Guiding our Youth

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

Guiding our Youth

Children’s Choir Gears Up to Sing at National Cathedral

In 2016, the Rev. Ed Gomez, vicar of St. Paul’s/San Pablo, Houston, began to recruit students from the nearby Park Place Elementary School and from his congregation to start a children’s choir. Three years later, the choir is gearing up to sing their hearts out with other choristers at the Sacred Choral Music Festival being held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., February 14- 16, 2020. The choir is led by Kari Zimmerman, a soprano singer who has been singing at St. Paul’s/San Pablo since October 2012. "To say I am thrilled for this trip would be a massive understatement! These kids have been working very hard and I'm excited to bring their talent to the National Cathedral. We are all so grateful for this incredible opportunity," said Zimmerman. The St. Paul’s/San Pablo Children’s Choir received a very generous donation from a private benefactor that will cover much of the cost of the trip, including airfare, lodging and meals. “This will be a life-changing

experience and exposure for our children at St. Paul’s/San Pablo, Houston,” said Gomez. “I am grateful for Linda Patterson, Ph.D., who, through offering choir camp, has introduced the best of our traditions to our Latino children, and to our children’s choir director, Ms. Kari Zimerman, whose passion and work with our children has inspired them to see outside their world.” We wish these talented students the best of luck at their first national festival! “WE ARE ALL SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY.”

Nearly One Hundred Diocesan Youth Help with Hurricane Harvey Recovery

Eleven churches from across the diocese came together from July 14-19, 2019, for Missionpalooza 2019. An annual Episcopal Diocese of Texas youth mission trip, Missionpalooza continued focusing on disaster relief in 2019, serving a second year on Hurricane Harvey recovery work. Last year, nearly 100 youth and adults volunteered to support this effort. Churches represented were Christ Church Cathedral, Houston; Good Shepherd, Tomball; Holy Comforter, Angleton; Palmer Memorial, Houston; St. Catherine of Sienna, Missouri City; St. Mark’s, Bay City; St. Michael’s, Austin; St. Matthew’s, Austin; St. Stephen’s, Liberty; Trinity, Baytown; and Trinity, Houston. Missionpalooza 2019 began on Sunday night with worship and a visit from the Rt. Rev. Kai Ryan, bishop suffragan of the Western Region, whose own home flooded during Harvey. She welcomed the group to Houston and told of her own story of rescue and recovery after Harvey. Beginning Monday morning and for the rest of the week, teams worked across the Houston area, partnering with two area organizations, SBP-Houston and our diocese’s own Mosaic in Action, part of St. Andrew’s, Pearland. Volunteers worked on eight homesites, doing everything from demolition to sheetrock and painting to getting homeowners back into their homes. Many of the homes were still uninhabitable almost two years after Harvey hit Houston. As Suzanne Hollifield, volunteer coordinator for Harvey Recovery in the Diocese of Texas observed, Missionpalooza helped homeowners return to their “houses that love built.” Many participants have come back year after year to be the church in mission. Missionpalooza 2018 served in the Diocese of West Texas by working in areas either forgotten after the storm, like Refugio and Bayside or in areas in the eye of the storm, like Port Aransas and Aransas Pass. In previous years, Missionpalooza has served after disasters across the region, from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, after Hurricane Katrina to the fires in Bastrop, Texas, to tornados in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Planning for Missionpalooza 2020 has begun. Contact Stephanie Townes, youth event and young adult coordinator at stownes@epicenter.org, if your congregation is interested in joining this annual diocesan event.

MIDWINTER 2019 WAS AN OVERWHELMING SUCCESS

After Camp Allen's annual high school Midwinter retreat over Christmas break in 2018, three college students came to leaders at the Episcopal Diocese of Texas with a proposal: allow the three of them to direct the next year’s Midwinter retreat. After connecting them to an experienced youth leader, the diocese agreed to give Mike Ruka, Andrew Thoss and Christian Williams the opportunity to run this retreat for high school students. Midwinter 2019 was an overwhelming success. Ruka, Thoss and Williams planned everything from the theme, “Love Never Fails,” based on 1 Corinthians 13:8, to raising up and training other college student leaders, to designing the T-shirt, schedule and menu. 52 high school students from 24 churches worshipped, played, and learned more about God’s never-failing love while enjoying the beauty of Camp Allen. Plans are already in the works for Midwinter 2020, which will be held Dec. 27-29, 2020, at Camp Allen and will be led by another group of college student leaders.

ST. MARY’S, WEST COLUMBIA RECEIVES ECUMENICAL GRANT FOR YOUTH OUTREACH

The Perkins School of Theology at SMU chose St. Mary’s West, Columbia, to receive a competitive Reboot grant. The program, funded through the Lilly Endowment, provides resources to churches that are too small to hire a youth director. As a church with under 75 members and nicknamed the “Mustard Seed Church” for their can-do spirit, St. Mary’s is the perfect candidate community. In partnership with the Columbia United Methodist Church, St. Mary’s will receive hands-on training, funding, and mentoring. They will join a visioning process to discern the future of youth ministry in West Columbia.