Hello!

Spring is here again. Well, spring term is at least. The weather has yet

to join us.

I hope you all had an awesome Christmas. It seems like a long time ago

but this time last month I was up to me eyes in Christmas parties,

sausage rolls, scotch eggs and twiglets. It certainly keeps me busy, and

I like to see it as preparation for Christmas day! The Christmas holidays

never quite seem long enough, but they happened, are now over and

we’re back in to the routine of our normal activities.

This term is shaping up to be a fantastic term. God is already giving us

clear signs of where He wants us to go and what he wants us to look at,

schools work is on the increase and there are some exciting possibilities

on the horizon.

Thanks for reading and as always please let me have any feedback.

Nick Francis

Youth Minister

SPRING TERM 2011

Last Term

The Autumn term always holds lots of promise and busyness,

and it did not disappoint this year.

Hill End came and went with enormous success with nearly 80

young people and leaders spending the weekend learning what

we need to “Keep the fire alight”. Amid some awesome times with

God we spent time in Oxford, learnt how to play Ninja and had

the obligatory water slide.

The Milton Keynes fireworks were another highlight of the term

with hot dogs and refreshments provided by Jill Downing

afterwards (see photo on front page).

Schools work shows great signs

of growing. Plans are underway

for a Christian Union at Akeley

Wood, the RLS CU continues to

grow with support from both

myself and Dave Criddle—the

parish church children and youth

worker. We have also, after 2

years of praying and trying, finally

been allowed inside Buckingham School

and took some assemblies there.

Growing Leaders came to an end in December. It’s been a great

8 months learning and exploring leadership with the young people

who joined the course. We ended with each young person being

presented with a certificate and card to remind them of what they

had learnt. Our hope is that we will see more of these young

people being involved in church life over the year.

Finally, ecumenical and circuit relationships blossomed. With the

arrival of Dave, and Darrel in Bicester, God is opening up lots of

new doors and exciting opportunities—watch this space!

NEWS...

The Christmas Party

COMING UP...

Here is an overview of what is

coming up this term at Well

Street:

Bible in a year

Starting in February I will be

beginning a Bible study which

will cover the whole Bible in one

year. Several young people are

joining me in this.

House Groups This term the house groups,

amid their studies and activities

will be doing a trip out—ice

skating in Milton Keynes. Want

to find out more, or be part of a

housegroup? Speak to me!

Questions for God

Our monthly cafe service is set

for a facelift. Starting in

February we are focussing on

questions for God which people

have submitted. Topics ranging

from suffering, dinosaurs, the

future, heaven and much more

will be covered. We’re very

excited about the possibilities

and look forward to seeing as

many of you there as possible.

W h a t a r e w e

learning?

A brief paragraph on what

groups are studying this term:

Both React & Chill’n’Chat are looking

at the Bible this term—the different

genres, what they mean, how to

study them and how best to read the

Bible.

Proteens are continuing to use the

Youthwork magazine resource and

this term are looking at the book of

Mark, 1 John, 2 John and 3 John.

Housegroups are exploring a whole

host of topics—mission, the Lord’s

prayer , Zacchaeus , Eas ter ,

Veggietales! Get involved to find out

more.

How Can You Help?

There are always opportunities to

get involved with the youth work.

Our biggest needs at the moment

are help with Proteens and

Housegroups. For more information

or details please speak to Nick.

Calendar Dates

It can be tricky to try to keep track of

all the dates. To make life easier

there is a calendar on the website

which has all the youth events on.

To find it just go to:

http://www.wellstreetchurch.org.uk/

youth/calendar.php

Information for all of our events and

trips will be available both on

Facebook and the church website.

REACT React has been the core youth

group for Well Street for many

years. But what actually

happens there? What work is

involved in running React?

React happens every Saturday

night at Well Street. We meet

from 7.30-9pm.

The vision behind React is to

have a safe, welcoming place for

all young people, where you can

make friends, have fun, relax

and also explore the Christian

faith.

A typical evening begins with 15-

20 minutes of chilling out,

normally round the pool or table

football table and taking

advantage of the excellently

priced tuck shop. We then move

on to some group games. These

can vary depending on who is

leading the evening—dodgeball,

mafia, sardines, a town wide

scavenger hunt and of course

the odd bit of mess and

mayhem.

We then

move in

to our

“ G o d

s l o t ” .

This can

take the

For more information on the details of the

youth work please look at the website, or

see the notice board in the Lower Hall. If

you would like to contact Nick you can do

so via e-mail or phone. His details are

below.

This newsletter can also be viewed on-line

– go to:

www.wellstreetchurch.org.uk/youth

and click on the Newsletter link.

Mobile: 07735 427811

E-mail: youth@wellstreetchurch.org.uk

form of a discussion, talk, creative

activities—whatever is the most

effective method of getting the

message across.

We normally see anywhere between

9-15 young people a week and they

go home at 9 with a smile on their

face, maybe a few bruises and a

better idea of who God is and why

He loves them.

Want to find out more? The best

way is to get involved—speak to

Nick!