Hello Friends,

Meet us at St. James Church, Oneonta 6pm on May 18th for a Deanery-wide youth meeting.  We will be playing games, getting to know each other in the Susquehanna Deanery, and having a bible study and discussion time over food and laughs.  This is going to be a great night, and we hope you can make it!

The Slades 

There are a great deal of hurting young people in our country today. The Youth Healing Retreat is an opportunity for any young person who is hurting either physically, emotionally, or spiritually to come and experience the healing touch of Jesus Christ. This retreat is truly a remarkable time through which our youth discover that our Lord is living and active, that he sees each of us and has an intimate knowledge of where we have been hurt in our lives, that he shares with us in our sufferings, and that He has the power to save, heal, restore and renew us all. Last year the Lord performed some incredible miracles at this retreat, and every young person left having had a very real and life changing encounter with Jesus. We highly recommend this retreat for any young person who needs healing in their body, soul or spirit. We believe that Jesus is able to help, that He is willing, and that as we reach out to Him in faith He will not disappoint us in how He meets our young people in their need.

Check out the Registration and Forms page for details.

Hello Friends!

God bless you all on this Holy Good Friday.  As we consider today the unspeakable joy, the fullness of life everlasting, and the fellowship with our Father God that our Lord Jesus won for us on His cross some two thousand years ago, we can’t help but also remember the many thousands of young people in our region who have somehow never even heard the name of Jesus in their lifetime.  It breaks Audrey’s and my heart beyond words to know that so many people young and old alike in our country today have never even heard the gospel of their salvation.  And so, we turn to prayer, and ask you even now, Lord, that this year you would open a new door in our region for everyone who would be open to your Word, and especially the youth, to hear your Word and believe it, that they might pass from death to your life never ending.  As you said in John 5:24, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”  Send your Word forth Father, and may Jesus be in the hearts and on the lips of every young person in New York State and beyond.  That is our prayer friends, and what we are praying, trusting and working towards.  I pray that God would give us all the grace to live it out to the end. 

That being said, let me briefly update you as to some of the opportunities for young people to receive God’s Word in the coming months.  First off next weekend, April 13-15, we will be holding the Spring Confirmation Retreat.  This will be the perfect time for all those youth hoping to be confirmed this season to come and work through any doubts, questions, anxieties, etc. that still stand between them and this very significant step of surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ not only as savior, but as Lord as well.  On May 11-13 we will be holding our annual Youth Healing Retreat.  This retreat is a fantastic opportunity for any young people who are suffering either physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually to come and by God’s grace receive a healing touch.  Fr. Nigel Mumford and I lead this retreat together, and were awed and humbled by the incredible way Jesus has moved in the youth’s lives who attended this retreat last year.  It is not to be missed.  And finally, camp sign up is now in full swing, and we highly recommend signing your youth up as soon as possible while space is still available!  Registration for all of these retreats and camps are available online…

Which leads me to our final announcement for this update which is this:  We are very happy to say that our new diocesan websites are now up and available for your use online.  The new diocesan web address is:  www.youthministryedoa.com and the new Beaver Cross Camp web address is: www.beavercrosscamp.com.  Please feel free to visit them for all your registration needs and for any other inquiries you may have about youth ministry in the diocese.   We hope you enjoy them!

God bless you all, brothers and sisters in Christ, and may your Easter be one of true joy and freedom in the life that our God has won for us in our risen Lord Jesus Christ! 

Thanks for reading and may Christ be with you!

Father Tyler Slade (Youth and Overnight Beaver Cross Director) and Audrey Slade (Youth Coordinator)

Hello Friends! 

What a wonderful success this past weekend’s Youth Leaders’ Retreat was!   It seems that all who were involved were greatly encouraged, and that this retreat is going to be foundational for the equipping of the harvesters who the Lord is calling to go out into the fields of our region to reach our youth for Christ and His Kingdom.  We were blessed to have two staff members from Youth for Christ joining us over the weekend to share with us reflections from their ministry to the youth of the area.  I also had the privilege of sharing some teaching that the Lord had put on my heart. 

Themes from the weekend included the fact that we are measured by our faithfulness to Jesus, and not by our numbers, that we are called into deep and meaningful one on one relationships with kids and with each other, that we can only give what we have and are called to minister to others out of the overflow of our own relationship with Jesus, and that it is in offering up ALL of our little lives to Jesus that He performs the miracle of multiplying the loaves and feeding the many the spiritual bread they need. 

We look forward to many more weekends like this one in the future as we feel that they are crucial for the work that our Lord has called us to, in seeking to reach the lost youth of upstate NY for Him. 

This coming weekend we have another exciting event in store, as it is time for the annual CATHEDRAL LOCK-IN!  Last year’s lock-in was truly one of the most fun and exciting nights of the year, and we are hoping this year will be a step up even from there.  There is much planning and prayer being put in in preparation.  We encourage all of our churches to make a push for their kids to make it this year, as it is truly a night not to be missed.  You can find the sign-up form in the left hand column of this email. 

Finally, camp will be here before you know it.  As I drive by the Beaver Cross site each day I lift the 2012 season up to the Lord in prayer and each time I do my spirit leaps inside of me because I feel the Lord’s excitement for what He is planning to do in the lives of all the young people who attend this summer.  It is going to be a milestone event in many young people’s life of faith.  I ask and pray that we will all make every effort to ensure that they get here so that they do not miss out! 

Thanks for reading and may Christ be with you!

Father Tyler Slade (Youth and Overnight Beaver Cross Director) and Audrey Slade (Youth Coordinator)

Hello Friends,

We are joyfully welcoming Spring this week, and with the warm weather has come a new excitement for our rapidly approaching Spring and Summer events!

This past weekend we were in Saratoga for the annual Breakout retreat.  Fr. Tyler led a breakout session at this ecumenical event and was able to connect with a number of our diocesan youth and meet many new young people as well.  This was a great opportunity to build our ecumenical relationships and extend our ministry to new youth in our region.

This weekend is our first ever Youth Leaders Retreat.  This unique retreat is bringing together the adult leaders with a passion for youth from around our region from various denominations to get filled with a fresh vision for how the Lord  longs and plans to reach the youth of upstate New York.

Next weekend March 23-24 is the annual Cathedral Lock-In.  This is an all-night fun and worship extravaganza at our Cathedral of All Saints.  After last years life sized game of Clue you won’t want to miss what we have planned this year!  Please use the link in the left hand column of this update to register.

Check out Fr. Tyler’s interview in the current Albany Episcopalian to get a little more insight into the vision the Lord has given him for youth ministry in our diocese.

Summer is quickly approaching, friends, and so is the Beaver Cross Camp Season!  Sign your youth up today for an experience they will treasure for the rest of the lives.

Thanks for reading and may Christ be with you!

Father Tyler Slade (Youth and Overnight Beaver Cross Director) and Audrey Slade (Youth Coordinator)