CYF Blast (Page 6)

Dear Peace Parents and Families, On Sunday we concluded our 3-week series during the Education Hour on Teen Mental Health and welcomed in Dr. Marguerite Ohrtman, who spoke on the impact of social media on teens and adults. Dr. Ohrtman is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor at Next Adventure Counseling and Consulting and the Director of School Counseling and Clinical Training at the University of Minnesota in the Counselor Education Program. During the session, Dr. Ohrtman shared that about 90% of…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, On Sunday, Sandy Mortensen led our education hour and discussed the subject of values and mental health.  Her primary thesis was this: When life presents challenges, when you experience self-doubt and low self-esteem, or when you’re experiencing mental health issues like anxiety or depression, there are steps we can take to manage them well. First, we can reflect on our values to remind ourselves of what’s most important. Second, we can take value-based actions to recenter ourselves. Third,…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, I’m so grateful to those of you who attended Sunday’s education session on teen mental health. As someone who has worked with students for over a decade, I can’t emphasize enough how important an issue it is for them and needs to be for you. For those who weren’t able to attend, mental health has been declining in the United States—across all ages and demographics—for decades. But it has been particularly poignant among American teenagers. …

Dear Peace Parents and Families, Thank you to everyone who made Gathering Sunday and our Fall Kickoff Festival so fun! It warmed my heart to see all the smiling faces, hear all the laughs and good conversations, and feel all of the positive and Spirit-filled energy. As we look ahead and move forward into the fall, there will be plenty more opportunities to grow in faith and community—for all ages. On Sundays we have worship, fellowship time, adult education, Sunday…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, Gathering Sunday is this weekend, and I am so excited to begin the new year of ministry together. We will kick it off with worship at 9:30am, a brief Sunday School Preview immediately following worship, and a Fall Kickoff Festival in the upper parking lot at 10:45am. We’ll have snow cones, walking tacos, and plenty of games. Everyone is invited—we hope you can make it! And as we move into the fall season, I want…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, There are a lot of exciting things happening at Peace in the coming weeks, and we want you to be a part of them!  Here’s a brief taste of what’s to come: And to make these wonderful ministries possible, we need your help! Each one needs dedicated leaders who care about our young people and their faith formation. Because when you serve in our Children, Youth, and Family ministries, you are making a big difference in…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, For Bloomington schools, school starts next week. As I’ve done in previous years, I’d like to share this prayer, “A Prayer for the First Day of School,” for all of our students, parents, teachers, and education workers as they prepare to begin this exciting new season.  “O God of new beginnings, as this child begins this new school year, we are reminded that they are Yours and Yours alone. We have filled their backpack, and…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, It was great to see so many of you this last Sunday as I returned from my parental leave.  Reilly and I welcomed our son, Cameron, into the world on June 29, which also happened to be the last day of Vacation Bible School. I’m grateful to everyone who cared for us at the hospital, and to everyone who helped make our “Stellar” VBS such a blast! The six weeks of my parental leave that…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, While Pastor Joe is on paternity leave, I am continuing to join up with the ongoing editor, Daina Sivanich, to send along to you Peace’s weekly children, youth, and family newsletter. It’s an exciting weekend ahead! Sunday afternoon, nine Peace youth (4th-8th Graders) will head to Camp Wapogasset’s Youth Camp in Amery, WI for the week. The Peace youth are: Trevor Budz, Emery Byers, Kiya Losinski, Myla Macejkovic, Elsa Oman, Sofia Oman, Asher Rogers, Ayla Rogers, and Addison Tschida. We join together…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, While Pastor Joe is on paternity leave, I am continuing to join up with the ongoing editor, Daina Sivanich, to send along to you Peace’s weekly children, youth, and family newsletter. Martin Luther spoke of the need for “the mutual consolation of the brethren.” He said, “a faithful friend is a great boon and a precious treasure in any situation of life….it remains a great advantage to have a brother/sister with whom one can converse…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, While Pastor Joe is on paternity leave, I am continuing to join up with the ongoing editor, Daina Sivanich, to send along to you Peace’s weekly children, youth, and family newsletter. It was amazing. Two angry human beings. Wrestling. Angry. No, it wasn’t two men (or women!) It wasn’t UFC or MMA on television in my living room. No. It was at Target. In the toy section. It was two very young children. And it…

Dear Peace Parents and Families, While Pastor Joe is on paternity leave, I am continuing to join up with the ongoing editor, Daina Sivanich, to send along to you Peace’s weekly “Children, Youth, and Family Newsletter.” My thanks to her and our thanks to you for your taking a few minutes to read it! First of all, I hope you had and/or are having a good July 4th week and that you are having a renewing (and restful?) week. And secondly, I can…