Programs of Religious Activitis with Youth P.R.A.Y. God and Country News Bulletin Fourth Quarter 2007 Welcome to P.R.A.Y.’s God and Country News Bulletin. This Bulletin is written for pastors, counselors, mentors, and parents associated with Protestant and Independent Christian churches. It includes program helps, best practices, and special features to support a God and Country ministry. We hope you enjoy this bulletin and take the time to share it with others. GOD AND COUNTRY BOOKS NOW AVAILABLE FROM COKESBURY Cokesbury has announced that it will now be carrying the God and Country religious award series from P.R.A.Y. Cokesbury is a nationwide retailer of Christian resources, and is part of the United Methodist Publishing House, an agency of The United Methodist Church. Cokesbury is also the primary retail partner for the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). According to P.R.A.Y. CEO Mark Hazlewood, “Cokesbury will make it so easy for congregations and pastors to order the God and Country booklets. We are excited to partner with Cokesbury in this ministry.” The P.R.A.Y. series includes four programs: God and Me, God and Family, God and Church, and God and Life. These are Christian Education resources with special emphasis on community service and family interaction. These resources are listed in the Book of Discipline for the United Methodist Church for use with the Scouting ministry. Bookmark the following page to order the P.R.A.Y. books from Cokesbury: http://www.cokesbury.com.  Use the search box to find the program level you are interested in (God and Me, God and Family, God and Church or God and Life). BARNA GROUP EXPLORES WHAT TEENAGERS LOOK FOR IN A CHURCH Barna Group in Ventura, CA has completed a study on the spiritual lives and expectations of today’s teenagers. Teenagers are some of the most religiously active Americans, and Barna Group explored what teen spiritual experiences look like, what teens want in a church, and what teens learn in church settings. According to Barna Group, the most common teen spiritual activity is prayer. Overall, three-quarters of teenagers (72%) say they pray in a typical week. 48% attend a worship service at a church, 35% attend Sunday school, 33% attend youth group, 32% participate in a small group, and 31% read the Bible. Compared to American adults, teenagers are more likely to report participation in corporate forms of worship (i.e. attending church, participating in small groups, youth groups, and Sunday school). However, young people are less likely than their parents to pray (72% of teens, 83% of adults) or read the Bible in a typical week (31% of teens, 41% of adults). The research also raises caution that teenagers' appetites for spiritual activity may be waning. Since a decade ago, teenagers are less likely to pray, attend worship services, and read from the Bible on their own time. Regarding their expectations for church, most teenagers desired "to worship or make a connection with God" (45% described this as very important) and "to better understand what I believe" (42%). About one-third of teens said they wanted "to spend time with close friends" (34%), "to get encouraged or inspired" (34%), or "to volunteer to help others" (30%). When asked what they learned in church, most teenagers identified the areas of moral and ethical standards (65%) and relationships (62%), followed by faith traditions (55%) and personal evangelism (50%). David Kinnaman, the lead researcher on the study, pointed out that "just because someone identifies what they want does not necessarily mean they know what they need. Yet, all of the recent attention on young people gravitating to 'ancient traditions of Christianity' misses the fact that the vast majority of American teenagers do not express much interest in or appreciation for such traditions in the first place. Teenagers are a pinch-of-this-pinch-of-that generation, so without intentional decisions on the part of youth workers, many teenagers ride out their teen years in fruitless experimentation rather than genuine forms of spiritual development." "Still, the maturation years are ripe with spiritual possibilities," the president of The Barna Group concluded. "Helping them connect with God, learn about their faith, and serve others, in a loving and relational environment are their top desires from a church. Keep in mind that young people are not spiritually transformed merely by attending a church, knowing a few Bible stories or being friends with the youth pastor. It takes addressing teens on a much deeper, personal level - such as developing their intellect and vocational passions as well as cultivating their curiosity for the complexities of life." For more information on this study, visit www.barna.org. WHAT OTHERS HAVE DONE Day Camp Format – Amy Madrid, Children’s Pastor at First United Methodist Church of Forney, Texas, organized “day camps” for the first time last summer. These day camps typically lasted two days and focused on specific themes: Clown Ministry, Fun with Sports, Cooking and Sewing, MAD Science, Fun with Music, and Messy Madness. In response to interest expressed by some of the Scouting families in the congregation, First UMC also offered day camps for children to earn their God and Me and God and Family awards. Unlike the two-day camps, these sessions extended the entire week. The church hopes to continue these classes next year as a service to the scouting community.   Four-Star Recipient Volunteers at Crisis Ministry – William B. has earned all four of the P.R.A.Y. awards. There are two things about this experience that stand out in his mind: getting to know his pastors (because he met with a new one every time), and volunteering at the Western Wake Crisis Ministry. “I have been volunteering at Western Wake Crisis since 6th grade. It is a local food bank in Apex. We chose this for our project because we wanted to help people in our own community. We helped take inventory and restock the shelves for our project. When I volunteer, I pack bags of groceries and put them into wagons so the people can take them out with them as well as the other food they receive. I like working with the other volunteers there and meeting all the people who come in. I learned a lot in the God and Country program especially about interpreting the Bible. I liked doing the projects the most. I liked working with my Grandfather. All the God and country programs helped me grow in my faith, and that's why I liked it so much.” The scouts are all from Troop 209 in Apex.   God and Church Candidates Teach Sunday School – Luke and Joseph O. chose to teach lessons for their Sunday school class as part of their God and Church requirements. The brothers taught separate lessons on different topics. Luke taught a lesson on why bad things happen to people because one of his friends was diagnosed with leukemia. Joseph’s lesson focused on faith and deeds from James 2:14-25. He opened with a discussion of the literary term, “Show, don’t tell.” He concluded the lesson with the following: “Faith without deeds is as dead as faith through works. The good deeds we do help support and strengthen our faith.” The brothers enjoyed the experience of teaching their class. It is an all-boys class, which according to Luke makes it “very rowdy and loud.” But like Joseph said, “it was pretty fun.” Their Sunday school teacher was so pleased with the experience that he asked everyone in the class to prepare and teach a lesson. Pictured are Luke and Joseph receiving their God and Church awards from their Scoutmaster.   Pizza Presentation to Girl Scout Troop – Erin K., pictured at right, is perhaps the first Girl Scout in St. Stephen United Methodist Church to earn the God and Family award. She was also the only Girl Scout in her Troop to earn this award. When her pastor requested that she present her project to the congregation, Erin chose to use a display board (similar to what you use for a science fair project) to show how she developed her God and Family pizza. She also used her display board to make a presentation to her Girl Scout Troop, hoping to encourage them to participate in the religious awards programs.   Building of a Prayer Garden – Nathan B. is an Eagle Scout and a God and Life recipient. His favorite part of the God and Life program was the lesson on accomplishing things with God’s help. “This lesson was especially helpful in the making and planning of my Eagle Scout project which was building a prayer garden at my church. I feel this brought me closer to God and my church.” Highland United Presbyterian Church dedicated the prayer garden during worship service on Sunday, October 14, 2007. Coffee hour was hosted outside so that the congregation could enjoy the garden. Click here to see a picture of the Prayer Garden. http://www.praypub.org/pdf_docs/barlup_garden.pdf .    Family Get-Together – Ethan's favorite part of the God and Me program was the family get-together at his Grandmother’s house with 24 aunts, uncles, and cousins. The family gathered over the July 4th weekend, and Ethan’s grandmother loved the idea of helping out with Ethan’s final project for his God and Me award. She showed slides of the family growing up and it was a night of laughter as the kids guessed who was pictured in the slides and as they tried to imagine their parents being kids the same age.    SHARE THIS GOD AND COUNTRY BULLETIN WITH OTHERS Please forward this email to other people you feel may benefit from this God and Country Bulletin. You could share this information with your pastor, youth group leaders, Sunday school teachers, Scouting leaders, and others. To sign up for our God and Country e-mailing list, please email jenniferh@praypub.org or use our signup form  on our website. (If you received this as an original email from P.R.A.Y., you’re already on our mailing list.) 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