IMPACT 16-17 Calendar

School is back in session and we are gearing up for a great school year in IMPACT Student Ministry. The image above is a snap shot of the special events and activities planned for the next 9 months.  The school year is full with academic, athletic and other extra-curricular activities.  We hope that by getting this information out early, it will help families and students balance the busy schedules.

Here is some more specific information for upcoming events.

Small Groups start September 11!  Small Groups have become one of the most important things we do in the school year. We have some great adults who meet regularly with students to talk about life, read the Bible together, ask questions and pray together.  We think that the relationships that are developed in small groups are so helpful and important that we encourage all of our students to be a part of a group.  There is still time to get signed up for a group.  Register online to be a part of Small Groups!

As part of our Small Group kick-off on September 11, we will have an IMPACT Tailgate Party @ 9:30 am.  Our Junior High and High School classes will meet in the front parking lot of the church for breakfast, games and a fun start to the school year. People get geared up for the big game by tailgating.  We are getting geared up for a great year of small groups…so let’s tailgate.

To welcome student back to the regular schedule of the school year, we are having a IMPACT Kick-Off Event on Saturday, September 17, 5:00 – 8:00 pm.  We will have food, play 9 Square in the Air (our students love this game) and we will end with our very first Color War.  Students need to wear a white shirt for this event. This is also a great time for our students to bring a friend.  We ask students to sign up by Sept. 14.  Sign up for the Kick-off Online!

Every fall we participate in the retreats hosted at our church camp, Butler Springs Christian Camp.

The Junior High Retreat is scheduled for Oct. 21-23. If our students went to summer camp, it’s a chance to reconnect with students they met. It’s also a great chance for our group to experience a weekend together. Total cost is $60 and registration is due Sunday, Oct. 2.

The High School Retreat is scheduled for Nov, 4-6. This retreat,due to attendance, is held over two different weekends.  We will attend weekend #1 and, in order to reserve enough spots and get the best price, a $25 deposit is due Sept. 18 (after this date, the price goes up $10).  Total cost for the retreat (if registered by the early bird deadline is $60.

Both weekends provide a great environment for students to connect with their own youth group as well as meet other students.  There are times of singing, teaching, discussion, sports tourneys and other great elements.

 

We want to do our best to communicate well with families.  There are a few different avenues we use to communicate.  Please choose the one(s) that are best for you:

FACEBOOK:: “Like” our IMPACT Student Ministry Page or Wilmington Church of Christ page

INSTAGRAM:: Follow our IMPACT Student Ministry Account

TEXT – text IMPACT909 to 95577 to receive occasional text updates

EMAIL – Click here to subscribe to receive occasional email blasts

Website – Visit our WCC Webpage

We are looking forward to a great school year!

IMPACT 2015-2016 Overview

Last weekend we kicked off our IMPACT school year calendar with a Tail Gate Party and Parent Meeting. We know that once the school year begins, families keep busy with school, school activities, sports events, mom and dad’s work schedules plus all the other things that life throws at us. In order to help our families manage the busyness, we provide a calendar of events for the school year. The parent meeting is our first attempt to get information into the hands of parents.

You can click on the image at the top of the page to get a closer look at what is on this year’s calendar.

For those parents (and students) who may not have been able to attend the meeting, here is a somewhat brief overview of what we talked about.

WEEKLY PROGRAMS:: Here are the programs for students that we offer on a weekly basis. During the school year, we invite all students to join us for these weekly program.

Sunday:
High School Class (B103); Junior High Class (C102) 9:00 am
Small Groups 4:30 pm

Wednesday:
IMPACT Praise Band Practice 6:30 pm

A FEW HIGHLIGHTS:: Each fall we participate in the retreats that are hosted at our local church camp, Butler Springs Christian Camp. The two weekends are a great opportunity for our students and leaders to spend a weekend together, for our students to connect with other students and to grow in our relationship with God. Check out the information on the retreats below.

The Junior High Retreat will take place October 16-18. Cost for the weekend is $65 and the registration deadline is October 4. (The price goes up after that time)

Click on the image below to read more about “This Is Whatever.”

The High School Retreat will take place November 6-8. Cost for the weekend is $55 if you are registered by the early bird deadline of Sept. 21. (The price goes up after that time)

Click on the image below to read more about “Backpacks and Burdens.”

We’ve also added Two Parent/Student Events to the calendar – one in the fall and one in the spring. They will be fun events where our students and parents to interact with one another.

COMMUNICATION:: There are a few different avenues we use to communicate with both parents and students.  We would love it if all of our parents and students were connected to at least one of these outlets for communication.

FACEBOOK:   “Like” our IMPACT Facebook Page and/or Wilmington Church of Christ Facebook page

TEXT:  text the phrase IMPACT909 to 95577 to receive occasional text updates

EMAIL:  we send out occasional email reminders.  Email tonysturf@wcconline.org to be added to email list

WEBSITE:   We post updates to the IMPACT Page of our church website.

We are excited about the start of the school year and what’s taking place in IMPACT Student Ministry.  If you are a parent or a student in the Wilmington area, we’d love to connect with you.  Share this information with other families as well.

Small Groups to Kick-Off in September

Schools in our area start back this week. Our summer calendar of events is now complete. Pretty soon everyone will fall back into the routine of school schedules, buses on the streets, homework assignments, Friday Night Lights, sounds of marching bands rehearsing and all the various things that the school year brings. The start of school means something pretty important in our student ministry: Small Groups!

While we aren’t the only youth ministry that does small groups, we love them! I look forward to seeing our students break off into their groups, reconnect with each other, talk about God’s Word and share life together. Small Groups is one of the most important things we do because it provides a consistent opportunity for students to connect with each other, with adult leaders who care about them and with God and His Word.

We will launch our small groups for the 2015-2016 school year on September 13. Until then we are encouraging our students to commit to be involved. If you are a junior high or high school student at WCC, we want you in small groups. We will have cards available where you can commit to small groups or you can even sign up online.

We are looking forward to a great school year of small groups!

 

3 Questions for the School Year

We kicked off another year of small groups Sunday night. I love the excitement and anticipation a new school year brings. It’s a new start and a time for groups that met last year to get back into the routine of meeting again. It’s also a time to welcome new students into small groups and help them connect with each other.

One bonus this year is that we have some new leaders in our groups. We have two of our young adult/college age guys that are helping with two groups. We also have two high school senior girls who will be co-leading a girls group.

As we begin a new season, we are striving to keep three questions out in front of our students. We want these questions to be a continual reminder to our students (and adults) that we all need to see where we need to make progress in our spiritual journey. The three questions will hopefully be a source of challenge when we need that kick-start or need to get back on track.

1) How are your growing? We want to help our students to take steps where they are growing on their own, outside of the church or small group environment. Are they reading the Bible on their own and spending time in prayer?

2) Where are your serving? Our desire is for our students to be an active part of our church family, not just showing up and being present, but serving in some area of ministry.

3) Who are you reaching? Everyone has influence on someone else. We want to encourage our students to use their influence in the lives of others to point them to Jesus.

The school year is underway and we don’t know what the coming months may bring. We can strive to grow, serve and reach. Here’s to a great school year!