Peace Notes Fall 2018-Word of Peace Lutheran Church

Children, Youth & Family
Kari Osmek
Director of Children, Youth
& Family Ministry
“Wait a minute. I seem to be
missing some information
here.” I say that often to my
son when he’s telling a story
and I get confused halfway
through. If I don’t have all of
the information, the story
makes no sense.
The same is true for hearing
the story of the Bible. If we
don’t have all of the information,
the story doesn’t
make sense. If we don’t know
who David is or why he was
important in the Old Testament,
we don’t know what it
means when Jesus is referred to as “the Son of David.” If
we don’t understand the story of Noah, we don’t hear the
saving reference to water in the words of a Baptism. If
we don’t know who Abraham is, the song “Father Abraham”
makes no sense! (Well, that one doesn’t really
make much sense anyway, but you get my point.)
It’s important for us to have a framework for the stories
of the people of faith. This year, our children, youth, and
parents will all be hearing the same Bible stories on the
same days. We will all be getting all of the information
that we need to tell the story of our faith. Use this opportunity
to talk together and to share what you are learning.
Tell the stories together. Share information. Share
faith.
Thank You, CYF Interns!
This summer, the Children, Youth, and Family
Ministry was blessed to have three interns helping
with some of our summer ministry programming.
With staff restructuring earlier this year and
a summer program that continues to grow, we
knew that we would need more hands to make it
all happen.
We hired three young women who were a fabulous
addition to our staff, and who brought new
ideas and amazing energy. They were always
willing to do whatever we asked—even when we
asked at the last minute! They were flexible, positive,
and excellent role models for our young
people.
Jenna Reust worked with our VBS program; Kyla
Mason helped with Summer Stretch; and Brooke
Genzler was involved in both VBS and Summer
Stretch. The interns started with training and behind-the
scenes work in early June, and were absolutely
indispensable.
We continue to focus on leadership training with
our high school youth to create additional summer
ministry support, and to serve as confirmation
junior guides and church school teachers. It
is our hope that we will be able to employ even
more young people as interns next summer, with
them starting earlier in the spring.
This Changes Everything!
Three Word of Peace staff members and two adult lay
leaders led a group of 19 youth at the ELCA Youth Gathering
this summer in Houston. This was the first time attending
for all 19 of our youth and 1 adult leader, so it
was exciting to see their reactions as they witnessed the
sheer volume of 31,000 people worshiping together.
Christina Verbick
Director of Youth Ministry
The speakers at the Gathering were fantastic. They talked about relevant topics that
hit home for many in our group. We spent a day at the Convention Center with some
interactive learning and service opportunities. We also spent a day worshiping, playing
games and getting to know other people from churches in the Minneapolis Area Synod.
And on our final day, we volunteered at The Center, a place for adult residents living
with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We had a chance to get to know
them, serve them ice cream, sing and dance, and play games with them. It was such a
fun day! Thank you for your amazing support of our youth program and of the ELCA
Youth Gathering.
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