Conference Council on Youth Ministries

Next CCYM MEETING: August 8-9, 08. Minor Lake House, Marble Falls TX

(Directions below)

CCYM Spring Meeting Pics 

Group pic from the CCYM Spring Meeting, April 4-5, 08, Hidden Valley Ranch, Medina

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DIRECTIONS TO CCYM SUMMER MEETING:

405 Blue Ridge Circle, Blue Lake TX (near Marble Falls)
At the intersection of Hwy 281 and Hwy 71 (just south of Marble Falls) go west on hwy 71 past
Hwy 281 for 8.2 miles. Turn right on 2831. Travel 5 miles to stop sign. Take the second right on to
Blue Ridge Trail. The first right off blue ridge trail is Blue Ridge Circle.
Ryan’s black acura will be in the driveway. See you there!
Lake house: 830/596-8291
Ryan's Cell phone: 210/355.2756
Rusty’s Cell phone: 210/382.4581

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CCYM Officers for 2007-2008

President - Taylor Kittleman (FUMC, McAllen)

VP - Kendra Glass (Sierra Vista UMC, San Angelo)

Treasurer - Daniel Lumpkin (Lampasas UMC)

Secretary - Megan Hernandez (FUMC, Brownsville)

Chaplain - Samuel Sanderford (Sierra Vista UMC, San Angelo) 

Conference Council on Youth Ministry – Conference Report 2008

Our Mission – www.reachingyouth.org
Our mission is to organize and implement all SWTC youth activities in order to promote real-life events, which inform, encourage, instruct, excite and enable the making of disciples. 1. The Message We Preach: We proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen so that through him people can experience salvation and experience abundant life today and eternal life to come. 2. The Mission We Proclaim: It is our purpose to lead people to God, to develop them into disciples, and to encourage them to go forth into the world. 3. The Means to Prevail: To do all things possible, to remain faithful to the calling of telling others about the hope found in Jesus Christ. 4. The Measure of Promise: To have concrete measurements by which we gauge the effectiveness of ministry in keeping with the goal of “building bridges – making disciples.”

Midwinter Retreats 2008
Over 1185 youth and adults from across the SWTC gathered to worship, pray and hear a message of hope, grace and love during the MW08 weekend retreats in January and February. Many youth responded to a first time decision for Christ, made rededications of their lives to God, affirmed a call to full-time ministry, and felt God close in one way or another. The theme for MW08 was “It’s All Good” and focused discovering our worth and call to serve in light of God’s grace and love. A highlight for this year was the new influx of bands and speakers making Midwinter’s’ fresh and exciting. These retreats remain as an exciting place where youth grow in their relationship with Christ. It is one of the top evangelism and discipleship opportunities in our conference.

Servant Team
One of the greatest new addition to the SWTC Youth Ministry is the addition of the Servant Team. The Servant Team is a group of high school and college age students, 16 to 21 who serve as the summer youth event staff for the Southwest Texas Conference Council on Youth Ministry. Congrats to the 2008 Servant Team Members! These 14 members will be led by Youth Interns, Kendra Glass and Taylor Kittleman. The new members are: Becca Berkman (Marble Falls), Brock Bomkamp (Dripping Springs), Savannah Burch (Lockhart), Briana Cochran (Granite Shoals), Russ Connell (Lake Travis), Lillie Davis (Lampasas), Buddy Johnson (Austin). Kellie Kingsbury (Austin), Megan Lucca (Austin), Madeline Ridgeway (San Angelo), Sam Sanderford (San Angelo), Conner Strickland (Austin), Spence Thomas (Kerrville), and Greg Winters (Corpus Christi.)

MY Mission
The SWTC Youth Council completed the second year of a new urban mission camp entitled “MY Mission” (“Methodist Youth Mission.”) The week included staying, serving and conducting a VBS at Jefferson United Methodist Church in San Antonio. Each afternoon groups visited the SAMM homeless shelter, San Antonio food bank as well as Travis Park UMC Corazon Ministries. The goal of MY Mission is to reach out with the love of Christ to those in urban and inner city San Antonio. My Mission 2008 will begin it’s third year and will be hosted in the University UMC North Campus.

Summer Youth Camps
Summer Camps are a great place to have fun, get sprayed by water guns, and get to know God in a fun environment! With four camps and 500 participants, SWTC youth camps offer quality programming and a positive message centered on making disciples of Jesus Christ. The theme for this year’s camp is “Wild W.E.S.T. Summer Camps.” Topics worship, evangelism, service and transformation. Great speakers, worship leaders, adult volunteers and youths all gather to make summer camps the best! (see www.reachingyouth.org for more info!)

Discovery Zone
“Is God calling you to ministry?” Open to ages 12 to 22, Discovery Zone is a one-day free event for youth who feel a call to ministry. Discovery Zone is crucial in integrating the next generation of church ministers and leaders. Discovery Zone is scheduled from 10 AM to 2 PM, October 11, 2008, at the Loft Coffee house, and allows youth to further explore options in ministry and work in the church. Look for this event on our web site www.reachingyouth.org.

Youth Service Fund
The Youth Service Fund continues to be a vital outreach for the youth of our conference. The YSF recipients for 2007 were the Lighthouse 2911, a ministry of Bloomington UMC, and the FUMC San Marcos youth group under the leadership of Kit Tomlinson. Each received $500 for their work with children and youth. YSF funds continue to be raised through “Penny Wars” at all conference youth events, which further the cause of “Youth Serving Youth.”  2008 YSF funds was awared to Pflugerville UMC, under the leadership of Amy Howell, to help the youth group with a "Move that Bus" campaign. The bus needed to be moved to Georgia for their summer mission trip.

Chrysalis
CCYM in conjunction with Chrysalis is proud to announce the further development and growth of a new SWTC sponsored Chrysalis Board. This now functioning board is working together with individual Chrysalis communities in planning, registration, and coordination of their flights throughout the year. Each individual community will have two representatives who serve on the Chrysalis Board. Chris Grantham is the Conference Chrysalis Coordinator and offices at the SWTC.

Youth Choir Rally
The First United Methodist Church of McAllen hosted the 47th Youth Choir Rally. Sally K. Albrecht, a well-known composer, served as the clinician. Over 300 persons participated in the event. The Friday night worship and Saturday night Celebration were conducted by Progeny, a worship band from San Antonio led by Rachel and Ben Toalson. Thanks to JJ Lloyd and the entire YCR planning team for helping keep the Youth Choir Rally an awesome and God-honoring SWTC youth tradition!

Dive N Deeper
DiveNDeeper is a leadership retreat for students ages 16 to 21. It is designed to be a time for deeper spiritual growth, intentional worship experiences, clergy-led small groups, and in-depth Bible study. DND is for those students who have been identified by their pastor and youth director as leaders in their church, youth group, and conference events. It is intended to build up the student leader in faith, hope, and love. DND beings at 6 PM Friday, and concludes at noon on Sunday. The event, November 7-9, 08, is limited to 40 people, and will include intense Bible study, clergy-led small groups, powerful worship, as well as time for reflection, solitude and renewal.

Conference Council on Youth Ministry
CCYM is excited about helping carry out the conference theme of “Offering Christ to All.” The CCYM is ready to embrace the many new and growing opportunities in order to “Reach Youth for Christ” within and around our Annual Conference.

“Reaching Youth for Christ”
Rev. Ryan Barnett, Chair
Taylor Kittleman, President
Rev. Rusty Freeman, Director of Youth Ministries