Youth

What happens at a church camp or weekend retreat?  Great question.  A camp or retreat experience is a blend of play, study, worship, service, and prayer.  Each day participants live through these elements that help a young person discover God, deepen their faith commitment, and put their discipleship as a follower of Jesus into practice.  Camp Directors are beginning to recruit counselors for this summer’s exciting weeks of camp.  During June the Region offers church camp experiences for children and youth in grades 2-12 and this year we have 2 new camps.

Heifer Week is designed for youth completing grades 7-10.  This week is limited to 20 youth who, with 5 adults, will spend a week at the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, AR learning about how other cultures live, eat, and interact with first world nations.  It will be an eye opening and challenging week, June 5-10.

Kairos Camp is designed for youth in grades 4-8 and is hosted at Camp Christian near Chouteau.  This will be a traditional residential camp experience with small groups, games, crafts, keynotes, and worship and all the elements mentioned above.

Between February 8 and April 16 the Region offers discount rates, and between April 17-May 15 the regular camp rates apply.  If you are a member of a congregation in the Central Area or the Northwest Area your camper is eligible for a further discount through a grant from the Leave No Child Behind fund that is sponsored by Disciples’ Men in those areas.  You will find those rates when you register.

If you have questions during the registration process give Rev. Michael Davison a call or text.

Regional Youth Council is excited to announce that registration for CYF Konionia has hit 125, but this has maxed out our available football tickets.  Michael is working with OSU to see if more tickets for the game are available.  If more tickets can be purchased, then group registration will reopen from a waiting list.  Two congregations are already waiting.  Contact Michael to get on the list.

Camp Christian Sponsors “Created to Be Me” Camp in December

From Rev. Dan Bubach, Executive Director at Camp Christian

Created to Be Me, is an outstanding human sexuality program that has helped change the lives of young people, families and churches for the past 30 years. This experience is a week-long camp designed to give our teens, current, comprehensive information from a biblical perspective regarding human sexuality.  Created to Be Me will be December 27-January 2 at Camp Christian.

Click here to download the welcome letter and brochure.  You can register for this winter camp, and other opportunities on our website.  Visit the ‘Event Registration” page to find the links.

See You @ Camp Next Summer

It’s not too early to put a church camp experience on your calendar for next year.  Here’s what’s planned for next summer sponsored by the Region.  Dates for camps offered by Texoma published soon.

June 13-17: Kairos Camp (grades 4-8)

June 17-19: Discovery Camp (grades 2-3)

June 19-24: Heifer Week (grades 7-10)

June 20-24: Junior Camp (grades 4-5)

June 27-July 1: Chi Rho Camp (grades 6-8)

June 27-July 1: CYF Conference (grades 9-12)

Mission Guthrie: July 16-20

The Summer Ministry Team will announce the 2016 Summer Camp schedule this month.  During October the team sets the schedule by working with the sites that will host our camp experiences, and recruiting the adults that will direct each week.  The 2016 Camp schedule will be announced on this site October 7.  Visit the ‘Families & Youth’ page to learn more about our Outdoor Ministry program, and stay connected to all things Children, Youth, and Families.

One characteristic of our denomination is that we value education and life-long learning.  There are Colleges, Universities, Seminaries, and Divinity Houses dotting the countryside of our Nation that were founded long ago and remain related to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  These institutions of higher education serve the diversity of humanity, and help students explore their context, become critical thinkers, and, for the curious, sort through the religion of their choice.  Within driving distance of our Region are several Disciples related institutions of higher education: Eureka College, Drury University, Jarvis Christian College, Phillips Theological Seminary, Texas Christian University, and Brite Divinity School.

Visit Higher Education & Leadership Ministries [HELM] to learn more.

Rev. Michael Davison, took a group of youth to TCU, Sept 21, for the Monday @ TCU event.  This day is sponsored by TCU and provides students (high school juniors and seniors) and their parents the chance to learn about TCU.  One of the things you hear at the end of the day is that students need to choose the college or university that is the best fit for them and their education.  As your high school senior or junior begins to consider higher education, or if you are thinking about a return to complete your degree or work on a post-graduate degree, make sure a Disciples related College, University, or Seminary is on the list to explore and consider.

Excellent. Awesome. Outstanding. Powerful.  Our summer camp season powered up during June providing campers and volunteers space for conversations about the spirit of God, connections to others on the journey in faith, and the challenge of following the way of Jesus.  Thank you to all the adults (90 folks) that volunteered as counselors and directors this summer.  Who was at camp?  388 campers from 51 congregations.