On Thursday, August 5, 2010- the youth of the Diocese of Bethlehem will begin working on a mission in Bethlehem. We will be working, worshipping and having fun in the Lehigh Valley.

The theme for the weekend is "We are all in the Same Boat" coming out of the Genesis stories and talking about how we are responsible to one another and to all of God's creation.

In keeping with this theme we will be working with Trinity Church's Soup Kitchen to do their annual clean up on Thursday. Friday we will be trained and working at the Lehigh Valley Animal Food Bank, spreading the word about Animal Hunger and helping to clean up and organize their pantry. Saturday morning we will be working in the warehouse for New Bethany Ministries, packaging meals for distribution in the coming weeks.

Our worship time will be spent in reflection about the work we did each day, and talking about what it means to be good stewards and good Christians in a world which doesn't treat everyone as equal.

Each night we will have some kind of fun activity planned to decompress from the hard work of the day.

Saturday afternoon/ evening we will be going to Dorney park to enjoy some of the less "serious" aspects of life in the Valley- roller coasters and water slides tend to bring out the less serious parts of all of our lives.

Sunday morning we will worship as a group at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity (parents are welcome to join us for worship). After church we will head home until next year.

We will be staying at Lehigh University and all of our meals will be either provided by or eaten at Lehigh University Food Services.

The cost of the weekend is $270.00 per participant (youth or adult over 24). The cost should be divided evenly between the individual ($90), the parish ($90) and the diocese ($90). If there are any financial hardships please contact Kim Rowles (krowles@diobeth.org) to arrange for scholarship funds.

Registration Opens on June 3, 2010 and closes July 21st, 2010.
All paperwork is due to the Diocesean offices by July 28th, or else registration is not complete, and youth/ adult participants will not be able to participate in the weekend.

Download the flyer here.

Youth Council

Are you full of fun ideas? Do you like to plan events? Are you interested in finding out more about the Church? Did you think some of the things we did in the last year could use a new spin? Then Youth Council is for you.

The Youth Council is the youth leadership (and some adults who work with youth) of the Diocese of Bethlehem. They are responsible for planning, promoting and organizing events through out the academic year. In the 2010-2011 academic year we have 4 major events scheduled and we want your help in planning them.

They are:
Happening #19 (November 12-14)
Bishop's Nightwatch ( January 21)
Christophany (April 8 -10)
Senior High Mission Trip (July 2011)

In order to be on council, you should :
Be an active member of your youth group/ Sunday School Program at an Episcopal church in the Diocese of Bethlehem
Regularly attend worship at the same church
Be in grades 9 - 12
Have attended at least one of the youth events in 2009-2010
Have regular access to email and be willing to put in the time to have online discussions about events
Have your priest or youth leader sign off on your maturity and responsibility to youth mission
Be available to attend /staff at least one youth event in 2010-2011
Be able to make visits to at least one church other than your own to promote events in 2010-2011

Good things about being on council:
There are no meetings to attend
Your opinion matters and is listened to
You get to make the plans for next year
You get to learn how to lead
You get to hang out with your friends
You get to go to events early to set up
You get to represent the Diocesan Youth at Diocesan Convention
You get to learn more about how God works in the midst of all of us (not just kids, not just adults, but everyone)

There are also some events which are open to Youth Council Members first:
Provincial Youth Events and Planning for Provincial Events
National Youth Events such as the Episcopal Youth Event in Minneapolis

There are plenty of reasons to join council. Why haven't you printed out your application yet?
Word Application
PDF Application

Adult Medical Release and Community Life Standards in Microsoft Word
Adult Medical Release and Community Life Standards in .pdf

Youth Medical Release Form in Microsoft Word
Youth Medical Release and Community Life Standards in .pdf

Youth Council Application in Microsoft Word
Youth Council Application in .pdf