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Jesus is always surprising Epiphany season is a great reminder of an attribute of Jesus I've never been able to get away from: Jesus is surprising. You never really know when God's grace is going to overflow in unexpected ways, whether it's at a service opportunity that fell at just the right time for the partner organization, a Bible study that opens doors, or a conversation that leads to new exciting opportunities. We can't force this; our job is just to do our part, set the table, and prepare the way.
We have plenty of opportunities to prepare the way in our youth ministry this semester. Perhaps the most important way is through volunteering to serve with our teens (sign up here!). Our soonest open need is the Super Bowl party on February 11, but we have several other events coming up and most of our Engage nights are still open as well. You may notice that there are two slots for volunteers for Engage; as expected with the addition of our newest class of youth last spring and continued inviting of guests, we are at a point as a youth ministry where many weeks we need another adult to help with small group conversations and to be a welcoming presence for our students. I hope you'll think about where God is calling you to plug in; if you ask any of our routine volunteers, they can tell you about so many joys and unexpected graces in their time working with our students. As we say, we do best the things we do together!
-Geoff
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Upcoming EventsWeekly Schedule
Sunday
9:30am: Sunday School
10:30am: Church-wide fellowship time in the Worship Center
10:45am: Church-wide worship
5:30pm: Engage
Wednesday
5:45pm: Dinner, followed by age group activities
Dates to Know
February 4 & 11: Update your directory app profile after church--Stick around after worship these days to change your info or get a new picture. Some youth family pictures have fantastic throwback photos of our teens, but they might need updating. You can also be added to the app if you never have been included before, and church membership is not required to join the app.
February 7: Homework night, after Wednesday night dinner--To RSVP for dinner, click here.
February 21 & 28: Scriptural question nights, after Wednesday night dinner--As part of our wisdom of scripture worship series, we want to provide space for conversation around questions you may have coming from scripture. Is there a story that has always stumped you? Do you have something you have always wanted to ask? Well, here is your chance! You can submit your questions here.
February 23-25: The Connection--Area UMC youth leaders have been working hard to provide a spiritual formation and service weekend for our teens; continue to the next section to find out more. Registration deadline February 7--click here to register or use the Vanco app.
March 6: Beds for Kids, after Wednesday night dinner--Youth and Bridge students are headed down to the basement for a chance to serve. Please wear closed toed shoes.
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Get Plugged In!Our students have an exciting new opportunity to gather in worship and service with their peers from other churches! The Connection is a brand new offering created by a diverse group of youth leaders at several local UMCs dreaming together. The weekend will feature worship, community service, small group spiritual formation, and fun. Our youth will be staying at host homes with their PHUMC friends each evening and mingling with groups from other churches for spiritual formation and service each day. Let's get ready for everything God will do when we gather later this month!
Students: Registration is only $55 and it closes soon! Click here to register your student. This is a great opportunity to invite a friend as well. Deadline: Wednesday, February 7.
Adults: We'll need your help for this great event! Needs include drivers, host homes, and food providers; click here to get signed up or contact Geoff for more info. We're also looking for bottled water and individual packaged snacks for worship on Friday night. These items can be dropped off in The Connection bins located in both foyers.
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254 in 2024
After a long and prayerful process of larger church budget approval and conversation with you and your youth about your summer trip feedback and interests, we are excited to announce that we're headed to Waco, TX, to learn and serve this summer!
We'll be partnering with Mission Waco to participate in their summer group volunteering experience which combines interpersonal volunteering, physical work, and thoughtful conversation on Christianity and poverty, with MW taking care of lodging, meals, resources, and service planning. We'll also be partnering with St. Luke's UMC in the Fondren neighborhood of Jackson, and our two youth groups will have an opportunity to get to know one another over the upcoming Connection weekend in just a couple weeks. St. Luke's is working to intentionally crank up their youth ministry, and they've been inspired by the community our PHUMC students have built together. This summer trip will give our teens a unique opportunity to spend time with their peers while also being examples of the great things God can do in thriving youth ministries.
We'll depart from Parkway Hills on Saturday, June 22, in order to attend the church affiliated with Mission Waco on Sunday morning, and we will return on either the 27th or 28th, pending a few final details in our coordination with St. Luke's. As discussed with our youth at Engage, we wanted to go ahead and get the date out to you before busy summer calendars start filling up. Summer trip registration will open right after Connection registration closes on February 7. Registration per student will be $300, which means that The Connection and 2024 summer trip combined will be less per student than the 2023 summer trip! Even with these savings, as always money should never be the reason someone misses out so please let us know how we can be there for you; every year multiple adults in our church preemptively come forward to volunteer their support for any students who may need sponsorship to attend the summer trip. In the meantime, let's get excited about what God is doing and will do through our students as we GO.
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Scholarship Opportunities
College is coming soon for several of our students, so we want to pass along some scholarship opportunities related to our shared Methodist connection. As always, please reach out to Geoff about recommendation needs. The links below will take you to info and application pages. Note: despite the similar names, these are separate entities each requiring its own application.
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