Under the leadership provided by our Youth Ministry Council and Associate Pastor, Scott Benner, Zion has active youth groups for both junior high and senior high age youth. In addition to Bible study nights, youth have the opportunity to participate in a variety of recreational activities and mission projects. For more information about Zion’s youth programs and activities, please call Pastor Scott Benner.
Junior High Fellowship
Students in grades 6, 7, and 8 are encouraged to participate in a variety of activities throughout the year. Our ministry to our junior high students is focused on giving them the spiritual guidance and support they need during these difficult years. The Junior High will meet the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for Bible Study and fellowship in the Youth Department. They will be studying Group Publishing’s book, The 13 Most Important Bible Lessons for Teenagers. These studies focus on the basics of Christianity and will help students gain a better understanding of God and His love.
Senior High Fellowship
Students in grades 9 through 12 you are welcome to visit our times of fellowship and Bible study on Tuesday evening from 7-9 p.m. This is an excellent time for receiving spiritual development, while building relationships with fellow students. We work on developing these relationships through Bible study and fellowship activities. Our times of study focus on many different areas and are delivered in several different medians. Over the past several years we have worked through several different contemporary books, as well as doing Bible studies through Romans and Revelation. This time of fellowship offers a wonderful network of support for our senior high students, and will challenge them in their spiritual walk. We will also have some special guest and go on some trips to destinations unknown.
Schedules
SENIOR High Activities 2007-2008
September 7-9 Annual YPU Shore Trip to Sea Isle City, NJ
September 18 Material Resourse Center Senior High Students will go to the Material Resourse Center in Harleysville to pack school kits for Jordan. This activity will replace our regular Tuesday evening fellowship time.
September 26 See you at the Pole. This is an annual event, where students gather at their schools' flagpoles to pray for their schools, teachers, students, and administration.
September 30 Sunday Fellowship Hosting - Sr. High Youth
October 13 Zion Fall Festival and Open House. Students will be asked to participate in this event. This is an outreach to the community and a chance to share the facility withthose who can and join us for the day. Students should plan on helping in a variety of capacities. Students will also be asked to update bulletin boards for this event.
October 23 Material Resourse Center Senior High Students will go to the Material Resourse Center in Harleysville to pack school kits for Jordan. This activity will replace our regular Tuesday evening fellowship time.
November 10 Amazing Race- this activity might be combined with a progressive dinner. This time around we will do less strenuous activities and spend more time working out your minds! We might even invite a few adult teams to take on the challenge of an amazing race. Please plan on giving up the better part of your afternoon for this activity.
November 11 Sunday Fellowship Hosting - Sr. High Youth
November 16-18 YPU Leadership Retreat. This is an annual retreat held at Spruce Lake for those students that serve in leadership roles in their youth programs. It is also a very valuable retreat for those adults who serve on the Youth Ministry Team and Sunday school teachers.
December 15 Christmas Dinner - this will be an evening of dining together and simply celebrating the birth of our Savior. This could be a casual event or a formal dining affair. there could be a gift exchange or perhaps we will just take in some holiday films that night - look for a flyer closer to the date to find out all the details!
Christmas Break Yet to be planned activity. Zion's leadership team will put together an activty to take place over the Christmas holiday. The date, time, and activity will be distributed to students on a separate flyer after the Leadership Retreat.
January 15 Soups On! We will be making soup that will be served at the Table of Plenty on Martin Luther Kind, Jr. Day. We will have a shortened time of Bible study so that we will have plenty of time for preparing the soup.
January 21 Table of Plenty This is Martin Luther King Jr. day and a holiday from school, so plan on being at the Table of Plenty to serve soup. Students should arrive no later than 10:30 am to help set up tables, chairs, and place settings. This has been an annual event that has truly been a blessing to all those that have attended.
January 26 Shady Maple Trip Youth will enjoy an evening of fine food and shopping in Lancaster.
February 22-24 Winter Retreat. We will have a guest speaker, singing, relaxing and just a terrific time in the mountains! We will be headed to The Loft at it's new location. Our travel time will increase, but the new setting will be worth the time.
March 2 Annual YPU Volleyball Tournament. Maybe this will be Zion's year to be volleyball champions or maybe NOT! either way, I am sure we will all have fun playing volleyball and visiting with friends from other Mennonite congregations.
March 21 Evening in Philadelphia. The youth group will be traveling south to center city! We will meet at zion at 5:30 pm. We will plan on eating dinner at the ever-popular Spaghetti Warehouse. Then we will head to South Street to take in some sight and sounds. Details will be sent out in a future flyer.
April 26 Canoeing in the New Jersey Pine Barrons. this will be a day trip to New Jersey. We will need to leave bright and early and we will plan on returning home alte in the afternoon or early eveing. We need to have students sign-up early, so we can get our time scheduled.
May 18 Couch Derby. This is another student favorite - Students develop a wheeled couch that hold several team members that are pushed by other students. They navigate a course and their couch design is judged for the decoration connected to the designated theme. Zion is the host of this year's Couch Derby.
June 6 Faith and Light. The Senour High students will provide a program that will include music and devotional for the Faith and Light group that meets at Indian Valley Mennonite Church. This is a simple program that involves the acting out of two scriptures texts. We may also be asked to provide drinks and snacks for those in attendance.
July 25 - August 3 This summer we will be going to Pass Christian, Mississippi with Mennonite Disaster Service. As one might guess we will be doing a disaster relief work and clean-up from damages caused by Hurricane Katrina.
No Set Date Youth Sunday. Zion's youth will put together a service. This is our day to serve and lead the congregation in worship. Students will serve as ushers, greeters, and worship leaders. If you have aspirations of being a preacher, this is the Sunday to test the waters.
The Senior High will continue to meet every Tuesday night from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for bible study and fellowship. Over the summer months, we studied a variety of different material, but starting in the fall months we plan to move onto materials by Image X and series of lessons through I & II Timothy and Titus by Lee Evans. The Image X material is a video-enhanced youth curriculum reflecting on teen issues. Along with the Bible study, students enjoy a brief time of worship twice a month. On the first Tuesday of each month we plan to open worship times to the entire congregation.
Although this is a pretty good list of activities, it is by no means the final version. You can plan on having several unscheduled activities throughout the year. Scott will try to keep you informed of any changes or updates to this schedule by sending out individual flyers for activities.
SR High Schedule Last Updated: October 15, 2007
Junior High Activities 2007-2008
September 18 Material Resourse Center Junior High Students will go to the Material Resourse Center in Harleysville to pack school kits for Jordan. This activity will replace our regular Tuesday evening fellowship time.
September 26 See you at the Pole. This is an annual event, where students gather at their schools' flagpoles to pray for their schools, teachers, students, and administration.
September 30 Miniature Golf at Freddy Hill. The Junior High will be going golfing at Freddy Hill following Sunday school. scott will provide pizza and the youth will pay for their golf and ice cream.
October 13 Zion Fall Festival and Open House. Students will be asked to participate in this event. This is an outreach to the community and a chance to share the facility withthose who can and join us for the day. Students should plan on helping in a variety of capacities.
October 23 Material Resourse Center Junior High Students will go to the Material Resourse Center in Harleysville to pack school kits for Jordan. This activity will replace our regular Tuesday evening fellowship time.
November 3 Barn Party at the Hoover's - the Junior High youth will be going to Lori groff's parents for a barn party. Details for this event will be given in a flyer cloer to the date of the event, but please plan to dress warm, while still being ready for fun and games!
December 7 Christmas Party at the Oelschlager's - The Junior High youth will gather at Tom and Brenda Oelschlager's home for a dinner and time of fellowship celebrating the Savior's birth.
January 11-13 Winter Retreat At Spruce LakeThis will be an outreach event, so start thinking about what friends you might want to ask to the retreat. We will need to signup for this event several weeks ahead of time. Plan on bringing warm clothes and fun-loving attitude. Look for flyers in your mailbox for more details late this fall.
February - Grocery Bag Project.(See April)
Febraury 26 Indian Valley Boys and Girls Club. We will be spending an evening at the Boys and Girls club playing games and hanging out with local youth. Please feel free to invite friends to this activity. Activities could include basketball, soccer, dodge ball, billiards, and more (no set date)
March 14 Junior High Lock-in at Christopher Dock - they don't get any bigger or better than this one! Last year there were more than 300 junior high youth gathered in the Longacre Center at CD. Activities include basketball, soccer, group games, movies, karaoke - all topped off with a special speaker and a concert. If there is one activity that you don't want to miss, it is definitely this one! there are also some sick and twisted games that you won't want to miss!
March 24 MCC Meat Canner- Junior High students will leave school early to help pack, label and box meat for the Mennonite Central Committee. Scott will send out forms asking permission from the schools to allow students to leave at 2 pm. Parents should plan on picking up students at 5:30 pm from the Christopher Dock High School.
April Grocery Bag Project Again this year we will plan on an early morning gathering at Zion helping to load grocery bags. We will meet at 6:45 am to load the bags, which will then be followed by a full sit-down breakfast- Scott will provide this meal at no expense to the students or their parents who come to help!
April 15 Mystery Activity
May 30 Camping - The Junior High will spend a night camping. this might be on Zion's property or we may go soemwhere else that is somewhat local. we will fill out early evening with lots of activity. We will also plan a campfire and smores.
June 20 Pool Party – Students will enjoy an afternoon of swimming and games. There is talk of doing some form of pool activity where we visit as many pools of congregational members as possible – we will just have to wait and see.
July 16 Camelbeach - the Junior High and Senior High Youth Fellowships will be traveling together to the Pocono’s for a day wet and wild fun! We will plan to meet at Zion in the early morning hours (8 a.m. to be exact). Please plan on bringing $15.00 to cover your cost and any spending money you think
you’ll need for snacks or lunch. There are sign-up sheets in both youth rooms.
August 17 Biking the Perkiomen Trail – This will be a time of relaxing/easy riding down the rails-to-trails. We plan to have students meet somewhere close to the trails. We will do some biking and then have a lunch or some sort of special treat, followed by a little more biking.
Meetings will be held over the summer on the 3rd Tuesdays of the month for July and August from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for Bible Study and fellowship in the Youth Department. These studies focus on prayer styles and how to make prayer a bigger part of your life.
Although this is a pretty good list of activities, it is by no means the final version. You can plan on having several unscheduled activities throughout the year, plus girls and guys group meetings. Scott will try to keep you informed of any changes or updates to this schedule by sending out individual flyers for activities.
JR High Schedule Last Updated: October 15, 2007
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