First Congregational Church Youth Ministry

On Sunday, February 5th, there was some football game on… but more importantly it was the Souperbowl of Caring!

The Souperbowl of Caring is a national event where churches and other organizations rally to serve people in need in their community. Superbowl Sunday is not typically a day that we associate with serving others. In fact, it’s among the least likely candidates. But the Souperbowl of Caring, in prophetic subversion, sets that day apart as a day for the sake of the poor and the hungry.

Since 2005, the Jr. High Youth Ministry of FCC Ramona has participated in the Souperbowl of Caring and over those years (including this one) we have raised $4,225.32 and 1,564 food items. This year, last Sunday in fact, we collected $629.00 and 2 food items, thanks to the support of the FCC Congregation! The money will be donated to a local organization dedicated to meeting the needs of those in need in the Ramona community, The Ramona Food & Clothes Closet. God is doing some big things through that organization and this is our way of being a part of it.

Just a reminder that on January 29th, the Jr. High and High School groups will be having youth group together at 7pm in the Youth Building. This will be an important night for everyone to be there. We are looking forward to a fun night and a good conversation about the future. See you there!

Sunday, February 5th, is a big day. It is one of the most epic days on the calendar, in fact. It’s the SouperBowl of Caring! On this special day, youth from all over the country will be rallying and gathering donations in order to support local groups and ministries working to alleviate hunger and poverty. Our Jr. High Youth Group will be gathering donations between services and after second service on that Sunday in order to support the work of a local organization called the Ramona Food & Clothes Closet. Their ministry to Ramona is vital to the health and well being of many people in our community. They provide food and basic necessities to people in need. We are excited to support their work, even in this small way, by donating money and non-perishables.

On February 5th, if you’re a Jr. High student, meet us in the kitchen at FCC Ramona. We’ll collect the donations together! If you’re not a Jr. high student, bring your cash and your non-perishable food items to donate them for this awesome cause for the Kingdom of God!

…oh yeah… I think there’s a football game on later that day too.

On Sunday afternoon eleven of our Jr. High students returned from an amazing weekend at Forest Home Winter Camp. The theme for the weekend was “Be Light” and our speaker, Sean Palmer, helped us enter into God’s story–the story of how God created the world and how God created people to “be light” and to reflect who God is in the way we live. We learned that we need God’s grace to make us whole and we need Jesus so that we can be a reflection of who God is and be the people we were created to be. It was truly an amazing weekend. We were challenged and refreshed by the message, encouraged and uplifted by the worship, and we had a great time enjoying each other’s company.

Here’s a video of some of the highlights of the weekend… look carefully and I’m sure you’ll see some of our students:

Click Here for Directions 

Hey everybody! The next two weeks, December 18th and December 25th, there will not be any High School Youth Group. But please look forward to the Christmas Party on December 21st. It’ll be an awesome time to celebrate the season with the FCC Youth Ministry family (that’s you all). The next regular High School Youth Group meeting will be on January 1st, 2012.

Merry Christmas!!!

The Jr. High is going to Winter Camp at Forest Home, the High School is going to Snow Summit for their Ski Trip,we’ve got an incredible January approaching. It’s just around the corner so there’s a few dates you’ll need to know. Here they are:

December 15th: The last day to RSVP for Jr.High Winter Camp. it’s pretty much the best weekend of your life, so you don’t want to miss out! Let us know if you’re going. At Jr. High Youth Group on the 15th, we’ll pass out the appropriate forms and bills.

December 22nd: All forms and payments are due for Jr. High Winter Camp.

December 18th: The last day to RSVP for High School Ski Trip. Don’t miss out on this incredible weekend of fun and building relationships! Let us know you’re going RSVP here. For those who did not participate in the Car Wash, an extra $60 charge will be added.

January 1st: All forms and payments will be due for the High School Ski Trip.

January 25th: High Schoolers who are going to the Ski Trip can drop by the church between 6-7pm to drop off their luggage for the Ski Trip… everything except for what they’ll need on the trip up to Big Bear.

Mark your calendars appropriately and be sure not to miss any deadlines.

For all those selling See’s Candy for the Winter Retreat (Ski Trip or Jr. High Winter Camp), the order forms and all the funds are due this Sunday Night on December 4th. Come to The Advent Workshop at 4pm and then stick around for Youth Group where you can turn in your order form. The winter retreats are going to be awesome this year! If you’ve gotten a late start on selling See’s, get on it!

There is good news and bad news. The good news is, we have successfully filled all of our spots for the Operaton Christmas Child Sorting Trip on Wednesday, November 23. The bad news is, some students are probably going to miss out due to lack of space. If you have not yet RSVPed, it’s safe to stay that it’s too late now. We took RSVPs on a first-come-first-served basis, without any special accommodation. We have been announcing the necessity of RSVPs since October and it has also been posted on the monthly calendar for just as long.

For future events, please take advantage of the option to RSVP via the Monthly Calendar page. Even if an event is not space limited, this will help us to better plan for events.

We are sorry to those of you who may have to sit this event out. Thanks for understanding the difficulty of anticipating the popularity of a given outing or event.

On November 11, 2011 we’re going down to Presidio Park in San Diego to play an epic game of Capture the Flag. We’ll be joining a couple other churches because bigger is always better with CTF. Jr. High, High School, and Young Adults are invited. Meet at Calvary Chapel Ramona at 10am. Bring a signed permission slip, $5 for transportation, some money for frozen yogurt, a sack-lunch, grubby clothes, a friend, and a good attitude. We’ll return to Calvary Chapel at 4pm. This is an awesome event for connecting and having fun. Great event to invite people! Please let us know you’re coming by RSVPing on the Monthly Calendar page.