District Commission on Youth Discipleship Report

AZ/CA Pastors’ Conference

October 21-23, 2008

Commission Members: Pastor Mathew Pfeifer (chairman), Staff Minister Michael Mundstock,Pastor Gary Pufahl, Pastor Nathan Kassulke

Publicity

Websites

  • AZ/CA District Youth Discipleship
  • WELSCYD:
  • Early Childhood: then jumpword “ecm”
  • Kids’ Connection:
  • Living Bold for teens: and
  • WELS Int’l Youth Rally:
  • Parents Crosslink:
  • WELS.netUniversity: then jumpword “wnu” – This site currently has 20 mini courses for Sunday School and 4 for Parenting.

Newsletters

These three newsletters are no longer being printed and mailed. If you have not received an email notice that newsletters are available, go to and click on “Newsletters” to read and print the newsletters yourself. You can also subscribe to the “Newsletter Email Service” to be notified when new issues are uploaded.

-Sowers & Seeds – for Early Childhood ministry

-Partners – for Sunday School ministry

-REACH! – for Teen ministry

District Youth Rally

About 80 (chaperones and teens) attended the 2008 rally in Big Bear, CA.

International Youth Rally

July 8-11th, 2009 at IowaStateUniversity, Ames, Iowa. Theme: “Follow the Path, Lead the Way.”This rally will be truly international for a change as WELS youth and leaders from Canada, Malawi, Zambia, Brazil, and Taiwan will be attending through a special partnership between CYD and World Missions. If you haven’t been to the rally Web site for a while ( there’s quite a bit of information available, including:

  • Rally Commercial and “WELS Got Talent” contests – compete for cash prizes to benefit your congregation’s youth ministry
  • Worship themes
  • Information about Adventureland USA and the IowaStateUniversity Campus
  • NEW POLICIES for 2009
  • RALLY NEWS – sign-up for e-mail delivery of important rally related information

Camps

  1. White Mountain Christian Camp will be held at CampGrace in Lakeside, AZ, June 14-19, 2009. (Contact: Staff Minister Mike Mundstock.)
  2. Tree of Life Bible Camp at CapitolMountain (Colfax, CA)willl be held July 12-18, 2009.
  3. Good Shepherd Bible Camp is planned for July 19-25, 2009, at CampMorning Star (Angeles Oaks, CA). (Contact: Pastor David Warskow.)

Ongoing

Working to make the AZ/CA District CYD ( site informative and useful. If you have information to share about any aspect of youth ministry (all ages) please email it to me. I would like to put an electronic lending library on the website with homemade Bible studies and ideas for youth ministry. If you know someone who has good materials and good ideas, let me know and I will ask them to share.

Y-ME Academies

The CYD staff has a team working to develop Youth Ministry Enhancement Academies. Through presentations, discussion, analysis, and planning, Y-ME Academies, like the highly successful schools of worship and outreach, will assist participating congregations in evaluation and improvement of youth ministry in general and a specific youth ministry of their own choosing. God-willing, the first Y-MEAcademy will be piloted in the late winter of 2009.

Confirmation Self-Study

The Confirmation Ministry Self-Study is in the final stages of development. Very soon the video taping of seven “best practice” examples in WELS, as well as a panel discussion of experts, will be finished. The DVD along with the self-study materials will then be made available. CYD will decide at its fall meeting what to charge congregations for this long-awaited resource.

CYD Resources Catalog

Web and PDF versions of the CYD Resource Catalogare available on the CYD Web site (

“Everyday” Video Project for LivingBold

“Everyday” is a special CYD video project, funded through a Publication Coordinating Commission grant, that will present 52 video-streamed, 3-7 minute, spiritual messages for teens using a variety of one-four person skits of real-life, “everyday” situations: Everyday Sins, Everyday Faith, Everyday Relationships, Everyday Hope, and Everyday Victories. CYD is partnering with WisconsinLutheranCollege’s Theater Arts Department and Highlights Media, run by WELS video producer, Chad Johnstone, to develop the content. The content may also lend itself to the development of video-assisted Bible studies which could be marketed to WELS congregations as a separate resource. God-willing, “Everyday” will be launched on LivingBold this fall.

How can we help?

The CYD office in Milwaukee is asking what resources you would like. Let me know how CYD can help you so I can give them feedback from our district. In addition the commission members below are available at the district level for ideas and resources.

May the Lord bless all of us in this ministry to our and his children!

In Christ’s service,

Pastor Matt Pfeifer, Coordinator

1799 Wigwam Parkway

Henderson, NV 89074

Home: (702) 614-9058

Office: (702) 454-8979

Fax: (702) 454-0528

Staff Minister Michael Mundstock

2114 W McRae Way

Phoenix, AZ85027-5129

623-581-1198

Pastor Gary Pufahl

5244 Tujunga Ave

North Hollywood, CA 91601-3120

818-761-1846

Pastor Nathan Kassulke

830 N 1st Ave

Tucson, AZ 85719-4812

520-623-6633