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Wednesdays seemed to be a good night to meet because we weren’t in competition with any spirts or other school activities. Plus it was a good mid-week break for the youth.... and AWANA was offered at the same time as youth group which helped families only have one night out during the week for church!

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Jocelyn Schauer does a great job teaching Sunday School for our youth..... she is an excellent person to contact and get thoughts from. She is also a high school teacher at Mark Morris and knows many of our youth!

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I worked with the youth for about 12 years and loved every minute of it! I know how important it is to develop relationships..... because our kids need as many positive Christian people praying for them and encouraging them.... we found that having small group time each Wednesday did matter. We tried to keep the same small group leader with them all through middle school..... or all through high school. We also tried to have at least two small group leaders for each grade level because sometimes leaders were absent. Love my time working with the young ladies and made many lasting friendships and memories!!!
Another thing that seemed to work well was offering food each week. Many were coming straight to youth group from school and didn’t have time to eat. This seemed to draw them to youth group.... especially many of our guys!!!!

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Kids love special nights at youth group..... we have tried them once a month as well as once a quarter. We have also tried combining with another youth groups..... this would be a great area to get some input from the youth!

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Creative monthly events (the more off-the-wall the better) is a great way to reach others. Consider giving small postcard flyers to kids. The Glow Night at Cindy Cathcart's, CTV video/music awards, Scavenger Hunt through Longview, and Fear Factor are some great examples. Jon Webb and Luke Krieger have many ideas and would be a treasure trove for coming up with fun, strange, and silly! :) Kids love looking forward to something different!

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Yes and yes..... nothing works better than getting our kids away from everyday life and spending quality time with them. I have served at camp for over 30 years and gone to years of retreats! We have many amazing places around here to have and host both! Bill Baker can help you out in that area and many others who have enjoyed this time with our kids!

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I realize that it is expensive and needs more staff than we can often provide, but I am heartbroken that we aren't going to Mayfield anymore. The Dunes seems not as personalized to our own church. 

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I realize that it is expensive and needs more staff than we can often provide, but I am heartbroken that we aren't going to Mayfield anymore. The Dunes seems not as personalized to our own church. 

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So important. We have used newsletter..... as well as texts. Everyone has social media.... so enjoy and meet the kids where they are!

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The more communication the better. I loved the monthly newsletters with schedules of that month's activities and upcoming activities. As much information as can be provided is so helpful to parents. 

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The more communication the better. I loved the monthly newsletters with schedules of that month's activities and upcoming activities. As much information as can be provided is so helpful to parents. 

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I’m so excited to bring another youth pastor on board for our youth. If you need any help.... I’m willing..... Kathie Lauzis......  again excited to welcome you to our community!

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I like meeting on Wednesdays it's traditional and works for most people. I wish we focused more on the problems that teenagers actually have with faith though. I feel like it would be more helpful and it would benefit more people. Maybe if we had an anonymous question box and just had a series for a few weeks focusing on the questions we have and what the bible says about them. Even if it wasn't something you would want to do with the middle school kids because there would be some touchy subjects probably, I think it would be beneficial at least from my point of view as one of the teens at Calvary.

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All of Calvary is so excited for you to come!

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All of Calvary is so excited for you to come!

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It will be good to have some normalcy and relationship building at calvary!!

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Definitely use social media to reach out. Maybe have a team and someone can be responsible for posting on Instagram and someone on Snapchat , etc.

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We need more service and leadership opportunities to build self-esteem and make youth group about serving and not just about being served.

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We need more service and leadership opportunities to build self-esteem and make youth group about serving and not just about being served.

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Yes.... vital to Christian growth for our youth.... no better time to get to know them and help them in their walk with Jesus!!! We have been to many amazing facilities and can help you out with some great places!

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Keep it practical and short (10-15 minutes) and interaction is always a plus (Slido, Kahoot, turn and talk, challenges, demonstrations, etc). These kids have been in school all day, so getting to the point will really earn their attention. :) A little goes a LONG way.

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A dream I have is that students would have a home group option (middle/high) and/or a group at the local schools. Good News Club has already paved the way for this in a historic Supreme Court Case. So you can host Bible Studies after school or during lunch. Bring Jesus to the kids. Invitations would need to be creative, but this has the potential of being both an outreach for our youth group and also a stand-alone way to really do some amazing evangelism.

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When it comes to any special event, retreat, camp, service opportunity, etc....make it "easy to buy." Think of ways to make it EASY for people to know about and easy for people to sign-up.

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Kids seemed to really respond to an exciting opening to Wednesday nights. Several were sad when it stopped.

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You don't (always) need to come up with "new"

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You don't (always) need to come up with "new"

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To work smarter, I "follow" a number of other teachers on social media to get ideas for engagement. You could do this and maybe spend 1 hour/week checking out their pages. People have so many creative ideas for youth group!

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I agree with the upbeat music and lower lights, concert atmosphere for your opening. Back in the day of Pastor Bill Baker when my boys were active this was a big draw along with the door prizes.  Kirsten Amrine

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The kids liked Wednesday night break out groups

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Yes. I think these are a favorite

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Calvary has always been a Youth supportive church.  Looking forward to meeting you. Kirsten Amrine

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Kids love special events.  Concerts and gatherings with other church youth groups use to be a big draw. Kirsten Amrine

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Some of the most valuable things that our youth group  did in the past were their role in working in the life of the church... I felt they received training that I never even received in 4 years of Bible College...that is working in Bible School...the camp CIT’s  otherwise known as counselors in training... summer interns...helping in Awana...    Our camp ministry was incredible. .the evangelical outreach to teenagers was so far reaching and became a phenomena that reached out to our whole community and beyond.  Our whole church became involved ...people from every occupation ... every servants heart that we had.  The kids involved will never forget any of it...or the adults either.

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I loved having it on Wednesday nights when I was in high school! We were also very blessed to be able to split middle schoolers and high schoolers apart when I was younger. I understand that that’s a lot harder now. At my church in Bellingham our youth pastor holds youth group on Sunday's after the church service for middle schoolers and on Sunday nights for high school. Something to consider! I personally did enjoying having youth group on Wednesday nights as a fun mid week break. But if it’s possible to do the Sunday split idea that would be awesome!

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Love monthly events!! Especially doing fun things that took with the seasons. Youth group kick off night, Harvest party, ugly sweater Christmas party etc. I always looked forward to these things.

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Camp is so important. It is where most kids come to faith and really dive deep in understanding Jesus. Bringing in different camp speakers each year was so helpful to have a change in teaching and to learn from someone new. Plus getting to know each other better through the games and activities was always the best! I sure miss my camp days at mayfield and would love to go back to this. That place has a special place in my heart because of the memories made there and the way I saw Jesus more in my life and the life’s of those in my cabins. (Weather I was a counselor in training (CIT), a counselor, or a camper.)

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I can’t wait to see who will be the new youth pastor of Calvary! Thank you to whoever is stepping up into this position. I know that he/she will be wonderful and chosen carefully with attention and care. To the new pastor, you will do great! Lean on your community and Jesus of course and don’t do things alone. You’ve got this!

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Joyce is awesome but has done 4th & 5th grade the last several years. Jims has done SS for youth. He’s great. Luke & he have traded off & on.

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Something that worked well in the past is scheduling three spiritual growth retreats per year: One combined HS & MS retreat and One HS only retreat plus One MS only retreat.

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Looking forward to meeting you and getting back to some normalcy!

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Being a part of youth group and having gone to others, I find it’s more effective to have fun upbeat music as well as lights. Making times like worship fun is key. We want the atmosphere to be happy, lightweight and wanting more and more people to come.

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Small groups are so important and key to building relationships within the church and outside.

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Yes these are great and everyone loves them. I would try to find things that appeal to all of the youth age groups. Nothing too immature because the high schoolers need things that apply to them. I think high schoolers need to be reached out to a lot more.

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Yes and yes. Everyone loves this common experience and chance to build relationships with like minded people.

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I am so excited to bring another youth pastor into this amazing church. I think a priority should be to reach out to the older kids because there are always many younger ones who attend because of parents or because activities pertain to them. But it is so important for older kids/ young adults to be getting that connection and same passion for Jesus taught to them but at their level.

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I think it would be great if Calvary created an app. A lot of churches in the surrounding areas have them to communicate on both a large scale and to small groups. It would just be very effective and I could even help - kyah west

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I think that separating by age groups is really important for small groups and even for some messages. There is a big difference in the depth of conversations and maturity level when high schoolers and middle schoolers are split versus when they are not. Also, though some people might disagree, as a high schooler I enjoy when not every week of youth group is the same. There are some weeks when upbeat music and an exciting message is great, and there are other weeks when it is a nice break to slow down and have a night that is unique from the others.

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I enjoyed in the past being a part of a student-leader ministry team in the youth group. It was a group of high schoolers that applied to serve the youth group in different ways: tech and music, leading games, doing announcements and welcome on Wednesdays, planning and brainstorming events, etc. I know there are not as many high schoolers anymore, but it felt as though having older/ more mature students be involved on Wednesday nights was a great influence for younger students. Being a part of this group definitely helped me as a student to grow in my faith, learn leadership and service skills, and become more passionate about staying involved in church. Hopefully there can be some sort of group like this that can restart again with our new youth pastor! -Andee Whitman

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We can help with messaging, getting the word out, and supporting you if you plan a month out and let us know what's coming. :)