St. John's Youth News
"Growing Together in our Faith as we Serve Others"

Sunday School Resumes -- Sept. 8th

The 2019-2020 Sunday School year resumes on Sunday, September 8th!  A great way to start this year is to attend worship as a family at 9am.  Your child can bring his or her backpack to worship to be blessed.  There will be a special Children’s Message on this day, as well as the Installation of our Sunday School staff.  Sunday School sign-in and registration form collection begins following worship (or by 10:10am) in the North Fellowship Hall.  All students and parents are then invited to sit in the front church pews.  We will watch a video about Lutheran World Relief and learn how to assemble school kits.  Instructions will be given for a scavenger hunt, and we encourage parents of the younger students to assist their child during the hunt.  After a school kits has been assembled, please have it “checked”.  Then families are invited to the South Fellowship Hall for refreshments before going to the various classrooms to meet our teachers.  Dismissal will be at 11:10am.

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Backpack Blessing -- Sept. 8th

Students of all ages (and teachers, too) are invited to bring your backpack to worship with you on Sunday School Rally Day, September 8th for a special “back to school” prayer.  You will be called forward to have your backpack blessed and you will  be given a gift that you can attach to your backpack to carry God's love with you throughout the entire school year.  We’re looking forward to seeing you on September 8th for the Backpack Blessing and Rally Day!

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Our 3rd grade students will be receiving their Bibles during worship on Sunday, September 22nd.  Watch your mailbox for more information about this special day.

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Confirmation Class News

Confirmation Classes will resume with Rally Day on Sunday, September 8th at 10:10am.  7th and 8th graders should sign-in at the table in the north Fellowship Hall (as usual) and meet in the Disciples’ Den.  Parents are asked to attend also.
 
Acolyte training and fitting for albs will be held during class on Sunday, September 15th.  It is very important that our 7th and 8th graders make every effort to attend this training session.  Once trained, our 7th graders will be scheduled to acolyte during Sunday worship.
 
Our 7th graders will receive their Confirmation study Bibles during worship on Sunday, September 22nd.  More information will be sent home with students as the date approaches.
 
Please keep our Confirmation Class in your prayers as they continue their studies this school year — Jace Baird, Ava Beetz, Ella Coss, Cianna Cullman, Natalie Hanaman, Macy Hartt, Lauren Holland, Quin Holland, Kennedy Knaff, Dessa Komitas, Ella Martin, Haden Shakespeare, and Jillian Younger.

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High School Sunday School Info

High School Sunday School will resume on Sunday, September 8th at 10:10am.  High school students should sign in (as usual) at the table in the north Fellowship Hall.  The class will meet in the high school classroom upstairs, The Upper Room.  Our high school class will be led by Liz Miller with other adults also participating. 
 
The high school class will continue their tradition of enjoying breakfast as part of their time together.  If you are willing to provide breakfast treats for the class, please sign up on the sheet in the classroom, call the church office, or send an email to laura@stjohnsmendota.org.

Well Done, Team St. Louis!
Thank You for doing God's work with your hands!

All I Ever Needed To Know I Learned While At Confirmation Camp
by Karen Goy, Youth Director

Karen, Haden, Jace, Garret, and Gracie

Last week I was blessed to accompany four of our youth to confirmation camp… and can I be honest that I wasn’t feeling the “camp vibe” when I left.  God is in the business of transformation and that was what our theme was all about.  Our bible studies focused on how a community is transformed as they experience and then extend His inclusion, compassion, forgiveness, justice, and generosity.  It was amazing to witness first-hand the transformation of the community of strangers that was at camp throughout the week as we spent time, prayed, ate, laughed, studied, enjoyed, and adventured together.  Being in community over time and in a setting outside the normal routine indeed had transforming power.  Not only did my mindset change very quickly, but I saw/heard the kids thoughts, mindset, actions, and words transform into an amazing community that was definitely different than the one that arrived on Sunday night.  There is power in spending time in community – transforming power.  There is power in hearing again and again about God’s compassion, forgiveness, generosity, inclusion, and justice – a message very different than those messages we are daily bombarded with.  It is empowering to extend and live inclusion, compassion, generosity, forgiveness, and justice that happens in that community time too… and from there, think of all the other communities we are a part of that can in turn be transformed!!
 
We have an amazing opportunity to spend time in such a community right here at St. John’s!  I’m grateful for the blessed reminder of the transformation that can happen in us, for us, and through us as we make the choice to leave our “typical” routine to also participate more fully in the community here.  Thank you, St. John’s, for the opportunity you made for the five us to go to confirmation camp.  What a generous and supportive community you are!

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                     Thank You, St. John’s Family! 
 
Your encouragement and support of the “Textathon” we held last month helped us pray for cancer patients, share information about free services available to patients, be part of a great community cause (Relay For Life March To A Million) and to raise over $6,000!  The day was a memorable example of how we are to be Christ in the world!

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St. John's was well-represented on the 2018 MHS Homecoming Court!
Congratulations to Katie, Ally, Maya & Ted!

High School student, Samantha Katschke, is pictured on the bench that was installed in the new playground in Paw Paw.  Sammi and her Girl Scout Troop #5158 would like to thank St. John's for the generous donations of bottle caps to help them reach their goal. 
 

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Team Pictures from previous High School Mission Trips

2018 Benton Harbor, MI Mission Trip Team - Natalie, Tammy, Gabrielle, Grace, Gabbi, Maya, Bailey, Sophie, Sammi, Amy, Matthew, Mitch, Troy, Cole, Gavin, Ted and Logan

2017 Red Lake, MN Mission Trip Team - Maria, Natalie, Brent, Grace, Matthew, Gabrielle, Gavin, Gillian, Cole, Cameron, Aaron, Gabbi and Sammye

2016 Cincinnati, OH Mission Trip Team - Maria, Gavin, Jacquelynn, Haleigh, Gillian, Cameron, Natalie, Dave, Grace, Aaron and Roberta.

2015 St. Louis, MO Mission Trip Team - Mary, Jared, Grace, Brock, Natalie, Gillian, Mark, Cameron, Amy, Jacquelynn, Brady, Karen, Don, Maria and Joey

2014 Bayou La Batre, AL Mission Trip Team - Maria, Paige, Grace, Emily, Cameron, Gillian, Jacquelynn, Brady, Amy, Lukas, Jared, Joey, Mark, Brock and Barry

2013 Benton Harbon, MI Mission Trip Team - Jared, Mark, Erik, Brock, Brady, Gillian, Amy, Cameron and Jacquelynn (not pictured: Maria, Alice and Curt)

2012 Eastern Shore of Virginia Mission Trip Team with YouthWorks staff members and Jeff, Amy, Marcus, Mark, Jared, Brock, Paige S., Paige H., Brady and Maria.

2011 Cass Lake, MN Mission Trip Team - Don, Travis, Mark, Amy, Cady, Devan, Paige, Jared, Laurie, Grif, Karen and Marcus.

2018 Team Benton Harbor had a great time at Silver Beach

2017 Red Lake Team enjoyed a beautiful sunset!

2016 Cincinnati Mission Trip Team onsite with YouthWorks!

2015 St. Louis Mission Trip Team onsite with YouthWorks at Kossuth Church of God in Christ

We work hard and we play hard! A day of fun on the beach at Dauphin Island, AL.

Our Benton Harbor Mission Trip team with the beloved Mama Wilder.

We LOVED serving the community of Cass Lake!