The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: What Teens Wish Their Parents Knew
March 2, 2025
Dear LEFC Parents,
We are excited to share with you some upcoming Family Ministries happenings here at LEFC. Stay on the lookout for new activities and resources we’re drumming up soon! Here is some current news, along with this week’s highlighted resource for dessert.
Calling all moms!
Are you a mom that is home during the day? Home a few days a week? We would like to start a get-together for moms who have kids at home that are able to attend during the weekdays. But, we need to know who you are! If you are a mom that is at home at least some time during the weekdays, please email Jordyn at [email protected] or text her at 814-592-9280.
Stay Sharp 2025
Every year, our Allegheny District provides a 24-hour theology training time with Greg Strand, and our church has another group gathering to go. In the past, several of our younger parents have participated. Stay Sharp is a great way to sharpen your own thinking about who God is and what He’s up to in this world, which prepares you to teach it to your kids. While Stay Sharp is not designed for children, several churches (including ours!) have brought teenagers along who have gotten a lot out of the experience. Consider pulling your high schooler out of school for two days on March 10-11 to take them deeper in their understanding of God’s Word. See Pastor Matt with any questions.
Winter Jam ‘25: This Saturday!
Are you headed to Winter Jam on Saturday? Want to go as a group? Several people from the church are going to meet at the College Buffet at 1631 North Atherton in State College for dinner from 4pm-5pm and then leave as a group to arrive at the BJC together and sit together. Need a ride? Want to offer a ride? There is a sign-up sheet in foyer to help make connections. There is also a flyer in the foyer with information about the concert. Contact Jenni English or Cody & Holly Crumrine with any questions.
Save the date for Fall Retreat
We have confirmed the date for Fall Retreat 2025. Mark your calendars for September 19-21! We will be back at Seven Mountains Scout Camp for a fun-filled weekend with your church family.
Costumes for KBC
Are you gifted in sewing and crafting? Our Kids Bible Classes are looking for volunteers to help create costumes for the kids to use in various performances. Please see Vicky Albert for more information!
Easter Egg Hunt 2025
Mark your calendars now for the LEFC Easter Egg Hunt on April 19th, the day before Easter. Be thinking about how you might want to volunteer to help out in various ways. We will also be looking for donations of candy and prizes when the time comes.
Games Leader for Family Bible Week
Family Bible week will be held July 7-13, 2025. We have most of our key positions filled, but are in need of someone to lead the games rotation. If you would like to help out in this area, please see Jordyn Skacel.
“Crossing the Jordan River” Kids Bible Class Devotional
You have free access to a family devotional based on the curriculum our kids are studying each week in KBC! It’s called “The Gospel Project at Home.” Today’s Bible Study is “Crossing the Jordan River” (Volume 1: Unit 7: Session 1), and the devotional can be found at this link.
Visit the Family Ministries page on our website for information about how to access The Gospel Project at Home for the first time.
And for Dessert…
This week’s recommendation for family discipleship is a bullet-list of things that teenagers wish their parents knew about them from the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding.
On a week of episodes of the Youth Culture Today Podcast, Walter Mueller recently shared excerpts from researcher Ellen Galinsky’s new book about teenagers, The Breakthrough Years: A New Scientific Framework for Raising Thriving Teens.
Mueller picked out 5 key items from Galinsky’s insightful research that today’s teens desperately wanted their parents and other adults in their lives to understand about them:
1. “Understand our development.”
2. “Talk with us, not at us.”
3. “Don’t stereotype us.”
4. “Understand our needs.”
5. “We want to learn stuff that’s useful.”
In each 1 minute episode, Mueller helpfully unpacks the big idea behind each of those statements and sets them into a Christian context. These could be good prompts for conversation with your teen or with their other parent.
For a wealth of other resources (podcast, articles, seminars, newsletters), visit the CPYU website.
We hope your family eats it right up.
Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
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EXPLAINER: THE GOSPEL PROJECT AT HOME
For the last several years, our Children’s Church ministry has utilized The Gospel Project as our Bible study curriculum. The Gospel Project is really excellent–it takes our Little Learners and Bible Explorers chronologically through the whole Bible over the course of three years while always focusing on Jesus as the center of the big story. If your student was in Little Learners or Bible Explorers this morning, they received a coloring page and take-home sheet that corresponds to this lesson. You have also been given a full-color Big Picture Card that you can use to reinforce the lesson with your child, as well.
To reinforce what your kids are learning each week in Children’s Church, you can now access The Gospel Project At Home online. Each week in this email, there will be a link to follow to get this free resource which includes:
1. A guide to using the Gospel Project at Home.
2. Scripture to read and discuss with a recap video of the Bible Story (Preschool and/or Elementary).
3. Scripture memory verses and a song to sing together.
4. Prayer prompts and family activities that correspond to the lesson.
Please consider setting aside at least 10-15 minutes once a week for a family devotional time using this resource as a guide. We are hoping The Gospel Project At Home will help keep all of our LEFC kids “on the same page,” and feed their faith in Jesus.
This might be especially helpful if for some reason your child has to miss a week of Children’s Church. You can show them the Bible story video to keep them up to speed on what the other children are learning.
**Note: The first time you access the link, you will need to register a free account with Lifeway’s Ministry Grid. This will also provide you ongoing access through the “training” tab to many other discipleship resources including the Gospel Project at Home for previous weeks. Many hours of excellent things to absorb for free!