Zion Lutheran Church's Youth and Children's Ministry

Our next regular Fusion Youth Group meeting for 7th through 12th grade youth students will take place on Sunday, March 16th, from 5PM to 8PM, at Zion Lutheran Church. 

If you are considering joining us for the fun, consider bringing a friend along as well! A meal will be served, and no money is needed for this meeting.

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.

PUFFIN PASTRIES: Thank you to everyone who placed an order to help the youth with their fundraising initiatives! Barring any other weather related delays, the Pastry Puffin orders should be available for pick up starting on March 18th. Again, thank you for your understanding and patience. If anything changes, we will make sure to keep you updated.  

ZION APPAREL: The last day to place your orders for Zion apparel will be Wednesday, March 12th, so you had better act soon if you would like a few clothing items featuring our church and youth group logo. To view options and prices, make purchases, and learn more details, please check out our online store portal (https://zionlutheran25.itemorder.com/shop/sale/) provided by Stadium Sports. The link can also be found on our church website and Facebook page. Also, if you can’t see yourself wearing any of these items, but you would like to possibly donate to buy an item for someone else, please feel free to let Mr. J know.

ALUMINUM CAN COLLECTION: For those registered to attend, our next planning meeting will take place in the church fellowship hall today, February 23rd, beginning at 5:00PM. We will be discussing our plans for our extra time while in New Orleans, so if you would like to have an opinion on this subject, I would highly recommend attending this meeting. Pizza will be served for those who wish to eat. 

LENTEN MEAL: The youth group will be hosting the Lenten meal on Wednesday, March 26th, beginning at 6PM in the Zion Lutheran Church kitchen/lunchroom. We do ask that families arrive at 5:30PM, if possible, to help with setup and organization. 

To aid with this process, we have created a sign-up document, featured below, with more information and a way for families to specify how they may be able to assist. For this meal we will be offering a baked potato bar, and we are asking that families sign up to bring either toppings and/or trays of bars.

If anyone can think of any items that have been left off the sign-up sheet and would like to donate any of those items, please feel free to let us know. Based on the tepid response during our Advent meal, we are not planning to offer to-go containers for this meal. 

• PASTRY PUFFINS FUNDRAISER: Pick Up delayed until March 18th

• YOUTH APPAREL FUNDRAISER: Continues through March 12th

• FUSION YOUTH GROUP MEETING: Sunday, March 16th, beginning at 5PM at Zion Lutheran Church

• LENTEN MEAL: Wednesday, March 26th, beginning at 6PM 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. 

• The youth group is responsible for the aluminum cans, so if you would like to collect cans for the youth group, these can be stored in the fenced in area in the gravel parking lot.