FNCA Announces New Scholarship Program

Flames Scholarship Program

One New Flame from each Association of the Swedenborgian Church

The Fryeburg New Church Assembly (FNCA) is happy to announce a new scholarship program for teens to attend our summer camp located in Fryeburg, Maine. In an effort to offer the many benefits of the summer camp experience, the FNCA will cover room & board for one teen from each Association of the Swedenborgian Church who has not previously attended the Summer session. We ask that the Association or local church cover travel expenses to and from Fryeburg. Interested teens should contact their Association because each Association will select a teen to attend the FNCA.
The teens at the FNCA are called the Flames. The Flames work together, learn together, play together and make life-long friends at the FNCA. The camp will appoint an adult sponsor to act in loco parentis for any Flame who will be attending camp without a parent or legal guardian.
The dates for this year's session are August 2^nd – 17^th, 2008. For more information about this scholarship program contact the camp director, Deane Currie, (610) 430-7069, deanecurrie@msn.com.
For more information about the FNCA visit our website , www.fryeburg.org.
To request a bulletin, or arrange an adult sponsor contact the Registrar, Nancy Little, (413) 247-0046 or littlenancyf@yahoo.com .

SCYL President

by Sola

My name is Sola and I'm the current President of SCYL. This means that I attempt to keep in touch with other officers and Kurt and help coordinate SCYL stuff like fundraisers and other projects. I live in DeLand, Florida, which is pretty far away from anything resembling teen retreats, but still manage to come to winter Almont and convention. I'm a PK as well, which makes life interesting.
Things about me :)
(random time)

Favorite breakfast cereal? ~ I don't really care about cereal, so long as I get the milk that comes with it.
Best reason you skipped school in the last year? ~ Honestly, the main reason I usually skip school is because I sleep. School gets in the way of that sometimes XD But I will be skipping school in April to go to an anime/geek convention to play with some very odd people. I will be happy.
If you must choose, do you prefer crunchy, smooth or flaky? ~ The words crunchy, smooth and flaky disturb me when put together in a sentence.
* I'm taking I.B. courses and am therefore only half here, as most of my brain has been ruined by banging my head on a wall far too often. YAY.
~My dearest friends and I want to live in, or at least visit extensively, Japan when we grow up.
~Sola's favorite things in life:
My family (including the aforementioned dearest friends XD)
music and books
the cello
fortune cookies :)
the sky
free hugs and other random acts
curry
rain.
Yes. This is basically all you need to now about me. I will do my best as President this year. Thank you :)

Wavin' those Palms

Here's the March edition of the Chaplain's Corner

by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain (who is enjoying learning to ski)

Palm Sunday and the Easter Season are all about joy. Although, Palm Sunday is the prelude to Good Friday, the blackest day in human history, it is also a step toward Easter Sunday, the happiest day in human history. On Palm Sunday, the people of Jerusalem joyously welcomed Jesus into their city with singing and waving palm branches. It is a day of joy, as we reflect on Christ’s entry into our lives and the liberation, love, and joy He brings to us all.

Wherever we find love, there we find Jesus. And wherever, whenever, we find Jesus, we welcome Him as joyously as those ancient Jews who threw palm branches in front of Him, singing songs. Anywhere. It doesn’t have to be in a church. Wherever we are touched by love, or where we touch others by love, we are in a holy place; we are on sacred ground; we are in a temple. And wherever that is, we welcome Jesus with joy.

I would like to share a short story with you about a Palm Sunday experience I recently had. Just last Friday I went to a jazz club to hear a blues musician. I was enjoying his smooth blues immensely. Then something miraculous happened. He sang a song about going down to the water to wash away his burden, wash away his sin. I was now in a church. The song went on, “Saw my shadow in the water looking back at me. He said come on in the water’s fine, you know the truth will set you free.” I was filled with the joy of his music and the spirituality of his lyrics. In another song he sang, “The days have come and gone, only love will live on.” The song went on, “In this life I have sown seeds of love—how they have grown.” This from a blues musician in a nightclub. We brought him out for an encore. And his last song went like this, “There is a light shining in me and the same light is in you, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” His music brought a triumphal entrance of Jesus into the club, and I wished I had a palm branch to throw onto the stage. I left the club that night with the feeling that I had had a profound spiritual experience in Lester’s music and his spiritual soul. Talk about soul music!

That is the meaning of Palm Sunday. That is the Joy of Easter. The risen and glorified Jesus Christ is with us everywhere. Let us welcome His coming into our lives with the joy He always brings.

SCYL Canada and Activities Officer

by Jake

Hi, I’m Jake
I’m the SCYL Canada / Activities Officer. I live in Waterloo, Ontario and I go to the Church of the Good Shepherd. I’m in grade 11 and I have a job at a local Zehrs in the produce department. I play rugby and run cross-country for my school. I also enjoy making films.

Favourite cereal? Cap'n Crunch.

Best reason to skip school this year? So that I didn't have to go to an assembly.

Crunchy, smooth or flaky? If I had to choose, I prefer smooth. Like me.

I look forward to seeing you all at convention, and meeting the people I missed this year at Almont!

SCYL Officer Bio

I have asked each SCYL Officer (as well as the League Chaplain and myself) to write a brief bio to post. I'll put one up each week. That way you'll know a bit more about the leaders of the SCYL.
I asked each person to answer three rather random questions as part of their bio.
1. Favorite breakfast cereal?
2. Best reason you skipped school in the last year?
3. If you must choose, do you prefer crunchy, smooth or flaky?

Stranded in Stratford!

In continuation of the story of our Kitchener Retreat, the three vehicles filled with teens and leaders from the States left Kitchener, Ontario Canada around 1 pm on Sunday afternoon. It sleeted and snowed the night before and the bitterly cold wind was whipping. We had some serious deicing to perform on the cars; however, the sky was clear and the roads were slick, but manageable. We merged on to the 401 (the only major highway across Southern Ontario) and began our journey home. A couple of miles on the 401, the traffic backed up and came to a stop. We faced a huge bottleneck, as far as the eye could see. A few miles later (30 minutes or so), all traffic was directed off of the 401. Highway closed! I had to catch my plane home to Maine in a couple of hours in Detroit and I soon realized that that wasn't going to happen. I called for alternate directions and discovered Route 8, a smaller 2 lane road running parallel to the 401. This road led for about 20 miles to the town of Stratford, Ontario. The wind was growing stronger and the temperature was dropping. Unexpected wind-blown snow hit us frequently causing visibility to drop to zero. Facing near whiteout conditions here in Stratford we tentatively pressed on. Then we hit an impasse. We discovered that all roads south and west out of Stratford were closed due to blinding and drifting snow. We learned that even the plow trucks were not allowed travel and clear the roads. We stopped at a Tim Horton's and met up with the other two cars. Our options were very limited. Make the difficult and risky drive back to Kitchener or stay in Stratford. We decided that we should stay in Stratford and wait to see if conditions improved. I figured that others stranded here would be quickly snatching up available rooms so I thought we should secure overnight accommodations. A wonderful lady at Tim Horton's recommended we consider staying across the street at the Queen's Inn. I went to the hotel to check on room availability. When I returned to Tim Horton's I found that Lisa's had lost her gloves and car keys and Rev Jenn had jumped her car over a snow-hidden parking block. We helped Lisa find her keys (we found the keys but I don't think the gloves were ever found) then we all pushed Jenn's car back over the parking block. What a sight to see more than a dozen people pushing the front of a car in the blinding wind and snow. Amazingly, we succeeded in freeing Jenn's stuck car. Then we 12 teens and 4 adults trekked across the street over to the Queen's Inn. The 16 of us safely arrived at the hotel with only a minor cut on Audrey's hand from the car pushing episode. A second lady (angel) at the Queen's Inn really helped by providing us a large private meeting room with Internet service, board games and a pool table. She also held 4 rooms for us at a discounted price (after I explained our circumstances), including a suite for the boys, with extra cots so everyone had a bed. Once we went online and read the Internet traffic and weather reports we realized that we truly were stranded for the night. We settled in and enjoyed the pool table, games and computer that the inn had provided for us. But we were all hungry and in need of a hot shower (we had been staying at the church for the weekend with no available shower). So we moved over to the hotel restaurant (Boar's Head Pub) for dinner. We took an entire section of the pub over and joined the other stranded travelers dining there. The food was quite good and I felt comfortable, warm and happy in the hotel. Despite our circumstances, I was blessed with excellent adult company. The three leaders, Jenn, Lisa and Lori were terrific and their upbeat conversation and remarkable flexibility inspired me. The teens also responded wonderfully to our situation and demonstrated great patience, attitude and understanding. I couldn't ask to be stuck with a better group! The temperature outside dropped below zero Fahrenheit and the wind howled, but we were safe and secure. We retired to our rooms for showers and a restful evening after the long day conducting the church worship service, traversing challenging roads and encountering unforeseeable excitement.

The following morning, we woke at dawn to much improved weather and road conditions. We said our goodbyes to our friends in the other cars and departed early in the morning. We traveled several miles of icy roads and encountered the occasional encroaching snow drift before we hit clear roads. Once we merged back onto the 401, the sky was blue and the roads were dry. I made it to Detroit Metro airport for my rescheduled flight home to Maine on Monday afternoon with plenty of time.

I'd like to thank leaders, Rev. Jenn, Lisa and Lori for their assistance, outstanding leadership, good judgment and positive spirit. I'd also like to thank all the teens for being so cooperative, patient and good natured throughout the whole ordeal. Most of all, I thank God for looking over us, sending angels when we needed them and making sure that everyone remained safe for the entire adventure.

The Great White North certainly lived up to it's name. I can't wait for my next trip to Kitchener!