Child of God – Lifted in Prayer
Students from HFEC Sunday school classes in grades 2-12 gathered this past week to work together and construct a supportive model of the child of God. The “child of God” was a clear glass full of Christmas candy. Other materials included three clear glasses labeled as faith, community, and love. There were also three butter knives each labeled as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The students were challenged to have all materials touching to elevate and support the child of God with the widest footprint possible which represented community outreach. The group worked through several variations before suspending the child of God glass successfully by the knives on top of a marble table top. Following the activity, the students enjoyed a candy treat and discussed the connections from this challenge to their own lives. For more information about teambuilding activities at Holy Family, please contact Youth Director Marty Blake. mblake@hfec.org
Gospel at Hogwarts 2018
Holy Family invited children of all ages to enjoy an adventure of discipleship to uncover the Gospel at Hogwarts. Scripture passages included The Wedding Feast at Cana, The Parable of the Sower, and the Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy. This multigenerational adventure took place on November 17, 2018 from 6:00-8:00 PM. Led by House prefects, guests attended a variety of classes at Hogwarts including Herbology and Potions, played a rousing game of Quidditch, and shared fellowship with treats in the Great Hall.
View photos from the 2018 Gospel at Hogwarts HERE.
This was the second annual Hogwarts event at Holy Family. View photos from Holy Family’s 2017 Gospel at Hogwarts by clicking HERE. Contact Children’s Ministry Director Jolene Johnston for more information. jjohnston@hfec.org
Mission Trip Presentation 2018
On Sunday, September 9th, members of the 2018 Serving in the Circle City mission trip crew presented stories from their outreach work in Elwood and Indianapolis. Click below to view the slides used during the presentation. Contact Youth Director Marty Blake for more information about Holy Family’s youth mission trips. mblake@hfec.org
SITCC Presentation Online
Pentecost Celebration 2018
On Sunday, May 20th, Holy Family celebrated the Feast of Pentecost at its 8 and 10 AM services. Many congregation members wore the color red which is the liturgical color for the day. During the 10 AM service, Father Bruce recognized and blessed Sunday school teachers as well as Confirmation and Adult Forum leaders. Finally, Father Bruce recognized graduating senior Ethan Everett. Jeff Waddell and Carly Roth, also graduating seniors, were not able to attend this blessing. Following the service, congregation members and guests enjoyed a pitch-in picnic with entrees grilled by the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. More photos from Holy Family’s Pentecost Celebration are available by clicking HERE.
Silent Auction, Spaghetti, and Success!
Holy Family’s Youth Group members held a successful spaghetti dinner and silent auction on Saturday, April 28, 2018. Students filled many roles for the evening including running the registration table, serving as host or hostess, manning the buffet and drink tables, servings guests at dinner, and managing silent auction bids. In addition to tasty spaghetti with meatballs and homemade desserts, guests enjoyed the musical stylings of soprano Hillary Blake and pianist Doug Tannas who shared Italian arias throughout the evening.
The youth raised more than $2,000 at the event and wish to thank everyone who generously supported their upcoming mission trip efforts. For information about Holy Family’s Youth Group and mission trip work, please contact Youth Director Marty Blake at mblake@hfec.org.
More photos from the 2018 Spaghetti Dinner
and Silent Auction are available by clicking HERE.
Spruce Up For Spring!
Members of Holy Family’s Youth Group gathered to spruce up the church grounds by trimming ornamental grasses, raking leaves, and pruning rose bushes in preparation for upcoming Holy Week services. The students and adult leaders finished their monthly gathering by sharing Compline together. For more information about Holy Family’s Youth Group, please contact Director Marty Blake. mblake@hfec.org
Lenten Lock-In 2018
On Saturday, March 10th, Holy Family Youth Group held its annual Lenten Lock-In. As an extra special wrinkle, the participants enjoyed (or didn’t!) losing an hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings Time.
The students began the evening with an Agape meal. An Agape Meal is a Christian fellowship meal recalling the meals Jesus shared with disciples during his ministry and expressing the koinonia (community, sharing, fellowship) enjoyed by the family of Christ. At certain points in the Agape Meal, food was passed and shared with the group between readings and songs.
Following the Agape meal, youth participated in a spiritually-moving Stations of the Cross service featuring a social justice focus. The Reverend Cathy Scott, Holy Family’s Deacon, gave readings for each station that compared the original path of Jesus to the cross to modern-day examples of suffering in our local community and around the world.
The evening also included a teambuilding activity in the Narthex and some free time for games and fellowship.
As is tradition for the Lenten Lock-In, the youth prepared and delivered a meal to those who serve our community in the dark of night. This year they prepared a salad, lasagna, cake, and drinks for the officers working the night shift at the Fishers Police Department. The students and youth leaders toured the station and participated in a lively discussion with Officer Simmonds.
Back at church, everyone prepared for bed and finished the evening with Compline from the Book of Common Prayer.
Following breakfast in the parish hall, the lock-in participants attended the 8 AM service and shared Eucharist. The event has become a very special part of our youth ministry. For more information on upcoming events, please contact Youth Director Marty Blake. mblake@hfec.org
For more Lenten Lock-In photos please CLICK HERE
Youth Retreat Spring 2018
Holy Family youth and adult leaders joined others from the Diocese of Indianapolis for a weekend retreat at the Waycross Camp and Conference Center in Brown County during the weekend of March 2-4, 2018. The weekend’s theme “Unity in Community” challenged participants to find ways to connect and communicate with others, finding common ground and ways to help others. As always, the students enjoyed time together in fellowship, games, music, and amazing Waycross food. The weekend ended with Eucharist, healing, and goodbyes until next time. For more information about Holy Family’s participation in Diocesan youth events, contact Holy Family Youth Director Marty Blake. mblake@hfec.org
Miracle Place – Making a Difference
Sister Barb McClelland (Miracle Place) and Matthew Johnston
Early in 2018, Holy Family members were challenged to make monetary and snack donations to support Miracle Place in Indianapolis. This project was led by Youth Group member Matthew Johnston as his “Make a Difference” project for Fishers Junior High School. Miracle Place offers a safe afterschool place for children with help for homework, meals and snacks for neighborhood kids, assistance for the elderly, and a variety of other resources. The drive brought in a large assortment of snacks and paper goods as well as just over $400 to purchase fresh fruit and other perishable items for the afterschool program.
Matthew created individual bags of snack mix using donated items then led Youth Group members in making decorated tags to add to the bags. In past projects, the kids at Miracle Place particularly enjoyed these notes from Holy Family kids. so they were sure to repeat the loving gesture. All items were delivered to Miracle Place and unloaded with the help of kids in the program. The cash donations were so generous that a portion of the money was reserved to purchase and deliver a second set of items later in the spring. For more information about Holy Family’s Youth Group or Miracle Place partnership, please contact Youth Director Marty Blake. mblake@Hfec.org
Shrove Tuesday 2018
On Tuesday, February 13th, Holy Family celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a variety of activities. First, we enjoyed our final hurrah of sweets and treats with a pancake supper hosted by our Youth Group.
We burned the palms used on Palm Sunday last year in order to make the ashes for our Ash Wednesday services.
Finally, we gathered to have the children help Deacon Cathy “bury the Alleluia” until Easter Vigil. For more information about our Easter week services, please click HERE.
