Check out what's upcoming!
Inside/Out Student Ministries has a ton of exciting things coming up in 2018!
Check out what's upcoming!
Inside/Out Student Ministries has a ton of exciting things coming up in 2018!
This Month At Inside/Out
We are making a commitment to start off 2018 on the right foot! Throughout the month of January at youth group, we will be learning about Prayer. Why is this spiritual discipline so important to our Christian walk? How can we commit ourselves to prayer? What are some creative ways to pray? How can TCC's youth group also take on the 21 Days of Fasting & Prayer Challenge with the collective church body? We'll be tackling these questions and so much more as we strive to set our priorities straight & align with Trinity's mission to pray.
Here are some other topics coming up at Inside/Out
January 28th- February 11th - Love, Relationships & Sex series.
Learning what God intends for us.
Breakaway- More than Conquerors
Who has God called you to be through Him?
This is a weekend that all students grades 6-12 do not want to miss!
This is a chance to get away, unplug, refocus on your relationship with God and make new friends while having a blast!
There will be crazy games, an awesome worship band, drama team, encouraging speaker, and more!
NEW THIS YEAR! We're going snow tubing at Bousquet Mountain!!!
Many students and leaders alike report that time spent at Breakaway was some of the best memories of their lives! Sign your student up today! We still have spots open and limited scholarships available.
Follow this link to download your registration packet! or grab one in the Trinity Community Church Foyer
Important Dates
February 4th- SuperBowl LII!
No Inside/Out
February 11th- Mystery Valentine's Dinner Party
Chocolate Buffet for dessert! Bring a friend!
Semi-Formal Dress encouraged. Party Starts at 5:30pm
February 16th- Depart for Breakaway Weekend!
Students please be at TCC by 3:30 on Friday for a timely departure.
Bring $25-30 for dinner both ways. Bring extra $$ for brand merch if desired.
February 18th - No Inside/Out
Students will be returning from Breakaway in the evening
March 11th - TCC Missions Dinner
No reg Inside/Out. All Students & families invited and encouraged to attend our annual missions dinner!
Summer on the Brain?
Here are 4 things to add to your family's summer calendar
Summer Youth Ministry Events
Throughout the Summer
Even though School will be out, Inside/Out Student Ministries will still be in session! Youth Group will continue to meet weekly each Sunday and we will have several exciting events throughout those hot months! Be on the look out for a Summer kick-off party, epic water war, giant ice cream sundae night, and so much more. Students entering the 6th grade in September of 2018 can start participating in youth group as soon as school is out!
West End Community Church Local Missions Trip
June 25th-28th
We are pleased to announce a new local mission trip initiative in partnership with several TCC supported ministries in the New England area.
This summer, a group of teens and young adults will be able to serve our greater community by spending a day throughout this mission trip week at ministries like Amirah, Norwood Food pantry, West End Community Church in Providence, RI and more!
Students from 8th grade & up are encouraged to sign up for this awesome opportunity to serve! Applications to join this mission trip team & more information will be available soon on the TCC website.
Students who participate in this trip will be given priority for the Dominican Republic Mission Trip in 2019.
Trinity Community Church Vacation Bible School Week
July 9th-13th
Vacation Bible School is an amazing chance to plug in with the church body to serve!Many children from the local community come to VBS to learn about the Bible at Trinity each year. We will be in need of teachers, helpers, game facilitators, and more during this exciting week! Please mark your calendars and plan on joining us as we dance, sing, play and learn!
Soulfest 2018
August 2nd-4th
Soulfest is an annual Christian Music Festival that takes place at the Gunstock Mountain Resort in New Hampshire. This year's line up includes TobyMac, Skillet, Colton Dixon, For King & Country and many more. Trinity Community Church will be hosting a campsite where students are welcome to sign up to camp during the music festival. Sign up sheets will be available in the coming months. If you have more questions about this music festival please contact Ana Maciel.
In a world where little boys see too much, and little girls post too much... is it even possible for young people to learn to text, Tweet, and Insta responsibly? If so, how can we teach them this...and model this?
Here are 5 steps parents can take to help their kids learn to be responsible with their mobile devices:
1. Give Them the Heads Up
Communicate your plan from the very beginning. When they're young and begging you for their first device, let them know why, and let them know when they get to make this decision on their own.
"When you first get your device, your use of it is going to be limited. But as you get older, you'll get more and more freedom with it. Our goal is that by your senior year of high school you will have full control."
I tried this with my daughters: Here's how it turned out. (Author/speaker Andy Stanley was interviewed last year and declared a similar approach.)
2. First Device at 12
For years experts have been recommending parents wait until their kids are age 12 to give them their own mobile devices. (Tablets, iTouch, laptops...especially devices that allow them access to the Internet and social media.) In fact, most experts recommend kids do not begin using social media until age 13.
I realize this is difficult when every other parent out there is giving their kids devices before they cut their first tooth. Our kids are sure to complain, "But Chris has his own iPad!"
This is where parents need to stop and ask themselves, "What is my role?" If you want to be the friend parent, or "peerant," who gives into their kid's every whim...then by all means, give em' a phone. If you see your role as the Sherpa who will guide them along the road to adolescence successfully to adulthood, then wait until they're 12. Even then you don't just hand it to them.
3. No Secrets
Create a climate of continual conversation about social media and screen entertainment. Walk with them as they set up their first online profiles, teach them online privacy settings and give them guidance on who to select as online friends.
In the past I recommended parents knew their kids' passwords so Mom and Dad could do precisely what their doctor recommended, monitoring exactly what websites and social media their kids were using. Sadly, demanding a password can create a parent-vs.-teen dynamic. Never a good thing. And frankly, I've found if today's kids want to sneak... they will sneak. It's much better to create an environment of open communication and "no secrets."
This takes time. Good parenting takes time. If you don't know anything about Instagram, then Google "Instagram safety tips" or "Instagram privacy settings" and see what people are recommending. Help your tween understand these settings, after all, your plan is to equip them to choose these kinds of settings on their own in just a couple years.
Engage in regular check-ins, reviewing their privacy settings and seeing who their online friends are. Don't be a parole officer, be a guide, looking to encourage and offer advice where needed.
But we also need to...
4. Limit Screentime
Your family doctor has been recommending this for years. And in a world where young people average almost 9 hours per day in entertainment media and technology, this is no easy task. Sit down and talk about some realistic guardrails together and decide what is fair.
5. Seek Out No-Tech Time
If you're a parent today then you know it can be difficult to get a teen to lift their eyes from their mobile device and actually dialogue. So my advice is simple. Seek out these natural settings where the phone is put away:
* Dinner
* Bedtime
* Sitting in the hot tub
* Exercising
* Hunting, fishing, boating...
* Baking (sticky hands and phones don't mix)
The American Academy of Pediatrics just released their new list of media tips for parents, and several of the tips encourage parents to "create tech free zones" and "seek out face-to-face time." Experts are realizing how important it is for parents to seek out one-on-one time.
It's a little scary when you start reading the research about exactly how damaging a smartphone is becoming to a generation who barely knows life without it. How will they ever learn responsibility if we don't teach them?