Category Archives: Youth

9-27-19 is the Registration Deadline for Pyoca Fall Youth Conference!

Register now for #FYC2019!

Can you believe it? Pyoca’s Fall Youth Conference is just two weeks away!

Check out the information below to complete your youth group’s registration. The registration deadline is this Friday, Sept. 27th, so be sure to register soon!

Have questions regarding registration? We’re here to help! Feel free to email Program Director Rev. Molly DeWitt at molly@pyoca.org for registration assistance, or call the Pyoca office at (812) 358-3413.

How to Register:

FYC registration is by church, rather than by individual. Each church must designate a Youth Registrar, most often a Youth Director or volunteer youth leader.

If you have individual youth looking to join us, but do not have a full group, let us know and we can assist in pairing you with a partner church!

Step One: Please indicate to the Pyoca office your intent to join us by submitting the Group Pre-Registration Form and Youth Leader Registration Form via email to Molly DeWitt (molly@pyoca.org) no later than Friday, Sept. 27th, 2019. That way, we have a general estimate on how many youth and adults will be joining us.

Step Two: Have each youth participant fill out the FYC Youth Registration Form and return them to the Registrar. Youth forms can be sent via mail or email to Molly DeWitt. If needed, youth forms can be brought to the conference on Friday, Oct. 4th.

After the registration deadline, one?for?one substitutions of the same gender may be made.
Additional registrations will be accepted if space is available.

For substitutions or additions, contact Molly DeWitt at molly@pyoca.org or (812) 358-3413.
Additional information and all conference forms can be found here.

We are delighted to welcome Rev. Shelly Wood and Matthew Black as this year’s keynote speaker and worship leader. We would also like to welcome Justin Wade, Executive Director of Young Actors Theatre in Indianapolis, as the guest speaker for our Saturday evening vesper service.

This year’s theme is A Light in the Darkness. We know that youth are not immune to darkness and times of struggle. They deserve to have a space that is open for them to talk about their fears, anxieties, and what challenges them.
When we are able to talk about the darkness around us we bring light to difficult situations. We find hope that God is right alongside us in our darkest places moving us into the light.

This year’s theme will focus on the story of Zacchaeus and what it means to see, be seen, and share the light of Christ with others.

The conference is open to any youth group and their youth leaders. Youth in grades 6-12 are welcome. Small groups will be split by age group, 6th-8th grade and 9th-12th. Individual youth without a group attending are encouraged to group up with another church to register.

Be sure to check out our flye r!

All general conference information (fees, registration, etc.) can be found in the FYC Church Group Information sheet.

We look forward to having you with us in a few short weeks and will be praying for your youth and congregations!

If you have any questions at all about the Fall Youth Conference, or any other Pyoca programs, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Molly DeWitt
Program Director

If you have any questions regarding Pyoca programs, please email program@pyoca.org or call (812) 358-3413.

Pyoca Fall Youth Conference

From Pyoca Camp and Retreat Center:

Join us at Pyoca October 4th – 6th for our 5th Annual Fall Youth Conference. We are delighted to welcome Rev. Shelly Wood and Matthew Black as this year’s keynote speaker and worship leader for the Fall Youth Conference.

When we are able to talk about the darkness around us we bring light to difficult situations. We find hope that God is right alongside us in our darkest places moving us into the light.

This year’s theme will focus on the story of Zacchaeus and what it means to see, be seen, and share the light of Christ with others.

The conference is open to any youth group and their youth leaders. Youth in grades 6-12 are welcome. Small groups will be split by age group, 6th-8th grade and 9th-12th. Individual youth without a group attending are encouraged to group up with another church to register.

Be sure to check out our flye r!

All general conference information (fees, registration, etc.) can be found in the FYC Church Group Information sheet.

How to Register:

FYC registration is by church, rather than by individual. Each church must designate a Youth Registrar, most often a Youth Director or volunteer youth leader.

If you have individual youth looking to join us, but do not have a full group, let us know and we can assist in pairing you with a partner church!

Step One: Please indicate to the Pyoca office your intent to join us by submitting the Group Pre-Registration Form and Youth Leader Registration Form via email to Molly DeWitt (molly@pyoca.org) no later than Friday, Sept. 20th, 2019. That way, we have a general estimate on how many youth and adults will be joining us.

Step Two: Have each youth participant fill out the FYC Youth Registration Form and return them to the Registrar. Youth forms can be sent via mail or email to Molly DeWitt. If needed, youth forms can be brought to the conference on Friday, Oct. 4th.

After the registration deadline, one?for?one substitutions of the same gender may be made. Additional registrations will be accepted if space is available.
For substitutions or additions, contact Molly DeWitt at molly@pyoca.org or (812) 358-3413.

Additional information and all conference forms can be found here.

‘We are here, we are ready, and we are eager to see what God is about to do’

Original article found here.

Triennium’s opening worship infused with youthful joy and enthusiasm

by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service

The Rev. Sera Chung, the preacher during Tuesday’s opening worship at Presbyterian Youth Triennium, joins with the Nettletons to sing “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” (Photo by Rich Copley)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana — More than 4,000 youth and their chaperones clearly energized by having arrived at Purdue University for the 2019 Presbyterian Youth Triennium worshiped together Tuesday night through movement, singing, prayer, confession — and by hearing thoughtful, heartfelt preaching.

“God’s bigger than anything we can imagine,” the Rev. Cindy Kohlmann, co-moderator of the 223^rd General Assembly, told worshipers.

“We believe God calls each of us to ministry,” said her fellow co-moderator, Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri. “We encourage you to have fun, make memories — and tell us all about it.”

After a drama team told snippets of their personal stories, their leader, the Rev. Mark Montgomery of Norwalk, Conn., assured worshipers that this week, God will write a new story on their heart. The theme for Tuesday was “Tune my Heart.”

Energizers and upbeat music served to pump up the more than 4,000 people at Purdue University attending the 2019 Presbyterian Youth Triennium. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Music performed by the Nettletons, Triennium’s house worship band, elicited a sea of cell phone flashlights that swayed gently with the rhythm.

The service’s call to worship concluded with these words, recited by just about everyone in the Elliott Hall of Music: “We are here, we are ready, and we are eager to see what God is about to do.”

Then the Rev. Sera Chung took to the stage.

Chung, director of the Asian American program at Princeton Theological Seminary, preached from Psalm 100: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into God’s presence with singing … For the Lord is good; God’s steadfast love endures forever, and God’s faithfulness to all generations.”

Chung posed this question to the gathered youth: What is life? For Chung, an accomplished musician, it’s a song, “and you better sing that song with the unique instrument God gave you. We take our stories and perch them on a melody so they can take flight.”

The problem, she said, is that “we all want to write a hit song.” The lyric must be catchy, the rhythm funky and the song “must be relatable so it touches the audience.”

The Rev. Sera Chung, director of the Asian American program at Princeton Theological Seminary, was the preacher during Tuesday’s opening worship at Triennium. (Photo by Rich Copley)

Most of the Bible’s 150 psalms are laments, she said. The psalmists, many of them anonymous, rail against sickness, feelings of betrayal and abandonment, false accusation — all part of the human condition. “We can’t help but notice,” Chung said, “that happiness cannot exist apart from suffering. Life gives us psalms to sing that are bitter but also sweet, loud but also silent.”

They’re not songs that come from places of order, equilibrium, peace or comfort, she said. The people who sang them “were subject to being relocated, isolated, shut down and overwhelmed,” she said. “Yet we see them tuning their hearts, singing their way into God’s presence … It is through this trust in God’s steadfast love that we can sing these psalms.”

When her mother died unexpectedly not long ago, “the only sound that came out of my mouth were sounds of deep pain and suffering.” Rather than tuning her heart, Chung said she was ready to tune out. But friends reminded her she still had a song to sing.

“Singing and tuning our hearts to God are not limited to certain individuals, leaders or kings,” she said. “It’s a call to all of us to sing a testimony to God’s grace and faithfulness.”

As Chung and the Nettletons joined to sing “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” Triennium’s theme song, Chung asked worshipers to name the things their hearts are currently seeking.

“Does it seek for justice? A repaired relationship?” she asked. “Shout out what your heart is seeking.”

Those in attendance did exactly that as the musicians concluded the hymn.

You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.

Adult participants can get an intergenerational education at Presbyterian Youth Triennium

Originally posted on www.presbyterianmission.org

Youth group leaders and others invited to spend some ‘intergenerational holy moments’

by Mari Graham Evans | Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — Delegations from as far as Indonesia and all over the U.S. are gearing up for five sweaty, charged and delight-filled days at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium (PYT) at Purdue University July 16-20. While it’s a youth-focused event, adults will have the opportunity for their own enlightenment by accessing the Adult Learning Track offering.

This year’s learning opportunity will be led by Brian Frick, Associate for Christian Formation (and Camp and Conference Ministry) of the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Rev. Dr. Jason Santos, Mission Coordinator for Christian Formation at the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Framed in the context of “intergenerational holy moments,” this three-day workshop “explores how cultivating IG [intergenerational] moments help anchor a deeper faith and a multi-layered understanding of Christian community,” according to the Triennium website. “Join the staff of the Office of Christian Formation at the Presbyterian Mission Agency as we delve into this rich topic and explore a fuller vision for the church and the future of youth ministry.”

Rev. Dr. Jason Santos

Intergenerational formation, according to Santos, is where “two or more generations intersect one another in a mutually transformative and inclusive way.”

“The ‘intergenerational’ part implies not just generations together, but rather an intersection,” Santos says. “We use words like ‘mutuality’ and ‘reciprocity’ and ‘inclusion’ in the language of [intergenerational formation].”

“Basically, multiple generations together forming a faithful community. So how are we forming a congregation that includes everybody?” adds Frick.

Intergenerational ministry is characterized by an equal exchange, which means “participation both in leadership and receiving by multiple generations. It’s not teaching, like me teaching children,” Frick says. “It’s us being together in a [particular] setting.”

According to Santos, participants attending the Adult Learning Track can expect to get “a better understanding of intergenerational formation and how it fits within the church and a better understanding of how central that type of formation is for the identities that youth are developing in high school or junior high ministry.”

More than information, participants will also get time together to process through what they are learning and share with each other the stories from their own experiences.

Brian Frick

“A small church might only have a few youths; they don’t really have a youth group,” says Frick. “So, what does that mean? There will be all different size churches and leaders coming to Triennium.

“So, we will be talking about an overall way of being church, but they are also going to have some time to begin, because it’s a long process,” Frick explains. “This is not something where you go, ‘Wow, if I just start doing this … solved.’ It’s the beginning of an understanding.”

Now in its fourth iteration, the Adult Learning Track is an opportunity for adult advisers at Triennium to enjoy some “focused, professionally planned and led continuing education focused on the Christian faith formation of youth,” according to the Triennium website.

Some may express surprise that something that’s adult-focused is offered at a youth-centered event such as Triennium.

“Triennium tends to draw a large amount of youth ministry leaders from congregations. Many of the youth leaders are very experienced in accompanying young people but do not have continuing education budgets or additional time to travel,” says Gina Yeager-Buckley, Mission Associate for Formation (PYT and Youth Ministries) for the Presbyterian Mission Agency “Most adults who attend Triennium are coming on their vacation time.”

“As is the case in many Presbyterian churches — adults who serve among youth, children, intergenerational ministries, young adult ministries — are grassroots (people) trained in Christian formation,” Yeager-Buckley says. “They learn ‘in the youth room,’ ‘in the van going to serve in a mission experience,’ ‘teaching Sunday school’ — these are the most profound ways of learning. And it’s also nice to have intentional training/learning with fellow volunteers or ministry leaders, taught with research, creativity and understanding.”

Make sure to follow PYT on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to be up to date on all of the Triennium excitement. The official event hashtag is #PYT2019.

Presbyterian Youth Triennium is a gathering for high school age youth from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church that occurs every three years. The 2019 event is July 16-20, 2019 at Purdue University. The theme for the 2019 event is “Here’s My Heart.” The Presbyterian Youth Triennium is supported by your gifts to the Pentecost Offering.

Pyoca Pathway: Join us for Week 3 Camps!

Join us for Week 3 Camp Programs!

We still have spots left in each of our Week 3 Camp Programs and we want to ensure even more campers have the opportunity to experience the magic of camp this summer.

Join us for Explore Camp (entering 2nd – 4th grade), Discover Camp (entering 4th – 6th grade, and Challenge Camp (entering 7th – 9th grade).

Our annual Boat-a-thon helped us raise nearly $10,000.00 toward camper scholarships this year, so we still have scholarship assistance left for campers who wish to join us this coming week. Scholarship forms can be found here.

Have you already been with us for camp this summer? Join us for a second week! We’d love to have your camper join us for another week of fun.

Week 3 (June 30th-July 5th) is always an amazing week because of our annual 4th of July Celebration.

We will gather campers together for our field day games on July 4th, have an all-camp cookout at the Pavilion, and finish off the night with our fireworks show put on by Senior Director Mike Davis. It’s a week you won’t want to miss!

It’s never too late to join us for a summer you won’t forget. Register your campers today!

Pyoca 2019 Summer Programs

Updated on 4/4/2019

Less Than 60 Days Until Camp!

Just two months until summer camp starts! Have you registered your youth for camp yet? It’s not too late! Our programs are filling up faster this year, so be sure to reserve your spot at camp.

Important: Your child will not have their preferred week of camp reserved until their camp registration is fully submitted. Register now.

Are you waiting on church scholarships or other funding before submitting your registration? Have questions regarding your registration?

Please let us know! We are here to help and ensure that your child has their spot. You can either call us at (812) 358-3413 or email program@pyoca.org.
Pyoca scholarship request forms can be found here.

Take a look at the PYOCA website to find out about all the programs happening for kids and adults!
Use the link on the image below to view the entire brochure on Flipsnack.com.

Presbyterian Youth Triennium 2019

Purdue University July 16-20

A classic melody for a new generation’s voice!

Get READY for the 2019 Presbyterian Youth Triennium – a gathering for high school age youth from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (entering 9th grade through graduated 12th grade)!

Here's my heart image

Find more about registration, event plans and travel information from the various tabs found on the event site. All participants must be registered through a local presbytery or church delegation.