Epiphany Youth

At a Glance - Our Programs & Events

2009-01-23T14:21:00.004-05:00

Covenant Groups (Thursdays, 4-week sessions): details.
(3)hree: Rock Climbing (3rd Sunday/month, 1:00-3:00 p.m.): details.
Fun & Recreation (various days/times; roughly every 5 weeks): details.
YAC: Youth Advisory Council (1st Sunday/month, 12-1:30 p.m.): details.

Talent Show

2008-04-06T15:59:00.005-04:00

more Talent Show photos on Flickr

This past Friday we had another great Church of the Epiphany Talent Show and Pasta Dinner. Zach and Claire (to the right) were the MCs for the night and did a fabulous job. Parents Barb, Robin, and Schelly really pulled together a great night; they make me look good!

Our acts this year ranged from Sam lip syncing with a friend to the Blues Brothers to a German lesson to an amazing display of Rubiks Cube solving. There was plenty of singing in the mix. It was a great example of just how creative (and hilarious!) the people at Epiphany are.

The turnout was fabulous, too. The parish hall was packed to near capacity. People donated $496 at the door to help with the cost of this summer's combined Jr./Sr. High Mission Trip.

Noise

2008-02-15T09:44:00.004-05:00

Week I:

After reminding the group of the past Sunday's Gospel account of Christ's 40 days in the desert, we watched the nooma video Noise. In the midst of the video was an extended period of silence, interrupted only by words and sentences slowly fading on and off the screen.

Once the short film was completed, we broke up into two groups and, led by some questions, discussed things like: the noise in our lives; the place of silence; how God might want to speak to us; how we might be blocking out God's voice; etc.

Next we broke out of the groups to explore four different prayer stations: a spot for lectio divina with a section of the 40 days story; a table to reflect on how noisy our lives are on a daily basis; an animated version of Si Smith's 40 illustrations; and a place to challenge ourselves to a bit of silence using either earplugs, closed eyes, or both.

Finally, we gathered back into the two groups to share with one another a challenge for the week: finding some way to incorporate about 30 minutes of silence into each day. It could be reading, or walking, or writing, or drawing; part of the challenge was to make at least 10 of the minutes an experience of not doing anything but being presence in a state of undisturbed silence.

I have invited people to come on the blog and leave some reflections during the week as they engage the challenge. Hopefully they do so by clicking on the comments link below.

SuperBowl Party

2008-01-23T22:14:00.002-05:00

Mark your calendars; call Josh and RSVP - the SuperBowl is coming up on Sunday, February 3rd. All 6th-12th grade youth and their friends are invited to the home of Mattie and Casey to watch the game, have some great food, hang out, and have a great time. Even if you don't like football, it's always a good time (and there are other things to do, too). Here's the skinny:

iamjoshfrank@gmail.com

When you RSVP, Josh will ask you to bring a bag of chips, some cookies, or some other snack to help with the food.

Covenant Groups

2008-01-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

4-5 week sessions exploring our Christian faith. Sessions will alternate: 6th-8th grade for a session, then 9th-12th for the next. The first meeting of each session is open to all youth and their friends so that they can discover the topics and activities and then make a decision to commit to attending the remaining weeks of that session.

(3)hree = 3rd Sunday @ 3 Peaks

2008-01-23T21:03:00.000-05:00

(3)hree is an afternoon of rock climbing for 6th-12th grade at 3 Peaks, a local climbing gym.

We climb on the 3rd Sunday of the month from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Pack a lunch and some active clothes, then stay after the 10:30 a.m. service and hang out in the Youth Room for a bit until we head to the gym (less than 10 minutes down the road!).

Fun & Recreation

2008-01-23T21:01:00.001-05:00

We like to have fun together! Activities like bowling, game/movie nights, seeing a hockey or baseball game - all open to 6th-12th graders and their friends.

Youth Advisory Council (YAC)

2008-01-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

The YAC is a team of 4 youth and 4 adults who help Josh dream, plan, and accomplish the varied youth group offerings.

We meet the 1st Sunday of the month from 12-1:30 p.m. (after the 10:30 a.m. service)

Current Team:

Advent Antiphons: Day 7

2006-12-22T10:26:00.000-05:00

Advent antiphon VII (Dec. 23)

O Immanuel,
You are our King and judge,
the One whom the peoples await, and their Saviour.
O come and save us, Lord, our God.

(verse) O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear:

(chorus) Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel

Advent Antiphons: Day 6

2006-12-22T09:40:00.000-05:00

Advent antiphon VI (Dec. 22)

O King whom all the peoples desire,
You are the cornerstone which makes all one.
O come and save us whom You made from clay.

(verse) O come, Desire of Nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind.
Bid the strife and quarrels cease.
Fill all the world with heaven's peace.

(chorus) Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Advent Antiphons: Day 4

2006-12-20T14:25:00.000-05:00

Advent antiphon IV (Dec. 20)

O Key of David and sceptre of Israel,
what You open, no one can close again;
what You close, no one can open.
O come to lead the captive from prison;
free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

(verse) O come, Thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heav'nly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery:

(chorus) Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Advent Antiphons: Day 3

2006-12-19T17:18:00.000-05:00

Advent antiphon III (Dec. 19)

O Stock of Jesse,
You stand as a signal for the nations.
Kings fall silent before You whom the peoples acclaim.
O come to deliver us, and do not delay.

(verse) O come, Thou rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell Thy people save;
and give them vict'ry o'er the grave:

(chorus) Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Advent Antiphons: Day 2

2006-12-18T15:49:00.000-05:00

Advent antiphon II (December 18)

O Adonai and leader of Israel,
You appeared to Moses in a burning bush
and You gave him the law on Sinai.
O come and save us with Your mighty power.

(verse) O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
who to Thy tribes on Sinai's height,
in ancient times didst give the law
in cloud, and majesty and awe:

(chorus) Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel

Advent Antiphons: Day 1

2006-12-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

The Advent antiphons are ancient prayers traditionally used in the days between December 17 and 23. I'll be sending these out via e-mail, one per day, from now through the 23rd to help guide us to Christmas and to hopefully give us a sense of presence with each other in community even as we pray them on our own in different places. The short prayer ends with a verse of the popular Advent hymn, "O come, O come, Immanuel," which is based upon the antiphon prayers. Feel free to sing it as a conclusion to the prayer. I am using the antiphons as written in the Northumbria Community's "Celtic Daily Prayer" book.

Antiphon I (December 17)
O Wisdom,
You come forth from the mouth of the Most High.
You fill the universe and hold all things together
in a strong yet gentle manner.
O come to teach us the way of truth.

(verse) O come, O come, Thou wisdom from above;
the universe sustaining with Thy love.
Thou springest forth from the Almighty's mouth.
Subdue us now, and lead us in Thy truth.

(chorus) Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel

Friday: Delayed, Like the Rest of the Week!

2006-06-25T02:31:00.000-04:00

Woke up to Deckster singing "Rise 'n Shine!" The morning seemed to drag on - we had a very slow start getting out of the base camp.

Josh's van didn't go to the Rush's right away. We went to Wal-Mart to get pics developed to make a photo album and get things to fix Aristotle's bike.

We went back to the Rush's to meet up with the rest of the gang and to finish up whatever needed to be finished...up. Which wasn't very much at all. Nathan repaired Aristotle's bike while the rest of us made our way to the pool which was now fully filled and ready to play in.

The pool was wicked! We spent a whole working day in the pool just having good laughs with the 4 boys and performing somersaults and other crazy jumps into the pool. We got pretty sweet tan lines.

This is where the hard part of the week came. It was time for the good-byes we were dreading all week. Claire, Stacy, Martha and Connie sang for the Rushes. We shared a heartfelt prayer and said our good-byes, which were not easy at all. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house the Rushes can now call home.

Ms. Rush told us to be grateful for things we have. She asked us to tell our parents how much we really do love them as well. She was so very thankful and appreciated everything we did for them.

We would just like to let everyone reading know that we may have helped the Rushes in a small way but they impacted OUR lives in a much bigger way than they'll ever know. They have managed to find a place in each and every one of our hearts.

Almost as soon as we were back to the base camp, it started to rain. This was almost symbolizing to us a closure of the week. We couldn't go to Biloxi because of the rain unfortunately, but we did however get to watch movies, go out to the Cracker Barrel for dinner and ... CUT JOSH'S HAIR!!! Muhahaha...

~ Connie and Nathan

Friday: Photoblog

2006-06-24T03:27:00.000-04:00

More photos here.

Here are some photo entries as a temporary place-holder for Friday's entry from Connie and Nathan. We were caught up in last-day in Moss Point activities and didn't have much of a journaling time. Look for a more extensive post tomorrow.

For now, enjoy the pictures and head over to the Flickr page for many, many more!

Thursday: Let the Good Times Roll

2006-06-23T07:27:00.000-04:00

More photos here

We slept all day. We did just about nothing but eat and that's it. Just kidding! So we got up and ate some "Tootie Frooties" for breakfast and headed for our worksite.

We walked into the house and boy were were we surprised! Ms. Rush had basically finished all of the painting (including a 2nd coat!) She's crazy! We then had to think fast and come up with a new list of things to do. This list included cleaning and refilling their pool, doing a little more painting, and cleaning out the garage. For the rest of the day, we played with the kids, ate some lunch...

and Martha enjoyed a nap on the concrete kitchen floor.

We then went to the local phantasmagorical bowling lane where we played for 2 hours. The bowling was wedgielicious! Some boys cried - Andy, a few fell, and others jumped for joy from this magical bowling experience.

Then we came back to the center where we enjoyed some of Fuhrer Josh's exquisite cuisine of fettucine alfredo with broccoli on the side for the Conaboys. We were all having the hinkering jinkerings for Klondike bars so we naturally were thrilled when Josh, Pat, Nathan, and Andy pranced in with platters of perfect Klondike bars on them. So with one last song and dance from Josh and Nathan we're out! Peace Home Dog.

~ Mattie and Martha

Wednesday: Beauty and the Beach

2006-06-22T07:07:00.000-04:00

More photos here.

Today was RAD. We had the usual breakfast: cereal and bagels. Of course, this was after about 20 minutes of Josh saying, "C'mon, guys, its time to get up."

We breezed through our work today, piece of cake. We got two rooms finished from scratch, and we put the second coat on the kitchen. Miss Rush was super excited to see the house shaping up the way it was. Of course the best part of the day was playing with the kdis.

We introduced the Red Hot Chili Peppers to them, and I'm pretty sure Tchaikovsky loved it but I'm not positive about the others. Christian finally came out of his shell and he's a cool kid.

After working we went to the BEACH!! The water was sooooooooo warm and shallow. We were like 250 yards out from the sand and could still stand!

We hung out at night with a guy named Eric who is an amazing singer, and it was sweet. Conaboy...out

~ Pat

Tuesday: Paint Goes Up

2006-06-21T07:09:00.000-04:00

More photos here!.

Today was a much more productive day. With the help of John we made a list of things that needed to get done. He split us up into groups of 3 and we each took a room. Today we actually got a large amount done. We primed, finished the textured paint on the ceiling and finished putting a chocolate color on the wall in the kitchen. It may have been tedious wok but the end result was rewarding.

Throughout the day we had about 3 extra hands. The 3 younger boys were eager to help and enjoyed putting on our giant knee pads and crazy safety goggles. The helped us paint and wanted to have a part in rebuilding the house they knew so well.

One of the most rewarding things of the day was seeing Ms. Rush's face when she saw her finished kitchen. Her boys, all so excited, dragged her from their trailer while covering her eyes until they brought her to the kitchen. Her look of surprise was priceless and made us all want to work harder to finish their house. I could not even tell you how many times she said, "Wow, Wow, " or "Oh, Thank y'all," or, "I 'preciate it." It was exciting to see how excited she was. Each of us felt revived by her strength to make it through this all and now are looking for ways to help them while we are here as well as keeping contact with them when we get back.

Everyone is real excited about the work we are doing. Our enthusiasm is even rubbing off on the Rush kids, who helped us along in our work today. I personally feel great about the work. It has a real personal feel. I also find it interesting meeting people so different than me.

~ Claire and Andy

Monday: First Workday and a Pinata

2006-06-20T01:16:00.000-04:00

More photos here.

Everyone woke up late, but that's OK because it didn't effect anything. We ate breakfast, then we got ready for the day and found where we were going to work. We played frisbee while waiting for Pastor Dave to take us to the site. The home belongs to the Rushes. Because of the extensive damage to their home they are still forced to live in 2 trailers parked on their front lawn.

There are 4 spunky boys. All the boys except the oldest were very social; they all hung out with us and played tricks on us. Despite their prestigious names and the tragedies they've experienced, the kids are very down to earth. They teamed up against us and enjoyed our presence. The youngest had some fun by spraying Josh in the face with their hose. We spent the late morning and afternoon sanding the drywall, painting the ceiling with popcorn paint, and priming the walls.

Ms. Rush was very apreciative of our work but also very eager to get back in her home. She has been through so much but her spirit is undaunted by tragedy. She seems like a great mom.

After we got back from work we had lunch and enjoyed each other's company. We made cards for Kristen Klein, a member of the Presbyterian Youth Group who is celebrating her sweet sixteen today.

We found the BAGS!! That was such a relief.

Our downtime provided for some thoughts and reflection. Moss Point is a small town with many young people but the area seems almost lifeless and exhausted. It was surreal to see the damage in the form of experience beyond what I've seen in the news. The Rush family gave a face to Katrina and made the cause within me much more meaningful. We are fellow Americans, fellow humans with the victims of Katrina. I feel a duty and a sense of purpose. The people here are no longer a statistic and I'm not just another volunteer. We are people helping people and that makes our task much more meaningful. After this week's experience, I believe that I will take more from it than I can ever contribute.

~ Stacy and John

Sunday: Travel Day

2006-06-19T00:17:00.000-04:00

More photos here

Long day. Started at 3:45 a.m. after going to bed at like 1:30 a.m. It is now 10:05 local time (1 hour behind Eastern Standard Time) and we're starting to wrap things up. The morning person in me is protesting. Je suis TIRED. The flighit from Philly to New Orleans was smoothe as well as the drive from Clarks Summit to Philly. However, we are now missing 4 bags. The drive from New Orleans to Moss Point was ... enlightening.

I heard from a friend that New Orleans was "up & running" but this was clearly not the case when neighborhoods look like ghost towns, no, homes like Post-WWII London or Hiroshima and blue tarps everywhere. Another sign that New Orleans is not flourishing is the difficulty we had in finding a place to eat lunch. Clearly what my friend meant was the French Quarter is "up and running." I guess we will have to see for ourselves.

~AnnaBeth

Welcome!

2006-06-13T10:25:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the blogging home for the High School Youth Group of the Church of the Epiphany in Glenburn (Clarks Summit), PA.

The first big use of this blog will happen next week. 12 youth and 3 adults will be in Moss Point, Mississippi and New Orleans from June 18-25 helping to repair homes damaged by Hurrican Katrina. Rotating every day, 2 youth will be assigned to write a summary and reflection of each day's events. We'll also post a few pictures every day.

So bookmark our site and check in on us daily next week to see what we're up to! Or, subscribe to our RSS feed through your new aggregator of choice for automatic notification of our new posts!

Peace to you,
Josh