Vibrant Youth Ministry Continues in North Carolina Conference
Conference Youth President, Will Rouse, shared a glimpse of Conference Youth Ministry, which begins in local churches and extends to annual Conference Youth events. He highlighted Pilgrimage, an annual event in early November with over 2,000 youth in Rocky Mount, an event that has long been admired by United Methodists across the southeast. Other events include Breakaway, a week-long gathering happening, June 26 – July 1, 2023, at NC Wesleyan University. Breakaway will include the election of new Conference youth officers and shared legislative work. In addition, smaller youth events hosted at United Methodist camps include the middle school retreat Kaleidoscope in late April and Global Vision in March to explore perspectives on global issues. All details of these events are available at nccumc.org/youth.
Rev. Jason Villegas, Director of Conference Youth Ministries, shared his excitement as he lives into his new role with the Conference, making connections between youth and the Annual Conference, but also helping to identify and share the needs of youth moving into the future. Villegas shared that the Conference Youth Ministry Team still needs co-chairs willing to help shepherd this life-giving conference-wide work. He also lifted up Mas Diversity, an event for youth of color, before Breakaway next week. We celebrate the hard work of all the youth who will make this event happen. Lastly, Villegas anticipates a new connection with Ten x 10, a big-tent ministry helping to foster their faith in teens through intentional discipleship and building relationships that will deepen the faith of teenagers in the years to come.
Camping and Retreat Ministries Brings Images of Beauty and a Time of Play
Dail Ballard brought laughter and joyful play to her report as Executive Director of Camping & Retreat Ministries, Inc. This year, Camping & Retreat Ministries celebrates 75 years of ministry in The North Carolina Annual Conference. Each year, 35,000 people participate in programs and camps occurring at three camps: Camp Chestnut Ridge, Camp Don Lee, and Camp Rockfish. These camps have long had a deep and abiding impact on the faith of young people.
Ballard invited the Annual Conference to consider the beauty in even broken and imperfect things, using the variety of shells that were distributed throughout the seats in the Convention Center. While we know brokenness in our churches, yet beautifully welcome folks anyway, so too in our Camping and Retreat Ministries are broken children and families are welcomed and invited to see how beautiful they are. Ballard concluded by encouraging a time of play across the floor of the Annual Conference with the assistance of a large number of beach balls.
Methodist Home for Children
Rev. Bruce Stanley brought greetings from the Methodist Home for Children (MHC), sharing glimpses of the work they do with over 1,200 children, youth, and their families each year. Highlights shared from the MHC’s current vital work:
- Foster care ministry is an incredible need, as there are 17 foster care referrals received for every child or youth the Methodist Home is able to serve. Families in the Raleigh or Greenville areas open to such ministry of care and hospitality are encouraged to contact Rev. Stanley.
- Over 60% of the children receiving MHC’s services are people of color, and the staff of the Methodist Home reflects a similar racial and ethnic makeup.
- Given our Conference’s priorities for racial healing and youth ministry, the MHC has prioritized work to interrupt generational participation in the criminal justice and the youth prison system, often disproportionately impacting youth of color.
- To go into all the nations not only take us into global contexts, but into gang culture that is present here in our Annual Conference. While some enter into that world for thrill-seeking, others consider that gang culture to be where they find their family. Rev. Stanley shared the story of one 12-year-old young man who they are walking alongside as he continues to face the challenges of leaving behind the gang life in which his family is still deeply embedded.
The ongoing generosity of this Annual Conference makes possible the incredibly important work of supporting such young people. Learn more at mhfc.org.