I have been so pleased to hear from so many of you about your experiences at District Conference. It was a fabulous event and I had a blast watching the Youth from many different congregations come together. The Empire Youth group F.R.O.G. perfectly captured the highlights of the weekend, in a thank you letter to their congregation, which was re-printed in the PSWD newsletter so I won't go into details here. But, there was another particular moment I enjoyed that was organic in its actualization. Let's just say, where there is a ball, a court and a few teenagers gathered, there is….The Game!

La Verne, Glendale and Principe de Paz youth found themselves in common territory on the basketball court, where a game with undefined rules, timelines or even teammates quickly became the handshake of friendship and brotherly love. A video highlight of the game is posted on the Pacific Southwest District Youth FACEBOOK page. 

The spirit of that impromptu moment was reflected throughout our weekend together. Don't get me wrong. The Youth Cabinet did a fabulous job creating an agenda and timeline for the weekend. They also had the wisdom to allow spontaneous fellowship to flourish and that is where the deepening relationships were born!

The Youth Cabinet will be meeting again in January to create our next, GAME PLAN! Please stayed tuned and encourage everyone to "Get into the Game" that is PWSD Youth fellowship!

Dawna

PSWD Youth Cabinet!!    

Hey guys! I'm Tuesday Thornton from LaVerne CA! I love the church. I'm so excited and feel blessed to have the opportunity to serve on the Youth Cabinet:)

Hey everyone, I'm Maya. I'm really looking forward to working with all of you, and making the district youth activities really great! I'm so happy to be a part of this cabinet!

Hi, my name is Senna and I am excited to be on the Youth Cabinet for our district, get to know new people, and have fun sharing ideas!

My name is Mollie Montgomery, I am an active member in the Bakersfield church of the brethren, and I am a sophomore at North High School. Im excited to work with the youth cabinet and all the youth in our district.

Hey everyone, My name is Robert "Robby" Burke and I'm from Bakersfield. I'm a senior in high school, and I am looking forward to an exciting year working with the youth of PSWD.

Hi! My name is Rehana Franklin, I am from Modesto California and am very excited to be a senior in high school! I really look forward to serving you all on the Youth Cabinet this year! I hope it will be a ton of fun for all of us.

Hey youth of the Pacific Southwest District this is Kyle Carothers from Circle of Peace in Arizona and I am looking forward to serving you on the youth cabinet!

Last, but NOT least is Michael Terry from Live Oak, CA.

Calling all,CoB Youth!

PSWD District Conference, November 11-12-13, 2011 will be here before you know it!

You won’t want to miss this event only to hear everyone say:

 “Oh man, you should have been there.”

Here's what you can look forward to:

Friday, November 11

Youth Lounge Open 1:00 – 6:30 (DINNER ON YOUR OWN)

Worship

6:45 pm Walk to Worship from Youth Lounge

"Get to Know You" in the Youth Lounge

8:30 pm Mollie Montgomery & Youth Cabinet leading “Ice Breakers”

Senior High Sleepover at La Verne Church of the Brethren

10:00 pm Middle Schooler’s get picked up    10:00 pm Senior High and chaperones walk to LVCoB       11:00 pm  Lights Out 

Saturday, November 12

Showers and Breakfast at ULV  

7:00 am Senior High and chaperones walk to ULV        

7:30 – 8:00 am Jr. and Sr. High Breakfast      

8:30 Youth and chaperones walk to Hillcrest 

Business 

9:00 am Youth attend opening business /  Introduction and Welcome of Youth Cabinet

Service Project at Hillcrest 

10:00 am Youth & Chaperones – Woods for painting project & visiting residents

Lunch

12:00 pm Walk to Youth Lounge

12:15 pm Pick-up sack lunches for bus ride

Off-Site Event 

12:30 pm Bus from Hillcrest to Sky High Sports Trampolines 

12:45 pm Sack lunch on bus

2:00 – 3:00 pm Private Court (up to 30 jumpers)

3:15 pm Bus back to LVCoB (snacks/drinks)

Peanut Butter Project

4:30 pm – Rehana Franklin and Youth Cabinet

Youth Cabinet Check-in – 5:30 pm 

Banquet & Insight Session – Topic: Who Are the PSWD YOUTH? 

  6:00 pm – Pasta and Salad Dinner 

  7:00 pm – Drama

  7:15 pm – Insight Session/Conversation

Free Time

  8:30 pm – La Verne Campus (games, campfire)

10:00 pm – Middle school youth pick-up

Senior High Sleepover at La Verne Church of the Brethren

10:00 pm – Snacks, Prayer Circle

11:00 pm – Lights Out

Sunday, November 13

Showers and Breakfast at ULV        

7:30 am – Senior High and chaperones walk to ULV        

8:00 – 9:00 am – Jr. and Sr. High Breakfast / Sunday School    

9:00 am – Youth and chaperones walk to Hillcrest 

Closing Worship – 9:30 am  

Good-Bye's – 11:00 am 

Youth Cabinet Meeting – 11:30 am

Late in August the newly formed youth cabinet came together in Bakersfield, Ca to meet for the first time and do some planning.

The cabinet worked hard and demonstrated advanced leadership skills! While trying to agree on text and graphics for a district youth t-shirt, I observed (the seven youth present) demonstrate an "old time" Brethren approach that included open discussion, kind reflection and finally 100% consensus! Very impressive. It was a joy to witness. Register for conference to order a t-shirt!

During our time together the cabinet also planned all the events at district conference, 2011 and established a Facebook account.

Check it out: Pacific Southwest District Youth.

Plans have been made to meet again early in the new year to plan a district wide, Spring Fling!

If it is anything like what they planned for District Conference I am sure it will be something to look forward to!