Less than one week to Convention 2008

Shout with all your Might!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 to Sunday, July 6, 2008

Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, Massachusetts

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SCYL Clear Blue Sky Editor and Communications Officer

By Kristina

Hmm... How does one explain one self, well I'll start with my name, I'm Kristina, I am the editor of Clear Blue Sky for the 3rd year running. Meaning you will be getting lots of e-mails from me asking for you to send a poem, drawing, song, story, pictures, for the next issue of CBS. I am also the Communications Officer for SCYL. I also write my own poems, and short stories.
Right now I am listing to an amazing French Singer named Carla Bruni, who you might not understand unless you speak French. I spent an amazing semester in Belgium. I learned a lot about myself there. As an exchange student you spend a lot of time alone.
I love to read the best book I have read in the past year would have to be either Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows, or Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers. I am a huge fantasy fan whether it be books or movies. My favorite Disney movie of all time would be Beauty and The Beast (it's even better in French La Belle et la Bete). My all time favorite movie would be The Princess Bride. My favorite breakfast cereal would be Kix with rice milk. Best reason I skipped school this year was to go the Bruxelles with some friends. If I must choose, between crunchy, smooth or flaky, hmmm... crunchy.
I live in Portland Maine the best things about Portland are the coffee shops and the concerts. I spend the majority of my time sitting in coffee shops with some friends or alone with a book. I love concerts. I have been to 7 so far. For me concerts are a time to focus on the music and forget about what’s going on outside the stadium. The best concert I have ever been to would be my first and that was Green Day. My favorite time of the year is the first two weeks of August when I spend two weeks at the Fryeburg New Church Assembly.
I am also a sports fan. My favorite football team would have to be The New England Patriots, and baseball yeah you guessed it The Boston Red Sox. I myself have played many sports, including Judo, Jujitsu, Karate, Softball, Track, Basketball and Frisbee. I love animals, so I work in a pet shop. My co-worker Sam has some funny stories of me touching some animals for the first time and freaking out. I do a lot of volunteer work. I recently spent a week in West Virginia building houses for Habitat for Humanity. Well that’s me!

SCYL East and Public Relations Officer

by Rachel

Hello! I'm Rachel! I reside in Maine and I will be stuck in high school until 2011. My favorite color is green and coincidentally I was born on St. Patrick's Day. I could live off of drinking Jones soda and Arizona Iced Tea. You will always catch me with my ipod in my ear. I really enjoy rolling down hills and bowling. I think that everything is funny so don't be surprised if you don't get why I am laughing. Also I quote movies constantly, and it is more then likely that you have never heard of these movies. I am very competitive when it comes to ice breakers and apples to apples. I am tremendously uncoordinated and I fall for no reason at all. I enjoy swimming and snowboarding, however I would in no way consider myself "good" at these things. If you feel the desire to know more of my intriguing life, I'm sure we will cross paths at some point :D

Convention 2008

Shout with all your Might!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 to Sunday, July 6, 2008

Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, Massachusetts

Video: spinnning at the park - Convention 2007

The Annual Convention of The Swedenborgian Church is a greatly anticipated and exciting time of year. All ages of our church family from all over North America converge to one place where we spend a few days conducting church business, worshipping, learning and playing together.

Every year teens have a great time at Convention. Most teens choose to room with another teen. It's exciting to share a dorm room with someone else at a college campus! You have a lot of freedom, but with it, comes a lot of responsibility. While the adults conduct the business of the church, teens join together in youth outings, planning meetings, games and discussion. We work most of the day Thursday preparing our very own worship service which we conduct on Friday morning. Friday and Saturday afternoons are usually outing days with fun trips planned in and around the greater Boston area. Evenings are filled with all-Convention activities, including 4th of July BBQ and fireworks. Saturday we plan to visit the exciting and famous Harvard Square area.

The teens set up an SCYL table. We'll be fundraising by selling hats, trading cards and other merchandise. Proceeds from the sales go towards travel and retreat financial assistance so more teens can attend SCYL events. All teens can help with the sales table.

On campus, we have access to tennis courts and the pool and I am thinking the teens might want to have a pool party. Please let me know what other things you might like to do to make your Convention time rewarding and fun. Here are some things you should think about bringing to Convention.

Bathing suit, tennis racket, musical instruments, sports equipment (basketballs, Frisbees, etc.), sunscreen, basic toiletries, nice clothes for church, some spending money ($60 is plenty and $20 is all that is actually needed). Linens are provided so you don't need a sleeping bag or pillow. Also, it is best to leave expensive items that you don't want to lose at home.

The theme "Shout with all your Might!" is based on the story of the of Jericho in Joshua Chapter 6. You might like to read it if you plan on attending Convention this year. Please think about any music (ipod, cd, sheet music) that you might like to play/sing at the worship service during. Each teen has a opportunity to play an instrument and/or sing during our SCYL worship service. Since the theme is Shout with all your Might! is based on the story in of the taking of the city of Jericho, songs that relate to walls falling down or shouting are particularly interesting.

Retreat Piggyback Races

Alex and Nina win by 5 lengths!

The Van Riders at Niagara!

These great pictures came to me courtesy of Rev. Jenn. I am so grateful for the drivers and teens who made the long trip to the Memorial Day weekend retreat in Maine. I know that the drive is tiring and isn't easy, but these pictures remind me how much fun it can be.