WHO are we? WHAT do we do? WHERE do we meet? WHEN do we meet? WHY do we meet?

United Methodist Youth fellowship, UMYF, is open to all youth from 6-12th grades. Meetings are on Sundays at 5:00, unless otherwise noted. Activities are every weekend and vary from fellowship activities to Bible studies to community service projects. Highlights and traditions of our year include the fall pumpkin patch fundraiser, Christmas caroling and Christmas party, ROCK retreat in Ocean City, leading worship in March, Holy week activities such as the Holy Rollers Rock-A-Thon, fasting, egg dying, and car wash, and an end of the year bon fire and cook out. Most of our youth entering the ninth grade through twelfth grade attend Camp Hope in the summer. Camp Hope is based in Frostburg, MD and is a United Methodist work camp. We refurbish homes for the underpriviledged, handicapped, and elderly in the Western Maryland area. Youth work on fundraising throughout the year to attend. Fundraisers include the Super Bowl Sub Sale, Potato Bake, PROM, and Talent show. The youth choir sings several times throughout the year. Please check out their links for upcoming rehearsals and times of performances. It is the highlight of Thanksgiving Eve worship and Youth Sunday! The UMYF seeks to build Disciples of Christ while focusing on issues specific to the teenage years. We seek to fellowship with one another and to be a vital member in the body of Christ with youth taking active and leading roles in worship. We are a part of the Baltimore-Washington Conference and take part in district and conferences activities. Come join us on Sundays at 5:00 for Bible study and fun in Jesus' name! Contact the Director of Youth Ministries, Meghan Humbert, through the church office for more information or details.

WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME

We are so excited to starting this year off in the new welcome center!  The new youth room will be ready to go for our good use.  Please join us on September 17 and 18 for all the fun and festivities.  We will need YOUTH volunteers for both days.  On September 17 we will need youth to sit at our tables advertising the UMYF program and our Camp Hope Missions.  We will also need some youth to act as tour guides around the new building.  Then, the same thing on Sunday morning.  We are also selling the commemorative T-Shirts for the church.  There is lots going on that weekend and one that is truly historic in the life of our church.  DON’T MISS OUT!

DEFENDER’S DAY

In order to take some time to remember the 10^th anniversary of September 11, and to remember Baltimore’s role in the Battle of Baltimore and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner, the church will be taking a bus down to Fort McHenry for Defender’s Day celebrations.  The event is FREE!  You only need to bring a chair or blanket to sit on and a bag/picnic lunch.  It will be VERY CROWDED because of the special nature of this year’s celebration.  There is a re-enactment of the battle, the army band plays a concert, and there is a terrific fireworks display.  It really is a terrific night and we should celebrate and enjoy together.

CAMP HOPE SUNDAY

As always, we will share our experience at Camp Hope with the church on September 25 at ALL 3 SERVICES!  Please wear your grey with lime green writing Camp Hope shirts to church that day.  Plan to stay after for a Cook – out with hamburgers and hot dogs.  Please bring a covered dish to share…a salad, a casserole, or dessert.  We still have chips left over from camp.  See you there!

PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS

Of course…they are coming!  Over 1,000 Pumpkins will be delivered and we will be selling, selling, selling!  This is a HUGE fundraiser for the youth and we need EVERYONE to participate.  PLEASE take some 2 hour shifts over those 2 weeks.  We really need everyone to sign up and chip in!

KICKBALL GAME!  BATTLE ROYALE!  KIDS Vs. PARENTS!

During the fall fest on October 16, we will have the First annual KICKBALL GAME of Kids vs. Parents!  There will be team captains, t-shirts, challenges thrown.  This will be AWESOME!

REGULAR MEETINGS

Of course, we will also spend time this year in Bible study.  Since we have a beautiful new youth room and are really focusing on reaching out to the community, we will spend some time talking about what Jesus teaches about Welcome.  Hopefully, we will have lots of new members and we will need to bring them into our UMYF family.  So, let’s take some time to discuss the nature of welcome and apply it to our church lives, and our school lives.

August 28 5:00 – Get to Know the UMYF – “Orientation” for parents and youth

September 4 – No Meeting – Happy Labor Day!

September 5 – Meghan registers for ROCK.  Make sure you have signed up!

September 10 – DEFENDERS DAY at Fort McHenry!  Meet at church at 4:30 with a picnic dinner and chair.

September 17 and 18 – WELCOME CENTER OPENING DAY!!!!!

September 25 – 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 Camp Hope Sunday and Cook Out after church.  Wear your Camp Hope Shirts!

October 2 – 5:00 Regular Meeting in new Youth Room!

October 9 – 12:00 (After church) Set up the Pumpkin Patch and regular meeting

October 14??? Pumpkins delivered sometime this week

October 16 – Fall Fest and BATTLE ROYALE KICK BALL GAME – YOUTH Vs. PARENTS! After 11:00 services

October 16-31 – SELL PUMPKINS!!!!  Please sign up for shifts!

October 28 7:00-10:00 p.m. – Community Masquerade Ball

October 29 – Ham and Oyster Supper

October 30 – Trick or Trunk 12:00 after church

November 6 5:00 – Regular Meeting

November 13 5:00 – Regular Meeting

November 19-20 – Night in Bethlehem and Advent Lock-In.  Breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and church together at 8:00.

November 23 – Thanksgiving Eve at Nichols-Bethel UMC- Choir Sings! Wear all black and report to church by 6:30

November 27 – No meeting – Happy Thanksgiving!

December 3 – Family Fellowship Christmas party with Unsearchable Riches

December 11 5:00 – Regular Meeting

December 17 4:00 – Christmas Caroling, Pizza Party, Movie Night

December 18 5:00 – Rehearse for Christmas Eve

December 22 6:30 – Rehearse for Christmas Eve

December 24 5:00 – Report to church

December 25 10:00 – Come as you are from under the Tree Worship!

January 1 – Happy New Year – No Meeting

January 20, 21, 22 – ROCK Retreat!

UMYF has begun a new tradition of attending Manidoken near Harper’s Ferry West Virginia.  It is one of the three retreat/camping centers for the Baltimore Washington Conference.  We have enjoyed time there the week leading to Thanksgiving, and this year we are looking forward to spending Memorial Day weekend there.  We stay in lodges with bunk beds and private bathrooms.  The food is provided in their cafeteria and we eat family style.  Don’t worry…IT IS AMAZING!  We have spent time team building on the ropes course, and this year are looking forward to some time tubing and white water rafting.  Bible study is lead by Meghan Humbert, the Director of Youth Ministries.  Rev. and Mrs. Humbert come during the last night and serve an intimate communion.  The youth design the service based on the theme of the weekend.  This has proven to be a meaningful experience for our individual group and has brought us all together and sisters and brothers in Christ.

ROCK Retreat is an exciting Christian weekend retreat in which youth in 6th-12th grade from the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church will gather at the Ocean City Convention Center. The purpose of the retreat is to "ROCK" the lives of our youth and help them into a new or deeper faith and personal relationship with the ROCK of our Salvation, Jesus Christ. Nichols-Bethel has attended for many years now, and each year we have found it gets better! This weekend is really a time away to focus on how we struggle in our walk with Christ. Each year has a theme and a message. This year's theme is "Mission Possible." We remember all things are possible through Christ. Saturday night typically concludes with an altar call. This gives youth an opportunity to make a public declaration of their faith in Christ and accept Him as the Savior of their lives. Every year, we have more and more youth make this declaration. Saturday afternoon is spent as free time and Bible study. We have ice skated, swam, walked the Board Walk, snacked on Thrashers Fries, and challenged each other at Ski Ball! Meals are provided in the hotel room, and dinner is out at a nice restaurant on our own. This trip really gives our group the momentum is needs to finish the school years and to re-dedicate our lives to Christ. It is moving for the youth, as well as adult chaperones. Remember – "I can…you can…we can…I got your back!

 Camp Hope is celebrating its 32nd anniversary. It is based out of Frostburg United Methodist Church and the campers are housed in the dormitories of Frostburg State University. It is a predominantly United Methodist based camp. The name of the camp is actually an acronym standing for Christian Appalachian Mission Project Helping Other People Enthusiastically. The homes that are worked on are in the Allegheny and Garrett County regions of Western Maryland. The camp runs for 4 weeks. Each week a different group of churches and campers attend. The average number of people attending a week is around 110.

This summer, we will work on over 50 homes. That means that over 1,000 homes have been touched by this program throughout its history. Many home owners are ill or infirmed, widowed, handicapped, or are in some other way not economically able to make some of the repairs necessary on their homes. Each work team is divided within the church itself. So, we will be working with our own youth and adults. The day begins at 6:30 with morning devotions and breakfast, and concludes around 4:00.

We travel to a variety of churches or community service organizations like the Lions Club for dinner each night. There, each church attending Camp Hope is assigned a night to lead vespers services. There is a spiritual life director who designs the spiritual theme for the week. Thursday is a half day of work and a half day spent at Rocky Gap State Park and concludes with "Dinner on Your Own Night." Highlights from the week include the annual talent show, trip to the Fruit Bowl for candy, and the Communion Service on Friday night. Each homeowner is invited to attend and share this worship experience. We will be attending our week of Camp Hope with several other churches, but locally Glen Burnie UMC. We depart at 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning and return around lunch time the following Saturday. Nichols-Bethel attends week 3 of Camp Hope.