North Atlantic District CYD � Quarterly Reports: Fall 2008

North Atlantic District Commission on Youth Discipleship

CYD Home Page Reorganized

CYD recently reorganized its Web content via a more visual and easy to understand format (see below). A new 12 tile grid links to CYD’s 12 ministry areas. Find this page at www.wels.net/youthdiscipleship. Links to CYD’s other Web sites are positioned under this grid. This page will be used until WELS Communications and Web Services roll out the new WELS Web site.

Creating Youth-full Churches

Eighteen links can be found in the “Research & Resources” area of the CYD Web site. All of the links relate to the Why Young People Leave WELS national research study and the Creating Youth-full Churches Bible studies that flowed from it. Forward in Christ is currently running a series of articles by Professor David Sellnow, under the theme, “Voices of Youth.” Professor Sellnow is the author of the Creating Youth-full Churches studies. His FIC articles, presented as an actual and engaging discussion between teens and adults, tap into the findings of the research study and the content of the Bible studies.

Y-ME Academies

CYD District Coordinators, Pastor Ben Berger (Appleton, WI) and staff ministers Tom Banaszak (Jackson, WI) and Chad White (Austin, TX), are working with the CYD staff to develop Youth Ministry Enhancement (Y-ME) Academies. Through presentations, discussion, analysis, and planning, Y-ME Academies, like the highly successful schools of worship and outreach, will assist participating congregations in evaluation and improvement of youthministry in general and a specific youth ministry of their own choosing. God-willing, the first Y-ME Academy will be piloted in the late winter of 2009.

Confirmation Self-Study

The Confirmation Ministry Self-Study is in the final stages of development. Very soon the video taping of seven “best practice” examples in WELS, as well as a panel discussion of experts, will be finished. The DVD along with the self-study materials will then be made available. CYD will decide at its fall meeting what to charge congregations for this long-awaited resource.

Newsletters Online

Fall 2008 represents the first quarter when all CYD newsletters go online. Sowers & Seeds (for early childhood ministers), Partners (for Sunday school staff members), and REACH! (for those engaged in ministry to teens) are no longer being printed and mailed to individuals or in bulk. The newsletters will retain their same quality look, formatting, and content but will now be "delivered" to subscribers in a downloadable pdf that can either be read on the computer or printed out in hard copy. To subscribe…

1) Go to www.wels.net/youthdiscipleship.

2) Click on the “Newsletters” image.

3) Click on the appropriate, blue “E-mail Notification” link.

4) Follow the steps in the “Delivery Methods” box at the very bottom of the page.

5) Watch for the e-mail about the new issue.

“Follow the Path, Lead the Way!” Rally Information Available

Planning for the 2009 WELS International Youth Rally is well-underway! The rally planning team (3 teens and 4 adults) traveled to Ames, IA on August 14-15 to tour Iowa State University and meet the university staff that will assist with the rally. Anyone who thinks a rally on a university campus in Iowa will not be awesome is sorely mistaken! This is shaping up to be the best rally WELS has ever had. Registration information will come in late September/early October. This rally will be truly international for a change as WELS youth and leaders from Canada, Malawi, Zambia, Brazil, and Taiwan will be attending through a special partnership between CYD and World Missions. If you haven’t been to the rally Web site for a while (www.welsyouthrally.net), there’s quite a bit of information available. Check it out!

Nota Bene: Ascension Lutheran, Jacksonville, NC has expressed plans to send a few teens to this rally. They are looking for other interested youth groups who would like to piggyback with them relating to travel and other arrangements. Please contact myself or David Neumann (dneumann@ec.rr.com), if you would be interested in being involved in this “south conference connection.” If there is interest in the north, maybe similar arrangements could be made as well. Please keep me posted and I will do my best to get interested parties together. I would like to see as many teens as possible from the North Atlantic experience the rally!

District Web Sites

Each WELS district has a dedicated CYD Web site where district-specific, youth discipleship information can be shared with constituents. All of the district sites can be accessed here: www.welscyd.net, or you can go directly to the North Atlantic site at: http://www.welscyd.net/site/default.asp?sec_id=180000507. While you’re there, go ahead and tab it as one of your favorites. That way you can access it often!

District CYD Team Meets Soon

The District CYD Team will be meeting on November 10 at Christ Lutheran Church in Clarksville, MD to discuss the needs of our district and to see how we can support you better. Most of the discussion will center upon the input many of you have given us through the Youth Discipleship Survey linked to our district CYD website (address above). If you would like your ideas and concerns to be heard, please contact me personally or make it a point to take the survey. It only takes about 15 minutes and we encourage all the youth workers in your congregation (lay and called) to give us their candid responses. We look forward to your input and the opportunity to serve you!

District CYD Positions Available

In an effort to diversify our district CYD team, we are looking for qualified individuals to take up the work of Sunday School Ministry Director and Early Childhood Ministry Director. Qualified candidates can be male or female, lay or called, and must be a WELS member in the North Atlantic in good standing. Job descriptions are available upon request and nominations will be accepted through November 8^th (via my email). Final approval and appointment is made by the district president. I look forward to your nominations!

NAD CYD District Coordinator, Kevin Walker