Head to the Heart

A program for boys & girls in 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade

Your Spiritual journey continues...

St. Andrew 

Lutheran Church

Mundelein, Illinois 60060

 

(Feed My Starving Children Information) 

Saturday December 5th

 

 

 

H2H Info Schedules, Email and Websites for St. Andrew Lutheran Church sponsored youth event/activities:	H2H Forms Registration Forms, Permission Slips, etc. for St. Andrew Lutheran Church sponsored youth event/activities:
2009-2010 Calendar (pdf)	2009/2010 Registration Form
Acolyte Schedule	Activity/Event Permission Form (doc)
	Activity/Event Permission Form (pdf)
	6/7th Grade Retreat (pdf)
	Sermon Notes (doc)
email: head.2.heart@hotmail.com	Sermon Notes (Form)
www.standrewmundelein.org

 

P r o g r a m    O u t l I n e

   The Head to Heart (H2H) program at St. Andrew is the preparation for Affirmation of Baptism and follows 5^th grade First Communion.  It is for boys and girls in 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade.  The program follows a looping three year study model:  The Ten Commandments, Old Testament, New Testament with additional smaller modules on The Lord’s Prayer and Apostle Creed.  Each model:

• Teaches the basics of Christian faith in an interesting, engaging multimedia style
• Connects our youth into a network of Christian care in small groups of 5-7 students
• Involve an adult "guide" in modeling the love of God in each small group
• Performs quarterly "Service" events to put faith into action
• Attends regularly scheduled  "Fellowship" events for small group bonding

    Theme Lessons  Adult-Guides begin with their individual group in 6^th grade and follow them through 8^th grade Affirmation of Confirmation graduation - each year focusing on a specific lesson model.

    Service Events  Giving back that which you learn…applying those lessons in real-life scenarios to reinforce lesson retention.  Your H2H youth will participate in three set service/fundraising events:  [Fall] Car Wash [Winter] Christmas Tree Sales [Spring] Easter Breakfast.  Additional service events are developed and personalized by each small group.  At times these events are off-site chaperoned by the Adult-Guide or parent volunteers.

  Additionally, during your child’s three year participation in H2H, they will participate in Sunday and Holiday services as Acolyte.  The word Acolyte means "follower" or "attendant".  Acolytes are needed because they have a special ministry to perform; therefore, they are ministers of the church.  At St. Andrew we use two Acolytes for each Traditional service.   Acolyte schedules are set by the Worship/ Music Ministry.  Further information will be provided at the beginning of the program calendar.

    Fellowship Events The friendships established during these years are ones generally followed through in life.  There are regularly scheduled fellowship events planned for the entire group, [family and guests are invited] such as laser tag, cosmic bowling, movie nite, hayrides.

 

W h e n    

Our program runs September through April, concluding with 8^th grade confirmation [Affirmation of Confirmation].  The calendar is set each summer and provided to families in August along with registration materials.  Additional calendar events are communicated through weekly church bulletins, our website [www.standrewmundelein.org] and H2H bulletin board located in the Narthex.

 

W h e r e

Interactive one hour lessons are held in the church sanctuary beginning at 6pm on Sunday evenings and led by Pastor Mark Selbo.  From time-to-time “faith witnesses” appear specific to the lessons being taught.  Your youth will participate with their peers and Adult-Guide then gather as individual groups for small group discussion, sharing of highs and lows, upcoming events, group project development and refreshment.  Youth are dismissed at 7:30pm.  Generally there are two lessons each month except during seasonal high holiday.

 

P r o g r a m  C o s t

 A nominal fee of $60 is set to cover program incidentals such as postage, communication, FINK materials and refreshments.  For specific youth gathering functions [Fall Retreat; Quake] costs are shared by families and H2H [through a budget granted by the congregation or by youth fundraising].  It is our intent that each youth participate in these programs but recognize costs can be difficult for some families.  Please speak with Pastor Mark or our program directors for confidential handling of these matters.

 

WHERE   DO   WE   GO   FROM   HERE

 Many times families feel they’ve done their job in their child’s spiritual development – they’ve ‘made their confirmation”.  At St. Andrew we continually remind ourselves this is just the beginning.  Our high school program, ”YA” [Young Adults] continues to meet with Adult-Guides but at a more mature level.  They participate in church services as Layreaders, Communion Assistants, Ushers.  

  Once confirmed, they are adult voting members of St. Andrew and may participate in the future decisions of where St. Andrew goes during the annual congregational meeting.  They have opportunities to teach for KFC [Kids for Christ  Pre-3-5^th grade] or help transition middle school youth into high school. 

   “YA” goes to concerts, sporting events and annually participate in Group Work Camp.  Group Workcamps serve churches across the country by providing Christian mission trips that help children, youth and adults grow in their relationship with Jesus. 

  Each year, youths prove to themselves that nothing ignites spiritual growth like putting Christian faith into action. The results are amazing as students get away from their home and travel to a community in desperate need.  A Group summer mission trip is a powerful way to jumpstart your teens’ faith. It’s unforgettable. It’s fun! And, it changes the lives of your students as they serve people in real need…you’ll find that “service” is secondary to “spiritual growth”. The #1 goal is to provide an opportunity for God to work in the hearts of your young people. The byproduct is great service for people in need…that’s why St. Andrew continues going back year after year.

“ FINK”  Background

    Faith Incubators (FINK), is a Lutheran organization started by Rich Melheim after he experienced a tragedy as a youth pastor. Two young men he had pastored through high school committed suicide after their first year in college. The tragedies convinced Melheim that he had to do something differently -- the Pied Piper method of youth pastoring wasn’t working. He needed "more help, a better network of care. The relationship with him ‘as youth pastor’ wasn’t enough."  He knew that parents were more committed to their children than anyone else. He decided to give a gift to parents - more time with their children to build strong relationships. If he could foster sharing between the two groups, he could "build commitment and relationships brick by brick."

     "What kind of relationship do you want to have with your teen in five years? What’s your plan? We feel we have a plan that works."  If we want to pass along the Christian faith, then parents must be reflections of that faith and spend time with youth. Church leaders say, “Let’s step back a little and make use of what God has given us to help pass along the faith. Let’s put parents and the congregational family to work with our youth.”

   St. Andrew adopted the FINK program in 1998/99 scrapping existing teacher-led, lecture-based confirmation and "drop off" Sunday school systems replacing them with whole-brain, hands-on, parent-involved, small group models. Then we mix in some music, drama, technology and fun.  As with any program we test the models to see what’s working, what's not working and how we can make them better with input from all sources.  Come share your love for Christ with your children at  Head to the Heart

C o n t a c t s

 

Pastor Mark Selbo                  847/566-8081            Team Leader: Carey Lucchesi/                  847/...    

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