Zion Lutheran Church's Youth and Children's Ministry

Our next regular Fusion Youth Group meeting for 7th through 12th grade students will take place at Zion Lutheran Church in February, likely from 5PM to 8PM at Zion Lutheran Church. If you are considering joining us for the fun, consider bringing a friend along, as well! 

COFFEE: The Zion Fusion Youth Group will continue to manage the coffee fellowship time as an ongoing fundraiser following both services on Sunday mornings. 

CONFIRMATION: Confirmation classes for public school 7th and 8th grade students will be once again taking place on Wednesday afternoons, from 4:00PM to 5:30PM, beginning on Wednesday, September 4th, 2024. These classes will continue at that time on most Wednesday evening into the spring, unless otherwise announced. As in previous years, the 7th grade students will be learning from our new Vicar in the 7th/8th grade Zion Lutheran School classroom, and the 8th grade students will be learning from Pastor Bruce in the 5th/6th grade classroom. For more information, please contact the church office.

YOUTH SKI TRIP: At this time, the Fusion Youth Group is still planning to take a group of 7th through 12th grade students on their one day trip, departing at 10AM and returning by about 9PM, to Great Bear Ski Valley in Sioux Falls, SD this Sunday, January 19th, 2025. Please plan to meet at the church by 9:45AM, so that we can plan to leave as close to 10AM as possible. 

For those attending, make sure all participants fill out a rental agreement to rent equipment through the Great Bear Ski Valley website, link provided below.

Participants will also need to download and fill out a Zion Transportation Permission form for this year, PDF copy provided in the "Resources and Materials" section of this page. Both documents must be completed by the date of the trip. We are also asking youth participants to bring along, no less than, $30 to cover meals. We will plan to eat both lunch and dinner down in Sioux Falls, likely at Pizza Ranch in the afternoon and drive-thus on the way back, so please plan accordingly. 

Otherwise, please continue to check your email and the church website for more details. To that end, we recently checked the weather for that date, and it is predicted to be pretty cold on Sunday. Based on their website, Great Bear does plan to remain open, at this time, just with a delayed, noon, opening for the day. We will continue to check the weather and Great Bear website in the next few days, and if something were to change, we will let everyone know about our plans for rescheduling. Either way, please plan to dress appropriately for this type of trip and weather.

That being said, here is some additional information to keep in mind:

The items that are available for renting are skies/snowboard, boots (for the skies/snowboard), poles (for skies), and a helmet. We require all minors to rent a helmet, and although adults do not have to rent a helmet, we highly suggest it. As far as we know, they do not rent googles, but that just might be because no one has rented from our group in the past. 

Based on our experience, we would highly suggest a nice warm coat, good warm gloves, snow pants, warm socks (longer would be better), and sunscreen, at the very least. You could definitely bring googles, a long sleeve base layer type shirt, and base layer type pants, but those would be more based on personal preference. We would definitely suggest longer pants over shorts, and a long sleeve shirt over short sleeve, though. 

Overall, besides the needed and required rental equipment, people ski in a t-shirt and jeans, so what people wear to go skiing can vary widely. As it will be colder that day, we would suggesting planning to dress warmer and more insulated.

We hope this information is helpful, but if you have any other questions, please let us know.   

LCMS YOUTH GATHERING MEETING: We recently shared the link to view the update video that was created through email, but if you did not receive that email and would like to review that resource, please feel free to let us know. 

For those registered to attend, our next planning meeting will take place in the church fellowship hall next Sunday, January 26th, from 5:00PM to 7:00PM. Just as in past meetings we strongly recommend all registered participants and adult leaders planning to go on this trip attend as we will be discussing new updates, fundraising plans, and we have a few items that require information and feedback. Food will be served for those who wish to eat during this meeting.     

• YOUTH SKI TRIP: Sunday, January 19th, leaving at 10:00AM from Zion Lutheran Church to go to Sioux Falls, SD

• YOUTH GATHERING MEETING: Sunday, January 26th, from 5:00PM to 7:00PM at Zion Lutheran Church

• In regards to youth events and activities, occasionally plans have to shift and change due to conflicts and other factors. With that being said, if you are not currently receiving updates and reminders from the youth group, please speak to Mr. Jareske as soon as possible, so you can be added to the list of parents/guardians currently receiving this type of information. 

• If any high school students, especially juniors and seniors, would be interested in taking a group college visit to Concordia University Nebraska (CUNE) in Seward during this next year, please speak to Mr. Jareske in the near future to receive information about visit costs and waivers. CUNE is one of the universities in the LCMS university system, and they have a variety of programs of study, including several opportunities for those considering church work. 

• If any youth students would be willing to assist during church services on Sunday mornings, please call 402-329-4313 to let the church office know. We are currently looking for both ushers and technology booth assistance, and training will be provided for anyone willing to serve in either capacity. We have recently begun live-streaming our Sunday morning services with our new camera equipment, and in an effort to better manage all of the moving parts within a typical service, a few additional volunteers to assist with either running the soundboard, running the camera, or managing the slideshow would be very much appreciated. 

• If any 7th grade and older youth, or parents, would like to help with Faith Weavers for this year, please feel free to let me know at your earliest convenience. 

• If there is someone who you believe should be getting update emails, and they are not currently receiving new updates from either Vicar and/or myself, please let me know, so I can add them to the email list.