to
study them and how best to read the
Bible.
Proteens are continuing to use the
Youthwork magazine resource and
this term are looking at the book of
Mark, 1 John, 2 John and 3 John.
Housegroups are exploring a whole
host of topics—mission, the Lord’s
prayer , Zacchaeus , Eas ter ,
Veggietales! Get involved to find out
more.
How Can You Help?
There are always opportunities to
get involved with the youth work.
Our biggest needs at the moment
are help with Proteens and
Housegroups. For more information
or details please speak to Nick.
Calendar Dates
It can be tricky to try to keep track of
all the dates. To make life easier
there is a calendar on the website
which has all the youth events on.
To find it just go to:
http://www.wellstreetchurch.org.uk/
youth/calendar.php
Information for all of our events and
trips will be available both on
Facebook and the church website.
REACT React has been the core youth
group for Well Street for many
years. But what actually
happens there? What work is
involved in running React?
React happens every Saturday
night at Well Street. We meet
from 7.30-9pm.
The vision behind React is to
have a safe, welcoming place for
all young people, where you can
make friends, have fun, relax
and also explore the Christian
faith.
A typical evening begins with 15-
20 minutes of chilling out,
normally round the pool or table
football table and taking
advantage of the excellently
priced tuck shop. We then move
on to some group games. These
can vary depending on who is
leading the evening—dodgeball,
mafia, sardines, a town wide
scavenger hunt and of course
the odd bit of mess and
mayhem.
We then
move in
to our
“ G o d
s l o t ” .
This can
take the
For more information on the details of the
youth work please look at the website, or
see the notice board in the Lower Hall. If
you would like to contact Nick you can do
so via e-mail or phone. His details are
below.
This newsletter can also be viewed on-line
– go to:
www.wellstreetchurch.org.uk/youth
and click on the Newsletter link.
Mobile: 07735 427811
E-mail: [email protected]
form of a discussion, talk, creative
activities—whatever is the most
effective method of getting the
message across.
We normally see anywhere between
9-15 young people a week and they
go home at 9 with a smile on their
face, maybe a few bruises and a
better idea of who God is and why
He loves them.
Want to find out more? The best
way is to get involved—speak to
Nick!