Youth GETTING READY FOR 2022
by Matthew Bowers
2022 DaySpring Camp registration opens, and youth retreat steering committees get ready to build.
Y
outh Ministry in the Diocese of Southwest Florida is growing more vibrant in 2022! One of the new aspects of our diocesan youth ministry is a focus on youth involvement in leadership. We’ve taken the original idea of Youth Leadership Team and morphed it into our Happening Rebuild Team and our New Beginnings Steering Committee. These two groups will operate at the core leadership of our retreats and their intention is to get youth involved in making decisions and leading our weekends. There is something incredibly powerful about not limiting what a young person can do in the church. Often times it comes with questions and concerns from adults, but I have seen the power that authentic, meaningful, and inspired leadership by youth for youth can have in a diocese and I intend to continue to push it. It’s no longer enough to say “youth aren’t the future of the church, they’re the
church today.” I believe we can live this purpose now. We are also gearing up for another great summer. I am so happy to share that there is a lot of energy within our staff about the upcoming summer. The positive momentum we had last year has carried over into this upcoming summer. We have been planning everyone’s favorites activites, along with some new ones that we’re excited to share with our campers. We’re also reaching out to new places for campers! This includes working with Angel Tree to bring campers with incarcerated parents to Camp, reaching out to new churches, increased social media promotion, and promoting our camp at the Summer Camp Expo in Wesley Chapel. We’re planning for a big summer. This isn’t a summer anyone is going to want to miss. So make sure that your camper is signed up!
NEW BEGINNINGS #71 The youth of the diocese came together for New Beginnings #71 at the beginning of March for a fun, exciting, and spirit filled weekend. High School youth had the chance to talk to Middle School youth about the different relationships we encounter in our lives. With that, our high schoolers also talked about what their relationships with God look like in school, church, and life. This diocese is blessed to have a group of youth who are passionate about sharing the Gospel and talking to their peers about Christ.
MARCH 4 - 6, 2022 12
