Lutheran Youth WNY

People often forget that BBQ stands for Best Buddies QuestForFun,Community,AndLoveInspiredByTheGospelMessageOfInclusivityForAll

But I digress....

We had ourselves blast wrapping up LY programming as we begin our summer break!

Many water balloons were eaten. 🎈
Many watermelons were popped. 🍉
And the Kickball game was close and competitive to the very last play.

Stay tuned for news and a release of our 24-25 events schedule dropping soon! 👀

Hot diggity dog...

June and summer are right around the corner!

Join us as we kick back and kick out at our field day this Saturday!

Meet us at St. John in Williamsville from 10:30 - 5 for kickball, backyward games, cookout, and of course community :)

Enjoy some fun in the sun as we put a wrap on LY's 2023-2024 programming and get ready for a summer full of opportunities.

Register online or follow the link in our bio to take a break from finals to come see friends' new and old

Upcoming Events Drop!!!

Our 2023-2024 calendar is starting to come to a close, but we still have a few fun events on the horizon!

On Saturday, May 25th we head to the Buffalo Zoo and then Parkside Lutheran for games and snacks. Details and registration on our website or follow the link in our bio! 🦍🐆🦬🦓🦧🐪🦒🦏🦙🐘🦇🦥🦦🦅🦩🦘🦚🐢🐅🐏🦌

On Saturday, June 1st, we host a big Field day at St. John Lutheran in Willamsville. Kickball, Kan jam, badminton, BBQ, and more! Registration on our website or link in Bio! 🍔🌭

Playing, praying, and slaying the night away as the Volleyball Marathon continually reminded us of our task to incorporate play into our lives ! 🏐

“I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live” - Ecclesiastes 3:12 🥳

Playing and praying are not escapes but choices. Choosing to be intentional about adding fun and mindfulness into our lives and burning all the voices that arn't of the love Godbspeaks into ash.God created us and formed our beautiful community to work in unison as we promote living life to the fullest; filled with love. 💙

“And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets” (Zechariah 8:5)...

Play is an integral part of what we do here at Lutheran Youth WNY

It's important to have fun and it is fun to have fun!

And we think EVERYONE should have access and opportunities to play

That's why while we gather together for the Volleyball Marathon this Friday we will be collecting new/gently used sports equipment to be donated to youth across WNY!

We invite families and participants to bring what they can to be donated to Level The Playing Field. Please refer to the list above.

Also, Wheels for Workers based out of St. Paul's in Amherst is looking for bike helmets, inner tire tubes, and bike tire pumps!

And as always, remeber to register for what's going to be our BIggest event of the year!!! Registration link is in our bio and on our website

🥎🏀🏈🏐⚽️🎾🥍🥌🥊🏓🎳🥏⚾️🏸⛳️🥅🎿🏑🏏🥋

🏐✨ Get ready to spike, serve, and set at the ultimate Volleyball Marathon! 🙌 We're thrilled to bring back this fan favorite event - it's an oldie but a goodie! 🎉 Join us for a night of non-stop volleyball action, fellowship, and fun at Hope Lutheran Church in Arcade, NY!

🕢 WHEN: Starting at 7:30 pm, on May 10th📍 WHERE: Hope Lutheran Church, 2 E Main St., Arcade, NY 14009 👫
WHO: Open to ALL youth grades 6-12! 💰 COST: FREE overnight stay! No barriers, no boundaries!

🌟 Kick off the night with a large group service project, followed by worship together. Then, get ready for the marathon with a ceremonial team introduction, schedule drop, and endless volleyball games! 🏆 Prizes await the top 3 teams, plus bonus wins for the best mascot! 🦁🏅

🍽️ Meals, snacks, and loads of fun activities provided throughout the night. Feel free to bring your own goodies to share! 🍕🥤

🚗 Need a ride? We've got you covered! Transportation available from Amherst Lutheran in Williamsville for just $10. Check out the registration link for details!

Don't miss out on this epic volleyball extravaganza! 🎉 Sign up now and get ready to serve up some serious fun! 🏐💥

Link in Bio - Sign up now!

Hope and Hope Youth are always up to great things! They serve at Friends of The Night People throughout the year. What are your churches and youth groups up to? And how can we help to foster and build more communities like this and provide opportunities for our youth to be apart of those communities?

A few scenes from our Italian Restaurant this past weekend...

The 1st Annual Senior High Spring Retreat was a blast!

We filled our cups with goodness, wrote ourselves love poems, and found the peace that surrounds things in our life and simple moments.

Work and Play. Peace and Love ✌️ ❤️

Maybe, Jesus died on a cross made of trash...

Thank you to the Youth and Leadership team for an Awesome Earth Day Lockin!

We created, we played, we stayed up, and we picked up. Both the trash in God's beautiful creation and the junk in our lives.

God created us, and it was Good. God doesn't make junk. God doesn't make garbage people. So it's our job to pick-up, reduce, and recycle the junk we put in the world into something better ❤️ 🌎

Donna Summer would be nothing without Spring...

We would be nothing without a little Peace and Love

And Summer Camp would be nothing without spring work day!

Conveniently, we have an event that combines all three!

April 26th-28th we have our first ever Senior High Spring Retreat at LCLC!

High school youth will be invited to explore the Peace and Love Christ instills in us and how we can live that out through meditation, movement, service, and self exploration!☮️ 🤎

Our little community will spend time playing games, deepening our faith, and helping set up camp during their work day on Saturday.🏕

Then we grab our best 70's outfits and get our Boogie on for a Saturday Night Fever Disco party! 🥳 🪩

SPOTS ARE LIMITED! So sign up on our website or using the linknin our bio today!

Earth's a pretty remarkable place that we think is worth celebrating!

Come celebrate this Friday up in Lewiston, NY!

We will gather, craft, worship, play, and pick-up some trash around Niagara Gorge and Art Park as we celebrate God's creation and Earth Day.

Come prepared for nature's best kept mystery (Buffalo weather) as we may be outside for a while in the rain and chill air. Then warming up inside with alllll the trash we collect 😁 🌧

Our lockin details and registration can be found on our website or at the link in our bio.

The Magic was great, but I really loved The Gathering

Spring has Sprung, the Lord has Risen, and Mother Earth is out there Rizzing

Come celebrate Earth Day in a unique and memorable way with Lutheran Youth!

This overnight experience is for youth grades 6-12 who are passionate about nature, community, games, and exploring spirituality.

Packed with activities like;

Deep Time walk & Nature Hikes 🏞
Outdoor Picnic & Play 🌭
Litter Scavenger Hunts 🚮
Creation Station 🎨
Community Bonding 🪢
Devotionals about God's Creation 🌍

Register by April 15th to secure your spot (and get your tax return). You won't want to miss this event!

Details and registration can be found on our website or by using the link in our Bio

"Just read the card, it will explain everything" isn't always helpful when playing MTG. But in this post it sure is!

1 week away from our MTG Draft and Play night!
Sign up on our website or use the link in our bio.

Bring some snacks to share as we draft from the newest set: Murders at Karlov Manor, which has some unique Clue-like play styles 🧐

See you wizards soon

EVENTS UPDATE!

Here is a look at our updated events schedule for Spring 2024

Take note: we rescheduled the Zoo Day and Volleyball Marathon to later dates.

We also added some new events like MTG Draft night

Information and registration for our next three events are up on the LY website, or you can find each using the link in our bio ↪️

Here's the scoop didly scoop;

April 04: MTG Draft night. Open to all ages 18 under who want to enter into the magical world, Draft a booster box, and play in a tournament with friends! 🔥💧💀🌳☀️

April 19-20: Earth Day Lock-in. Open to youth grades 6-12. Hike around the Niagara Gorge, have a picnic, play outside, and celebrate in God's beautiful creation together! 🌍

April 26-28: Senior High Spring Retreat. Open to current 9-12th graders. "Love, Peace, my hair is full of grease" come get groovy down at LCLC for a weekend ✌️☮️ We will be exploring inner peace and self love brought onto us through Christ, helping set up camp for the summer, and throwing a disco party 🥳

Comment what you're most excited for and sign up now!

"I'd climb every mountain with you!"

Youth Group Highlight:

Hope held their annual 7-12th grade retreat this weekend.

Mountain Hope was built, climbed, and conquered.

After all, it was the journey together as a community that made the trip worth it ❤️ 🏔

Smell ya later.

Our Get Air, Get Together has come and passed. But the impact of "giving our faith feet" continues to make a difference in our community. Together, 28 LY members used our beautiful feet to share the good news, donating over 100 pairs of socks to people experiencing homelessness in the Buffalo community.

We gathered, we prayed, and we played together. We are the church, and the church is fun!

Last call for our Get Air, Get Together tomorrow!

And an important reminder to bring packs of new socks to donate as part of the conference wide sock drive!

Regsitration and Details about the sock drive and our event can be found at lutheranyouthwny.com or by clicking the link in our bio!

Hoppy Tuesday...

Jump on the LY train at our GET AIR, Get together!

On Thursday, February 22nd LY will be meeting at GET AIR in Tonawanda (800 Young St, Tonawanda, NY 14150) at 2:40 pm and jumping for 2 hours. (3 - 5 pm).

From there, we will go over to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Tonawanda (2669 Sheridan Dr, Tonawanda, NY 14150) for Pizza, games, and small group Devos. (5 - 7:30 pm) 🍕 🥏🕯

Get Air is a trampoline park- with Dodgeball, Dunking, Ninja Courses, Slacklines, Foam Pits, and More!

Please RSVP  on our website or using the link in our Bio

2 hours of jumping, socks, transportation, and pizza is $25 per person

We will also be participating in the Niagara Frontier Conference's Sock Collection. - Clean socks are the most requested item from people experiencing homelessness. Walking an average of 10 miles a day, clean socks can be used year-round to stay warm, layer, and maintain good foot health. As we put on our Jumping Socks, please bring a pair, (Or more!) of gently used or new socks to donate. 🧦🧦🧦

We also ask that parents/ guardians fill out Get Air's waiver prior to arriving

Guess who's back? Back again? LASERTRON IS BACK, tell a friend!!!

Literally. Tell your friends, congregations, youth groups, neighbors, classmates, and more! Because it's about to go down. The Lasertron Lockin is an old favorite, back and better than ever.

Registration is open to all 6-12th graders in WNY! So take a big Nap after school or during math class cause we are going to have an action-packed night filled with fun, teamwork, and friendly competition.

Every registration includes:

6 hours of Unlimited Laser Tag​🙈🙉🙊

Unlimited Krazy Darts 🎯

Unlimited Billiards 🎱

Unlimited Soft Drinks 🥤

2 slices of pizza per-person 🍕 🍕

$10 arcade card 🎰

Transportation from Church to Lasertron 🚗

A fun and meaningful service project with service hours (hint, hint 🐶🐱🐰)

Unlimited Fun!

Spots are limited and filling up fast! REGISTRATION CLOSES FEBRUARY 2ND. Follow the link in our bio or head to lutheranyouthwny.org to fill out the 1 minute form!

Youth Group Highlight!

Last Friday, we were able to join for some ice skating at Canalside ⛸️

This weekend, Zion youth are having an overnight where they'll be planning and then leading the Sunday worship for their annual Youth Sunday

Do you have any events you want to promote? What are your churches, youth groups, and faith communities up to? And how can we help be a part of the fellowship and fun?

All this snow and no one to play with?

We've got you covered! Come join LY for some Winter Fun on February 10th from 10 am - 4 pm! ⛄️

We will be meeting at Good Shephered Lutheran, packaging Care Kits for people experiencing homelessness, then heading to have fun sledding, snow hiking, and snowball fighting at Chestnut Ridge ❄️
Bring your sleds, friends, and winter gear for a fun filled day. And don't worry, we'll have pizza 🍕 and hot chocolate ☕️ to keep us warm and extra filled in the lodge!

If you're in 3rd - 12th grade, you might have missed quite a bit of school this week. But you won't want to miss this! Head to lutheranyouthwny.org or follow the link in our bio to register today!

More pics from our DINO-mite Birthday Bash! 🦕🦖

Check the link in our bio and follow for more fun events coming up!

Jesus's birthday was a little messy. His story filled with messy places, messy people, and a messy world. And yet it is in and through those messy spaces we continually find God's unreasonable love for us.

And that's worth celebrating 🥳🎉🎊

So we figured the best way would be to get a little messy too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL! And to all a Happy Friday 😎....

There's still time to sign up for our Big Birthday Bash this Friday at St. John's in Lancaster. Registration and details can be found using the link in the Bio or shoot us a DM! 🦕🦖

Our leadership team has been having fun planning a goofy boofy night full of cake, messes, games, and celebration 🪅🥳🎊🎉

Just a few snapshots from our Wild Winter Weekend at LCLC!

We came...

We campfired, we tackled, we frosted cookies, we jammed, we changed names, we pet kittens, we worshiped, we chased stars, we laughed, we lost bets, we slept in, we gaga'd, we asked who's your daddy, we prayed, we became celebrities, we got deep, we got silly, we stayed up late, we murdered, we loved...

And we had an Epiphany; that we are fools to love and love to be fools ❤️

Even without snow, camp is full of fun and friendship!
Our 2023 summer staff gathered together at redeemer for a reunion full of cards games, karaoke, nature hikes, and muddy football! Next week you can do the same! Sign ups for the Senior High Winter Retreat are still open; Sign up now!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." - Luke 2:10-12

The love of God comes down to us in Christ and then goes out. Down and out, down and out, spreading good news and joy to all.

May you feel a renewal of Christ's presence in the faces, laughter, and joy being with friends and family this holiday season. And may you go out and be the good news and joy for others. ❤️