Thursday, May 31, 2007

Youth News

Graduate Recognition Sunday is June 10. There will be a special breakfast for the graduates at the Abernathy's at 9:30 AM and the graduates will be recognized and will receive their gifts from the church in the worship service later that morning. Parents are invited to join their seniors for a special FaithStation that evening.

IMPACT Training this Sunday! We will hold mandatory Impact Training Sessions from 4:30-5:45 PM this Sunday and next Sunday, June 10. This training will take place in the Green Room and is for all adults and students going to Impact! Contact Tom Kern for more information!

Impact Commissioning Service will be Sunday, June 17. Please attend the service as the church commissions us to be Impact missionaries!

Nationals game on Monday, June 18! Celebrate the end of school by joining us to see a Nats game! Details will come soon!

Brown Bag Bible Study begins on Thursday, June 21, at 12:30 PM. Bring your lunch and Bible and come explore the Bible together! The first BBBS will meet at the Hodge's house. Contact Stephen or Leah for more information and for rides.

Make sure you check out the calendar at the bottom of the blog to keep informed about upcoming events.

Random Question of the week: What are you looking forward to most this summer?

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Cappies Winners!

Congratulations to South County for being the big winners at this year's Washington area Critics and Awards Program, otherwise known as the Cappies! South County won four awards (out of 12 nominations), including the award for best musical for Thoroughly Modern Millie. Westwood was represented well in the musical with Justin and Scott performing and Kit, Kayla, and Karianne working hard behind the scenes. Check out the Washington Post article spotlighting South County's big win! Other area schools (West Springfield, Lake Braddock, Robinson, and Thomas Jefferson) also won awards. Check out the Cappies website for the complete list of winners.

KMT's 'The Secret Garden'

KMT's The Secret Garden was great! Congrats to Justin, Erin, Andrew, Pat Close, Donna Hill, and Pam Bryson for representing Westwood well!

Justin, Erin, and Andrew after Saturday's performance. Justin was Major Holmes, Erin was in the Ensemble, and Andrew was the Spot Light Operator.



Justin and Erin in costume!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Youth Family Cookout Pictures


Pictures from this year's Youth Family Cookout. Thanks go out to Mike Colley for the pictures!

Mother's Day Challenge Contest Winners!

Grand Prize Winners:
Haley with her mom walking into Caribou Coffee. The surprise didn't work here, but the manicure and pedicure later on was a pleasant surprise! Haley and Holly won gift cards to Starbucks and the Family Christian Store.

Consolation Prize Winners:Jessica with her mom at Outback Steakhouse for a Mother's Day lunch. They tried to see Spider-Man 3 that day, but had to wait until the following weekend! Jessica and Lisa won a Starbucks gift card.

Don't forget to celebrate your moms every day, not just on Mother's Day!

Youth News

ATTENTION 2007 High School graduates! Help us recognize you on Graduate Recognition Sunday by emailing me your name, high school graduating from, college attending, proposed field of study, other plans if not college, etc. Also, parents should send pictures (from baby to senior portrait) of their graduating seniors to Marty Freeman. There will be a special breakfast for the graduates at the Abernathy's at 9:30 AM on Sunday, June 10, and the graduates will be recognized and will receive their gifts from the church in the worship service later that morning.

KMT Musical Theater presents The Secret Garden on Friday and Saturday, May 25-26. Performances are held at the John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Annandale at 8 PM. For tickets, contact Donna Hill at 703-628-1340. Support Westwood's own Justin Alderson, Erin Donnelly, Pat Close (Director), and Donna Hill (Producer).

IMPACT Training begins this Sunday! We will hold mandatory Impact Training Sessions from 4:30-5:45 PM on the following Sundays: May 27, June 3, and June 10. This training will take place in the Green Room and is for all adults and students going to Impact! Contact Tom Kern for more information!

Make sure you check out the calendar at the bottom of the blog to keep informed about upcoming events.

Random Question of the week: Who is your hero? Why?

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

We Love Working With Youth!

Leah, Jenny, and I spent Monday and Tuesday in Richmond at the VBMB Summer Youth Ministry Conference. We are pictured here with the main speaker, Laurie Polich. We learned a lot about youth ministry and we are excited about what will happen this summer in our youth ministry and in Jenny's case, with IMPACT! You can't read what my shirt says in the picture, but it says it all: "...there's nothing like youth ministry!" And I'll add: "...there's nothing like youth!" I'm ready for a great summer! How about you?

Friday, May 18, 2007

First-Ever David Crowder Band Music Video!


From David Crowder's latest blog post: "suppose with me for a moment that this whole time the squirrel were simply a metaphor, what then?" Check out all the posts about squirrels on his blog. ENJOY!

Jeremy Foster Videos

I used to post short humorous "videos with a message" from Jeremy Foster. Recently, Jeremy has been doing a full-length TV show instead and that is why I haven't been posting any of his stuff lately. If you're interested in checking out his TV show, go here.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Invisible Children Benefit Concert

Check out this great opportunity to help support Invisible Children!

Youth News

The Youth Family Cookout at the Gray's is this Sunday from 5:30-7:30 PM.

In accordance with Westwood’s Child Protection Policy we will hold a required annual training session for workers with youth, children, and preschoolers on Sunday, May 20, from 8:30-9:30 AM. If you are currently a volunteer or would like to work with the young people of Westwood, please plan on attending this training session. Training will be held in the main section of Whitten Hall. If you have any questions, please contact Lora Johnson. Youth who are currently age 18 or older or will be by VBS (July 13) need to attend this training as well!

We have two contests running - the Mother's Day Challenge Contest and the She's Back! Contest. The deadline to enter is this Sunday before the Cookout.

ATTENTION 2007 High School graduates! Help us recognize you on Graduate Recognition Sunday by emailing me your name, high school graduating from, college attending, proposed field of study, other plans if not college, etc. Also, parents should send pictures (from baby to senior portrait) of their graduating seniors to Marty Freeman. Thanks!

KMT Musical Theater presents The Secret Garden on Friday and Saturday, May 25-26. Performances are held at the John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Annandale at 8 PM. For tickets, contact Donna Hill at 703-628-1340. Support Westwood's own Justin Alderson, Erin Donnelly, Pat Close (Director), and Donna Hill (Producer).

We will hold mandatory Impact Training Sessions from 4:30-5:45 PM on the following Sundays: May 27, June 3, and June 10. This training will take place in the Green Room and is for all adults and students going to Impact! Contact Tom Kern for more information!

If you are on Facebook or are thinking of joining Facebook, join our This is FaithStation! group by clicking on the link found above.

Make sure you check out the calendar at the bottom of the blog to keep informed about upcoming events.

Random Question of the week: What is your favorite hobby?

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

She's Back!

Guess who decided to be our intern again this summer!?! Let's have some fun: The first person to track Leah down and take a picture with her and the front section of The Washington Post and email it to me wins a Starbucks gift card! GO!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Essay Contest

The 2007 Religious Liberty Essay Contest, sponsored by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, is open to all Baptist high school students in the classes of 2007 and 2008. The essay contest asks participants to respond to this quote by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and critic of the state, and never its tool." The grand prize is $1000 and includes a trip to Washington, D.C.

For contest rules and a registration form, please visit www.BJConline.org/contest.

Essay deadline is May 21.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Youth Family Cookout

Youth Family Cookout
Sunday, May 20
5:30-7:30 PM at the Gray's
All youth and their family members are invited!
FOOD, FELLOWSHIP, and GAMES!
Bring lawn chairs and/or blankets.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Youth News

There will be NO FaithStation this Sunday. Instead, participate in the Mother's Day Challenge Contest.

If you are on Facebook or are thinking of joining Facebook, join our This is FaithStation! group.

Don't forget about South County Secondary School's rendition of Thoroughly Modern Millie this Friday and Saturday. All shows are $10 and start at 7:30 PM. Suggested arrival time for all shows is 7:00 PM. Please go out to see a great show and support Westwood's own Justin Alderson, Scott Morgan, Kit Alderson, and Kari Alderson!

ATTENTION 2007 High School graduates! Help us recognize you on Graduate Recognition Sunday by emailing me your name, high school graduating from, college attending, proposed field of study, other plans if not college, etc. Also, parents should send pictures (from baby to senior portrait) of their graduating seniors to Marty Freeman. Thanks!

In accordance with Westwood’s Child Protection Policy we will hold a required annual training session for workers with youth, children, and preschoolers on Sunday, May 20, from 8:30-9:30 AM. If you are currently a volunteer or would like to work with the young people of Westwood, please plan on attending this training session. Training will be held in the main section of Whitten Hall. If you have any questions, please contact Lora Johnson. Youth who are currently age 18 or older or will be by VBS (July 13) need to attend this training as well!

KMT Musical Theater presents the Secret Garden on Friday and Saturday, May 25-26. Performances are held at the John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Annandale at 8 PM. For tickets, contact Donna Hill at 703-628-1340. Support Westwood's own Justin Alderson, Erin Donnelly, Pat Close (Director), and Donna Hill (Producer).

We will hold mandatory Impact Training Sessions from 4:30-5:45 PM on the following Sundays: May 27, June 3, and June 10. This training will take place in the Green Room and is for all adults and students going to Impact! Contact Tom Kern for more information!

Make sure you check out the calendar at the bottom of the blog to keep informed about upcoming events.

Random Question of the week: What movie is a 'must-see' for you this summer?

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Mother's Day Challenge Contest!


Sunday is Mother's Day. We will not have FaithStation this Sunday. Instead, you are all invited to participate in the Mother's Day Challenge Contest! Here's what you do:
  1. Spend quality time with your mom or mother figure (grandmother, aunt, etc.).
  2. Take a picture of you and your mom during your quality time.
  3. Email the picture to me with a description of what you did with/for your mom on her special day. This is your entry for the contest prize! Entries are due by May 20.
  4. We will have the prize drawing at the Youth Family Cookout on May 20. The prize will consist of gifts for both the youth and for mom!

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Attention Youth Workers/Volunteers!


To All Youth Workers/Volunteers:

We are going to have a 'friendly' get together for ice cream on Thursday, May 10, at 7:30 PM, at Friendly's in Burke (5761 Burke Centre Pkwy). We'll fellowship together and talk about our upcoming Youth Family Cookout.

If you can't make it Thursday, but want to help out with the cookout, please let me know.

Thanks,
Stephen

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Cinco de Mayo!

Today is Cinco de Mayo! I hope you had a chance to celebrate! Visit here for Wikipedia's article on Cinco de Mayo. MEXonline.com has a good link also.

Friday, May 4, 2007

Out On A Limb!


Can't you just hear these words next? "Wanna get away? Now you can. Fly Southwest Airlines. You are now free to move about the country."

This is the commecial that the Skit Guys submitted to the Southwest Airlines Commercial Contest and it is airing on TNT throughout the NBA playoffs.

Click here to check out more great videos by the Skit Guys.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Youth News

If you are on Facebook or are thinking of joining Facebook, join our This is FaithStation! group by clicking on the link under "Cool Links For All."

Don't forget about South County Secondary School's rendition of Thoroughly Modern Millie this Friday and Saturday (and next Friday and Saturday). All shows are $10 and start at 7:30 PM. Suggested arrival time for all shows is 7:00 PM. Contact CeCe Alderson at Cynthia.Alderson@fcps.edu or 703-446-1608 for ticket information. Please go out to see a great show and support Westwood's own Justin Alderson, Scott Morgan, Kit Alderson, and Kari Alderson!

ATTENTION 2007 High School graduates! Help us recognize you on Graduate Recognition Sunday by emailing me your name, high school graduating from, college attending, proposed field of study, other plans if not college, etc. Also, parents should send pictures (from baby to senior portrait) of their graduating seniors to Marty Freeman. Thanks!

In accordance with Westwood’s Child Protection Policy we will hold required annual training sessions for workers with youth, children, and preschoolers during the month of May. If you are currently a volunteer or would like to work with the young people of Westwood, please plan on attending one of the following training sessions: 1)Sunday, May 6, from 9:45-10:45 AM or 2)Sunday, May 20, from 8:30-9:30 AM. Both sessions will be held in the main section of Whitten Hall. If you have any questions, please contact Lora Johnson. Youth who are currently age 18 or older or will be by VBS (July 13) need to attend this training as well!

We will hold mandatory Impact Training Sessions from 4:30-5:45 PM on the following Sundays: May 27, June 3, and June 10. This training will take place in the Green Room and is for all adults and students going to Impact! Contact Tom Kern for more information!

Make sure you check out the calendar at the bottom of the blog to keep informed about upcoming events.

Random Question of the week: What is your favorite book? Why?

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Squirrels!

I found this over at David Crowder's blog. It is funny - and so true! Check it out:

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Displace Me


Pictures from Saturday's Displace Me - Washington, D.C. Thanks Haley for the pictures!