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Province IV's Youth Event allows teens to give back to national park
By Taylor Bartz and Sarah Lamb
Senior-high young people of the Diocese of Atlanta were called to serve this summer in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park near Townsend, Tenn., for the 2010 Provincial Youth Event (PYE).
For a week we worked during the days on various jobs within the park -- picking up trash, cleaning graffiti and removing barbed wire and exotic plants. In the afternoons everyone was given the opportunity to enjoy the park. Each night, we were entertained by local performers and debriefed about the day with programs and worship.
We formed friendships with the youth and leaders from all over the Southeast, gave back to the National Park that has given us so much, and, most importantly, gained a greater respect and admiration for God’s beautiful creation.
The Provincial Youth Event is a weeklong service experience open to each diocese in Province IV of the Episcopal Church. We have been active in this event as participants for the past three years and this summer were able to serve on the design team as representatives of the Diocese of Atlanta. As members of this team, along with other teenagers and adults from neighboring dioceses, we were responsible for planning and running PYE.
In past years this event served as an aid to reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina. In addition to our work during the day, we learned about the culture of Bay St. Louis, Miss., and heard stories from those whose lives had been radically changed by the storms.
Youth Events 2010-2011
August 6-7 Youth Workers Conference
September 10-11 Diocesan Youth Committee (DYC) Training
October 9 New Beginnings Team Training
October 15-17 New Beginnings Retreat
October 29 Happening Training
November 12-13 Diocese of Atlanta Annual Council
November 18-21 Province IV Network Meeting
November 19-21 Happening Retreat
December 3-5 Junior DYC Retreat
January 21-23 Senior DYC Retreat
February 12 New Beginnings Team Training
February 18-20 New Beginnings Retreat
February Happening Team Training
February 25-27 Happening Retreat
March 12 Diocese of Atlanta Ministry Fair
March 13 Hunger Walk
March DYC Interviews
April Episcopalooza
June 22-30 EYE (Episcopal Youth Event)
Macon youth go hungry while learning about hunger in their community
By John Mark Parker
MACON, GA. - Youth and their leaders from Christ Church and St. Francis’ Episcopal Church gathered early on a Saturday morning for breakfast together, and at 6 a.m., they began a fast that lasted 30 hours. They were participating in the 30-Hour Famine April 17-18, which focused on hunger-related issues in the Central Georgia area and around the world.
During the day and night that followed, the participants focused on extreme poverty and hunger-related issues in Ethiopia, through games and activities that helped them consider a bit of what it's like to live under those conditions. In addition, the youth prepared and served meals for about 100 homeless people who come to Christ Church on Saturdays and Sundays for the Weekend Lunch Program.
After serving lunch (themselves not eating), the youth walked several blocks from Christ Church to Loaves and Fishes Ministries carrying non-perishable food items for the pantry there. While the agency is not open on Saturdays, Loaves and Fishes staff member Sarah Tapley arrived on her day off to let us in. She allowed students to stock the shelves of the food closet, provided an overview of the ministry and answered all questions.
The Rev. Chad Vaughn, rector at St. Francis’, celebrated Holy Eucharist in the afternoon, and the youth served communion to each other. Throughout the event, the activities were followed by time for reflection. Plenty of fluids were consumed to prevent dehydration, and of course, food was available for those who needed or chose to eat.
On Sunday morning, a team of youth participants addressed worshippers at three worship services, describing the weekend, what they experienced and ways everyone can help fight hunger. Following the 11 o'clock service, the famine ended with a great feast.
One student observed, "After fasting for 30 hours, I thought it was cool that our first food was the body of Christ."
To view a web photo album of this event, click here.
+ John Mark Parker is director of youth ministry at Christ Church, Macon.
Child’s game draws 200 teens for ‘tournament’
St. Paul's-Newnan hosts 'first annual' 4-square competition
By Walter Jones
NEWNAN, Ga. - - More than 200 teens from a dozen Episcopal churches across North Georgia met in Newnan Sunday, Sept. 27, to do battle on eight foursquare courts in what was billed as “St. Paul’s First Annual 4-Square Tournament.”
The competition was really more about fun since the rules didn’t call for anyone to be eliminated or lead to any sort of playoff. Instead, the only scoring was for some silly prizes for style, or lack of style, and proceeds from the $5 per-player admission fee went to the Episcopal Charities Foundation that makes grants to charities across North and Middle Georgia.
The object of the simple, child’s game is for four players to stand, each, in a square and bounce the ball toward one another. A player gives up a square if the ball bounces twice before hitting in the square or if it is hit out of bounds. But instead of being eliminated, players who must give up a square merely go to the back of the line to wait for another turn at the game.
What makes foursquare so popular with teens from Episcopal churches in North Georgia is the pair of foursquare courts at the summer camp many of them attend for the Diocese of Atlanta, Camp Mikell in Toccoa. Campers play non-stop whenever they have a moment between activities.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newnan hosted the tournament, and its rector, the Rev. Matt Greathouse, blessed the proceedings with a tongue-in-cheek benediction he penned.
“We come together today to celebrate the gift of creation by honoring the forms God created from the beginning: the earthly square and the heavenly sphere,” he said. “In this game of foursquare, we honor the energetic kinship of that square and sphere, signifying to the faithful the dynamic relationship between the earthly and the divine, the relationship between humanity and God.”
To set the playful tone, Greathouse sprinkled holy water as he prayed and finished by spraying the competitors with holy water from a Super Soaker squirt gun.
After the competition, the players ate hotdogs and hamburgers grilled by parents from St. Paul’s and then jammed into the sanctuary for the simple, evening service of Compline.
The eight-member team from Church of the Ascension, Cartersville, took home the trophy.
Other churches fielding teams included four players from St. Peter’s of Rome, 19 from Christ Church of Kennesaw, 14 from St. Bartholomew’s of Atlanta, seven from St. Julian’s of Douglasville, 12 from St. Margaret’s of Carrollton, 23 from St. Matthews’ of Snellville, seven from St. Nicholas’ of Hamilton, 19 from Saints Peter and Paul’s of Marietta, six from Emmanuel’s of Athens, 11 from St. Columba’s of Suwannee, 10 from St. Anne’s of Atlanta, 32 from St. Paul’s of Newnan and nine from Rome’s First United Methodist Church.
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