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Hours of Operation
The
Child Care Center
is designed for children between the ages of
2 to 5.
We are
open
Monday - Friday from
7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
For more information about our facility,
please call us at
(941) 484-4415.
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Lock-In's
Occasionally, our Church sponsors a Lock-In. They
include devotions,
Christian
music, movies, games, and lots of food. The youth spend the
night in the Fellowship
Hall with several adult chaperones. Breakfast is
served the next
day before the
Lock-In is official over. |
Youth Conferences
Our Youth Group participates in different Youth
Conferences throughout
the year.
We attend Girls of Grace whenever it is offered in our area. The
conference we
love the best is the Cross Trainers Spiritual Retreat at the
Methodist Youth Camp
in Leesburg, Florida. This is a 3-day event with
activities
consisting of powerful
speakers, worship, concerts, giant blow-up
games, and the
beloved Path of
Silence. No talking is requested while the
youth walk through
the woods on the
Path of Silence. The path ends up at
the lakeshore where a
wooden cross stands.
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The highlight for the youth
during the
Cross Trainers Retreat is walking the
Prayer Labyrinth. It is the ultimate spiritual
experience - the icing on the cake – that
helps create a strong connection with
God and each other. It has become a
tradition for us to walk the Prayer Labyrinth
at night, which is surrounded by beautiful
landscaping and lighting. This is the last
activity of the conference. |
Coffee House & Oakra Pond Show
Another summer tradition involves a "Coffee House" and the "Oakra
Pond
Show."
The "Coffee House" gives everyone a chance to share a story,
poem,
or song with
the rest of the group. The youth get the opportunity to relate
to
different Bible characters
in today's culture with our "Oakra Pond Show."
It's presented in
a talk show format that
is a combination of Oprah and Ricky
Lake. The host might ask
Mary how she felt when
the angel appeared, or
Joseph if he thought to himself,
"girlfriend what is going on?"
It gets interesting!
Camping Trips
Camping trips are a big part of our summer fun. Tubing at
various Florida
springs has
become a tradition of ours. Once each summer we camp at Oscar
Scherer State Park.
This campout always involves a theme, such as, “The Seven
Plaques,” “The Amazing
Race,” or “Fear Factor” but with a Biblical twist. We
also enjoy
camping at Ft. Wilderness
in Orlando, FL.
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The Youth Group meets weekly at Nokomis Beach during the summer
for devotions, Bible Study, and
swimming in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.
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Wacky Day
We celebrate the end of summer with our unusual
"Wacky Day" celebration.
This
event involves lots of shaving cream, water, and wacky games. Be
prepared for
clean, messy fun! |
Annual Baseball Game
Each year a couple from VNUMC treats the Youth
Group to a Red Sox baseball
game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. The game always
ends with a
fireworks display and it signifies the end of our summer
program. Go Red Sox’s!
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Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt
The Youth Group stuff and hide the Easter eggs
used for the annual Easter
Egg Hunt we provide for our congregation and those in our
community. In
2003, our Youth Director decided it was time to return the favor
and rounded
up several adult volunteers to hide eggs for the Youth Group to
find. The egg
hunt was done at night using flashlights. The person who finds
the most eggs
wins a Christian CD of their choice. This new tradition is a
blast and the youth
demolish a ton of candy!
Hanging of the Green’s
Worship Service
We LOVE to help with this unique worship service.
Our youth actively
participate and their enthusiasm and dedication is greatly to be
admired.
The service ends with the lighting of our Chrismon tree by one
of our youth.
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Graduation Dinner
At the end of each school year we sponsor a
special dinner for the high
school and
college graduates. The dinner is catered and the dress code
is
semi-formal. Each
graduate is recognized and receives a gift in honor
of their
accomplishment. |
Fundraiser’s
To help defray the costs of all the different
events, the Youth Group sponsor
several
fundraisers throughout the year which includes selling
inspirational
calendars and
note cards, bookmarkers of the Church, and special discount
coupons for local
restaurants. We also offer a delicious Chicken BBQ dinner
that
is guaranteed to
make your taste buds happy. The dinner is prepared by
Blackburn
Barbecue on the
Church grounds, and served in the Fellowship Hall.
The BBQ
dinners are held once
in the spring and fall. |
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Our God is
an AWESOME God! |
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