Military Enlistment

I'm passing this along. I know this man personally; he is a man of deep integrity and spirituality.

from Titus Peachey
Mennonite Central Committee Peace desk

I wanted to alert you to a resource for youth pastors and mentors regarding military recruitment and enlistment. Titled, "Behind the Camouflage: A Primer on Military Enlistment for Youth Pastors, Mentors and Counselors," this resource discusses both the practical and moral/spiritual questions related to a young person's decision about military enlistment.

This resource is not currently published as a printed resource. You can download a copy at co.mcc.org/us/co/.

While bearing the marks of a pacifist perspective, it is written for an ecumenical audience. As a counselor on the GI Rights Hotline, I (Titus) speak frequently with young soldiers and their families. The military experience often stirs questions about allegiance and morality whether or not the service member comes from a pacifist faith tradition. My hope is that this document will help pastors, counselors and youth mentors discuss these issues with youth who might be considering military enlistment.

If you want to contact Titus directly, you can do so at tmp@mcc.org.

Media

The promised resource has arrived and is ready for you to check out.
Download: Teaching Teenagers to Filter Their Media Choices is at the PRC. This 3-week unit is written by Walt Mueller of CPYU. From the cover: ...will help you teach your students how to think critically and biblically about everything they see and hear in their media world...

This is an important topic for us to address and an important skill for kids to develop. I hope you'll use this, and it will prove helpful.

workshop

Well, you missed it. Tim Bistline was here at the PRC last night, and he was terrific. He's got a wide range of experience (small church, large church, urban, suburban) and spoke to the group in ways that were informative and inspiring. He gave us some good information and his enthusiasm encouraged me. I was so glad I was there.

Some advice from Tim:
Be a good listener.
Ask good questions.
Don't over-react.

He talked about 2 things which I have been harping on (I did not coach him):
1) youth workers NEED to have a network or support group for their own mental, emotional and spiritual health. Youth work in a congregation can be lonely work. It can be exhausting work. You must make time to meet with others (not your parent/congregational volunteers) in youth ministry.
2) you "need to plan more than a month out." direct quote from Tim
Haven't I been nagging you about this?

The evening was just what we needed, inspiring us to continue to follow God's call to work with kids.

Adolescent Development

I just unearthed some short articles about adolescent development--physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual. Five 2- or 3-page articles, easy to read. It would be well worth your while to do that just to remind yourself what kids are capable of and what you can expect. Having realistic expectations about behavior could save you some heartache and anger. This knowledge could also help you in planning lessons/topics/units for the year. Here is one for you to read: The Wild World of Adolescent Emotional Development."
(I slipped these articles in the vertical files in the Religious Ed section--Age Group Characteristics--just in case you come looking for them.)
Email me to take a look at the others--all by Walt Mueller: Smart Kids, Stupid Parents? Understanding Adolescent Intellectual Development; Look at 'em Grow!: Understanding Adolescent Physical Development; From Parents to Peers: The Pull of Adolescent Social Development; "God, Are You There?" Understanding Adolescent Spiritual Development.
Speaking of which...I would be glad to sit with you and plan a unit or semester or an entire year or your whole 4 year program. We've got lots of good stuff here, and long-term planning wouldn't be a problem.