Summertime!

It seems like everyone, including those of us in Florida, seem to to be having an exceptionally cold winter this year.  To warm up our thoughts (hey, it's a start!) I thought today's blog would feature a look back at the summer themes we used in the youth ministry at Springfield Friends Meeting from 1988-93.  We arrived too late for the summer of '86, didn't have a theme until '88, and left in April of 1994.  Here's what we were up to way back when:

1988-  This was the year of the first Summer Ministries Brochure, featuring the little cartoon surfer dude on the cover  (Click the link above to see the dude).  Our summer theme was There's Always Room For One More as we continued our efforts to reach out into our community.  This summer featured the first Youth Week, a trip to the Betsy B, a trip to Atlanta to see the Braves play, as well as Rec-Room on Wednesday nights and YFYF (Young Friends Youth Fellowship) on Sundays.

1989-  The theme for the summer and for Youth Week was Come As You Are, using the song of the same name by Peter Wolf.  This was the first time I produced a cassette tape advertising Youth Week, using music, interviews with youth, and very goofy stuff.  I especially remember Todd Farlow rapping his lines and beat-boxing his way through his entire part!  This was also the year that ventriloquist and impressionist Freddie Pierce performed as part of Youth Week.  We went back to Atlanta and the Betsy B; we collected over 200 cans of tuna to help feed the homeless of High Point; and we adopted our first child through Compassion International.  Rec-Room and YFYF also continued, as they did every summer.  This was also the summer of the very first Kyoto's Night.  A red-letter date for sure!

1990-  The theme was One Particular Harbor, and it was quite the summer!  We began working at lunch on Fridays at Our Father's Table, the feeding program of High Point Urban Ministries.  We started three new ministries that would last (under various names) for as long as I did youth work- Girl's Night Out, Dudes Night Out and Magic Middles. This was also the year that saw the birth of our new lock-in we called Rec Around the Clock.   We also had our first Chain of Prayer to kick-off the summer, travelled to Walt Disney World for a second time, and went back to Atlanta.  Our summer concluded with a Luau at Quaker Lake.   A great summer.

1991-  The theme for the summer was Hearts On Fire, and for Youth Week we went with Go West, Young Man.  Our Summer Safari took us back to Myrtle Beach.  The Student Spotlight arrived on the Youth Group Hotline.  The Putt-Putt Masters Golf Tournament made its first appearance, as did the One On One ministry.  We saw the Braves play again and continued the other events and ministries that had worked so well in summers past.

1992- We called it our Psycho Summer, with a Youth Week theme of Carry the Torch (it was an Olympic year!).  For the first time, the little cartoon dude we had named Zed was not on the cover of the summer brochure.  The big new event was our Schoolzout Blowout trip, as we once again went to Atlanta but this time included Six Flags in the adventure.  We went back to Myrtle Beach,  and ended the season with a last gasp event skiing and swimming at High Rock Lake.

1993-  Our summer theme was JAM!- Jesus and Me!  We added a Servant Week to the schedule, went to see the Braves again, and headed back to WDW for the best trip ever!  This summer also saw the birth of the SNAC program- Sunday Night After Church, which extended YFYF on certain nights.  The amazing part is we were still doing all of the other stuff from past summers as well.  And why did I subject myself to this madness every summer?  Why did we do so many outrageous events and trips?  Why did we keep adding new things each year?  One answer:  Relationships, relationships, relationships!  They connected me to the youth, the youth to each other, and most importantly (I say that a lot about this) all of us to Jesus!  And I loved every minute of it...

Because of Jesus,