Winnebago Presbytery supports United Church Camps, Inc. which operates Pilgrim Center in Green Lake and Moon Beach in St. Germaine.  We also offer camper scholarships up to one-fourth of the costs.  Download a Camper Scholarship Application here.  Application deadline is April 15th!

Synod School is scheduled at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa July 24-29.  This year’s theme is, “All My Relatives.”  Brochures will be arriving in the mail soon.  Winnebago Presbytery offers scholarships to this outstanding event.  Download a Synod School Scholarship Application and return it by June 1st.

Small Group Discussion

Capture the Flag (under the stars!)

Camp skits

Habitat for Humanity Shed Build

Daily worship

Creating a treasure box

and loads and loads of fun!!

A BIG thank you to all the adults and all the campers who make Winnebago Presbytery Camp a success!

Just less than a month ago (when the temperature was a lovely 68 degrees) more than 40 youth and adults made their annual trek the Wisconsin Lions Camp in Rosholt, Wisconsin for Presbytery CAMP!  This event, funded in part by the 40 churches of Winnebago Presbytery, has become an end of October tradition.  Capture the flag (in the dark), nature hikes, small group learning times and morning plenary sessions are just a few of the activities that fill the time from Wednesday night to Saturday afternoon.

This year’s keynote speaker Hans Peterson, of Dakota Road Music, wove stories, songs, and activities in to three morning presentations.  The calendar provided the impetus for the theme – The Communion of the Saints – as we spent both Halloween and All Saints Day together.  The three days of presentation and small group study provided an opportunity to study the story of Martin Luther, to think about the problems and challenges of the world we live in today and to consider how we respond as Christians as well as how we might respond differently.  The culmination even was the nailing of the new 95 theses (which in our case turned out to be 105) to the door of the Pastor’s Study (borrowed for the occasion).

Reading through the list, you’ll notice some common themes from environmental issues to health care; from big social issues like poverty and hunger to simple things everyone can do like singing and sharing.  We left camp after four days with a renewed sense of call to act differently in the world – to share a bit more and to fear a bit less.

These are our theses!

The youth of Winnebago Presbytery

1.    Try to buy reusable things (water bottles and cups instead of soda cans)
2.    Food Drives for hungry
3.    Waste Less
4.    Recycle More
5.    More Friendly kid services
6.    Play games that have to do with life
7.    Simplify our lives
8.    Increase law enforcement to be harder on crime
9.     Have more educated leaders
10.    Always do the best you can
11.    In the world, more churches should communicate more to solve problems
12.    We should have more communication in church
13.    Bring more friends to church
14.    People need to stop killing and start lovin’!
15.    To have free lunches for people who can’t afford them.
16.    I need to think about other people instead of just me
17.    We need more shelters
18.    Volunteer
19.    Don’t linger on past issues
20.    Cut back on food water consumption
21.    Parents shouldn’t have to worry about their children’s safety
22.    Use less water during but enough to keep ourselves healthy
23.    More shut eye in the world
24.    More days at camp
25.    Bike or walk places instead of driving
26.    Vote!
27.    Start school later in the day
28.    Don’t give out as many pollution credits to companies
29.    More youth need to be allowed in our churches
30.     I should go to church more
31.    There should be less war
32.    We should do more fundraisers for things OTHER than our church
33.    Give health care to those who can’t pay for it
34.    At church  – not talk about giving money to the church all the time
35.    In the World – give more kids a chance to learn
36.    Myself – Give more contributions to help get rid of poverty
37.    Do something about child abuse
38.    Give to kids in need
39.    Let people express ideas for volunteer work
40.    Give more money to the church
41.    Don’t use Styrofoam cups
42.    Use electric cars
43.    Open communication
44.    Stop pollution
45.    Help the homeless more
46.    Giving and sharing
47.    Give to kids in need
48.    Need to help more people that don’t have as much as we do
49.    More time for children
50.    Stop fighting with countries
51.    Make my enemies my friends
52.    Buy less cheap stuff and more good quality items
53.    Church should do more to get kids to WANT to come
54.    Do more walks for hunger and help the people in Africa
55.    Tell my church how I feel about what they are doing there
56.    Work together on learning about God and the Messiah
57.    Appreciate what God has given us
58.    Get more involved – don’t sit back and watch it happen if you know it is bad
59.    Non violent acts to solve problem
60.    Negotiate before you attack the other side
61.    Follow what you believe. No one says you have to be like everyone else
62.    Stop pollution
63.    End wars
64.    More relevant sermons
65.    More FUN-draisers for hunger relief and other world problems
66.    More lively music in church
67.    Stop criminal violence
68.    Make peace in our lives
69.    Be more like Gandhi and Jesus
70.    Cut down consumption
71.    Recycle
72.    More singing about our world and how to help it
73.    Donate to charity
74.    Community service
75.    Peace
76.    Waste less
77.    Show mercy
78.    More pudding in the world
79.    Make your life simpler
80.    More sharing in the world
81.    Better job opportunities for 16 year olds
82.    Random acts of kindness need to occur more often
83.    Give more hugs
84.    More respect for people in general
85.    Church should be more fun
86.    More good camps for kids our age
87.    People should be less serious all the time and we should all just DANCE
88.    Buy less so other people’s live improve
89.    Take reusable bags shopping
90.    Form a mission team to help the community
91.    Volunteer for services at the church
92.    Encourage communication among countries
93.    Natural resources should be saved for future generations
94.    Save the polar bears
95.    Use brands that treat employees fairly
96.    Teach adults that kids have ideas and that they are not all bad
97.    Don’t use as much stuff that we don’t need
98.    Carpool
99.    Deal with the BIG issues: world hunger, clean water, homelessness, abuse, sickness, healthcare, racism, crime and violence
100.    Don’t throw it away if it can still be used
101.    Help others
102.    Donate more
103.    Change the hate
104.    Be fair
105.    Share

The week long program in late July concluded with nearly 100 adults and children crowding the market place set up in the Lakewood Presbyterian Church parking lot.

Several of the Jerusalem women pose for a picture.

One never knows who might be spotted walking through the market.

]]> http://www.winnebagopresbytery.org/2008/08/13/jerusalem-market-place-comes-alive/feed/ Array http://www.winnebagopresbytery.org/2008/03/03/its-a-spring-thing/ http://www.winnebagopresbytery.org/2008/03/03/its-a-spring-thing/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:11:57 +0000 admin http://www.winnebagopresbytery.org/2008/03/03/its-a-spring-thing/ WHAT: It’s time for the second annual SPRING THING. Join your Presbytery friends on an overnight trip to Madison!

WHEN: Friday April 11-Saturday April 12

WHO: This event is for all youth ages 6th through 12th grade.

HOW MUCH:The cost will be $20.

• Bond on the bus! A bus will pick up youth/chaperones at 6pm in Appleton and 7pm in Stevens Point
• Spend the night at Pres-House…the Presbyterian presence on the University of Wisconsin campus. Play and worship together.
• Shop on State Street! Spend Saturday afternoon shopping on State Street or having a campus tour, followed by a pizza dinner, then return home around 9pm.
• Participate in a Mission Project…as a group.

Publicity Flyer HERE. Registration form HERE ??’s: contact Sarah Moore-Nokes at sarah [at]winnebagopresbytery.org