On January 15th, we will be beginning a Breakfast Club. We want to invite all high school students out to the Breakfast Club.We will be meeting at 9:30 on Sunday Mornings in the "Snack Shop". The first book that we will be doing will be called The Radical by David Platt. Here is a snipit for you:

In Radical, David Platt invites you to encounter what Jesus actually said about being his disciple, and then obey what you have heard. He challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated a God-centered gospel to fit our human-centered preferences. With passionate storytelling and convicting biblical analysis, Platt calls into question a host of comfortable notions that are common among Christ's followers today. Then he proposes a radical response: live the gospel in ways that are true, filled with promise, and ultimately world changing

So, come on out and RECONNECT. Bob Fasic, Linda Smith, and Kathy Vanosdol will be leading the breakfast and discuss. So, they ask you: "Will you come on out and reconnect, talk about Radical and enjoy some fun and fellowship"

We want to encourage you to come out to Wednesday Night Life. Dinner is from 6:30-7:00 and then our study is up in the library from 7:00 - 8:00.

Carrie McKneight and Lance Kuhn is teaching the class. Right now, they are going through the book Starving Jesus. Here is a brief explanation of the book:

I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you have me no drink…

It’s time to STOP STARVING JESUS.

In other words…it’s time for Christians to get off their comfortable seats near the back of the sanctuary get out in the world. Authors Craig Gross and JR Mahon challenge fellow Christ-followers to stop talking about being spiritual, and start being spiritual—by rolling up their sleeves and serving a world desperate for the hope Christ offers.

You can make a difference.

Here is the National Gathering (2009) through the eyes of the teenagers. As you can see, they told the story of NOLA mostly through serving.

We are headed to the National Gathering in July. Below is a quick highlight from the 2009 National Gathering just to give you a very small taste. In 2012, we will be going back to the city of New Orleans (July 16 - 23)

We are headed to Denver, Colorado for our Summer 2012 mission trip. All students who are in grades 7-12 during the 2011-2012 school year are invited to attend this mission trip. We are partnering with a church called The Refuge in northwest Denver. Kathy Escobar (one of the co-pastors) share a little about herself, the church and the ministry that we will be doing while we are out there. The trip is June 15-23. The deadline to register is Sunday, October 23, 2011.

down we go indy mission team adventure 9.6.11 from kathy escobar on Vimeo.

We finished our series on Doubt. Here is a highlight from the series:

Everyone has moments of doubt. We doubt if we are heading in the right direction when going someplace new. We doubt if that low-fat snack that tastes really good is really as healthy as it claims to be. We doubt if sometimes the people in our lives really care about us, despite the evidence that they do. And sometimes our doubts are about God. Can we really trust Him? Does He have our best in mind? What does that Bible verse really mean?

When questions arise, they can be a little unsettling, especially questions about our faith. But what if God was big enough to handle the questions? He is. What if He was secure enough to handle our uncertainty? He is. And what if doubt actually paved the way to a deeper belief, a stronger relationship with Christ? It can.


August 21st: Honest Questions
Bottom Line: Doubt paves the way to belief.

August 28th: Gray Matters Bottom Line: Faith grows when you learn how to view doubt through both what you know and what you've been through.

All high school students are invited to join us at 9:30. Big group time is from 9:30 - 10:00 and small group time is from 10:00 - 10:30. Big group time will consist of confirmation students, peer guides, high school students and adult leaders.

Big Group time will consist of music, scripture, message and prayer. After large group, confirmation classes will be dismissed and there will be a high school only discussion group. Come and be part of this new format as we learn more about wonder, discovery and passion.

Small group time for high school students will be an opportunity for you to share about life and also to dig a little deeper into the message that occurred in big group.

In July, the high school students had two opportunities to get out of the state of Indiana and learn more about God and to serve him. They were the Big Stuf trip to Panama City Beach, Florida and the Kentucky Heartland Outreach trip to Kentucky.

Big Stuf



Kentucky Heartland Outreach

What is the "Practice Justice" day?

Practice Justice is one of three days at the ELCA Youth Gathering (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) to which congregational groups will be assigned. On each of those days, a third of the community will practice discipleship, a third will practice peacemaking and a third will practice justice. In this month’s gNews we are focusing on the Practice Justice day. Subsequent issues of gNews will explain more thoroughly the Practice Peacemaking and Practice Discipleship days. All three of the days are designed to help young people make real the covenant God made with them in Holy Baptism to:

• Live among God’s faithful people,
• Hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
• Proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
• Serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
• Strive for justice and peace in all the earth (ELW pg. 236).

The ELCA Youth Gathering is a witness to Jesus' invitation to hit the streets, to follow one's convictions with actions, and to join in the work God is doing in the world. Even though we know such action isn't about us -- it is all about what God is up to -- many have asked what youth will do in New Orleans in 2012.

On the Practice Justice day, the clean and predictable lives of many of us will get messed up a bit by learning about the ongoing struggles in New Orleans. New Orleanians want us to know about their struggles, they want us to see the truth of their lives because after the initial rush of public interest following Katrina, people have steadily stopped paying attention. Now, six years after Katrina, New Orleans still needs our attention.

On the Practice Justice day, youth and adults will come together in the Superdome to learn about how we make the connection between God’s justice, God’s shalom, God’s intention for the world, and our desire to serve. We will be reminded about how God’s presence made a difference in the everyday lives of those living in New Orleans in 2009 through our service. Then, groups will walk justice as they enter into a multi-sensory experience to help them understand how the catastrophe of Katrina changed the course of history for New Orleanians. Next, groups depart by bus or by foot to practice justice in the midst of the fragile realities of recovery evident in the public education system, in housing and in the shrinking wetlands. At the end of the day, each group will reflect on their Practice Justice experience by debriefing with trained young adults who will help connect their experiences with their own sense of call to live out their baptismal identity in the communities to which they return.

The Gathering deadline is coming soon (September 1). We hope that you will join us in New Orleans July 16-23.