Looking for a new home…

As you can see; it’s been a while since the blog was updated. Mostly that’s because I’ve realised this updater isn’t nearly as user friendly as I once considered it to be; so I’m looking for a new home for the Youth in the Wood site. That means, sadly, you won’t get to hear about some of the exciting things we’ve done since last October, including more great drop ins Tubing on Cypress, Rock Band Night and the wonderful Geometric Shape Night. I also didn’t get to tell you about the Urban Pilgrimage event which brought youth together from across Vancouver to experience urban justice, worship and eat much pizza together. And I didn’t get to fill you in on the half dozen or so Mission Saturdays which have seen our youth serving some of Vancouver’s poorest…

Ah well. The schedule is updated so you can see what we’re doing all the way through until the summer. Come along on Mondays for our drop in nights and come play some Rock Band! If you want to stay up to date with our news and future happenings; either join our Facebook group or get put on our e-mail list by writing mailing Phil. Hopefully we’ll have a shiny new site for the Fall!

Return to Laser Dome Night, LUMs and Ignite!

Now that the Fall is well and truly here, and it’s raining pretty much every day, we’re busier than ever at St. Francis. First off; we’ve had lots of Monday Drop-Ins with particular highlights including the fast and furious You Don’t Know Jack Night and the much anticipated Return to the Laser Dome Night.  Which included a return to the ever popular Light Space as well! Next week we’re back to St. Francis for X-Box / Wii Tournament Night. Don’t worry if you’re not a big video gamer; we’ll have a beginner’s league. And, for the truly obsessed, there will be a professionals’ playoff…

Also well underway now is Ignite: The Big Picture where we’ve looked at the religious life through the eyes of The Simpsons and heroism in The Lion King. Next week it’s life and death decisions with (who else?) Jack Bauer on 24.  No doubt we’ll also have spot prizes and much more pizza; if you’re not already coming along then you really should!

We’ve also had some special events. One, which is becoming a regular, is an oppotunity to come serve the poor on Saturday mornings on the Downtown Eastside with the Lutheran Urban Missions Society. On the first two Mission Saturdays, nine of us have gone down to join LUMs in serving a meal for some of Vancouver’s poorest. We take a trip to join them every two weeks and it’s highly recommended for senior youth to see a side of the city we rarely visit. More information in the new LUMs section above.

And, finally, we also had a mega St. Francis Day Pie Sale in aid of the St. Petersburg Children’s Hospice. Rising to the challenge to provide some baked goods over the Thanksgiving weekend, we had pies donated and then had a mass baking session where we made eleven (!) fruit pies, sold after the Sunday morning service at St. Francis. The sale was a great success; with $250 dollars raised which, as Fr. Alexander from the hospice told us a few weeks ago, will help keep five terminally ill children pain free for a month.

It’s been great to have so many events which we can enjoy; and now it’s pretty awesome that we can give something back both in Vancouver and abroad. Check out the schedules (which are constantly changing as we sort out the term’s program) and the new information about LUMs above!

Alice Lake Camping Trip

The sun was shining, the Sea to Sky Highway was clear and we managed to fit everything into the cars… Yes, things looked good when we set off on our annual camping trip to Alice Lake! And we had a great weekend; starting off by putting up tents (amazingly; a lot easier when you have the instructions or have done it at least once before…) and settiling around the campfire for pasta and s’mores.

We had a quick hike to Edith Lake on Saturday, broken up by our traditional ‘day out in the woods’ game of Camouflage (this time the carefully chosen camo gear paid off) and a little wildlife spotting. We then headed over to the beach to enjoy the sunshine and the beautifully warm waters of Alice Lake. Oh, wait, that would be the freezing cold waters of the seemingly glacial Alice Lake. But some of us brave folk managed to get into the water; and those who didn’t got a second chance to when we went back later in the evening for some stargazing and night swimming. Not a lot of stars to be seen; as the clouds had started to roll in after we left the beach. And as we sang songs around the campfire things suddenly got a lot colder. We should have taken that as our warning; as on our last morning we were treated to a dose of British Columbia rain to remind us that the summer really is over.

A little rain wasn’t going to dampen our fun, though, and after a short fight with N0-Name cereal (don’t ask) we were on our way home for some tent drying and well deserved sleep! Thanks to Angus and Caitlin for helping with the leading, cooking and singing. For everyone who lent camping equipment (not quite sure how we ended up with eight tents but we used most of them!) and for those who helped out with the driving.

And, of course, the beginning of year camping trip means that youth group is now back in session. We had our first Junior Drop-In of the year the day after the trip; which meant our usual basketball had to be postponed whilst the hall was turned into a tent city to dry some wet camping equipment. But we’ll make it up by going on a Junior trip soon! We also had a great All Age Worship with our youth band. And, after some great singing talent was on display on the camping trip, we’re hoping to recruit some new members to build up for the next year.

Lots of things happening in the next few weeks. As well as what’s on the schedules for Drop In and Ignite, some of us will be heading to the Downtown Eastside to help out with the Lutheran Urban Mission Society on Saturday; with whom St. Francis are serving a meal for the folks living out on the streets. Check out the schedules by clicking the buttons above. And don’t forget to look us up on Facebook!

Welcome Back!

The summer is coming to an end; which means the St. Francis youth groups are gearing up for our new year. Already we had a great All Age Worship service on September 9th and, next week, we have our Senior Youth Camping Trip (September 14th-16th) as well as our first Junior Youth Drop In (September 17th, 3.30pm-5.00pm)

If you click on the headings at the top of this page you can see our programs for the next few months, including Monday Drop-Ins, our Sunday morning Junior Fellowship and evening Ignite.

Beach Party

It was a bright and breezy Monday evening, the sun was shining and the concession stand was already closed (oops…) which meant everything was in place for our end of year Beach Party!

Actually, we didn’t spend *that* much time on the beach. But that water was pretty cold; and there was a bit of a breeze blowing. And there was plenty of rugby, frisbee and human pyramid related entertainment to be had on our patch of the fields. We even did our bit for the enviroment by leaving the place distinctly cleaner than when we first arrived!

So, with summer finally here (we had sunshine and everything) that means youth group activity has ended until September. But do not fear as there will be updates over the summer talking about beginning of year camping trips for the Senior Youth, welcome back party for the Juniors and information about our Fall programmes both for Monday nights and for Ignite. Which is going to get all high tech and modern next semester. Intrigued? You’ll just have to keep checking back, won’t you?

Have a great summer!