NEW: LIFE Lutheran Youth Group

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014-15
NEW: LIFE Lutheran Youth Group
By Jenn Remy
I
t’s official! Our church has a youth group!
THE LIFE Youth Group (a.k.a., LYG) , met for the first
time on Sunday, Sept. 14, and they’ve been meeting every
Sunday since. LYG is being led by Jenn Remy with assistance
from Brenda Mecchela and Kirsten Bond.
LYG’s mission is to develop a safe, caring, loving environment,
build friendships, support and help one another , worship together and help spread God’s love to others.
On any given Sunday, LYG averages 10-15 teens in 8th to 12th
grades. Since many attend church and/or sing in the band on
Sundays, their Sunday meeting usually begins with getting
some lunch. Typically after lunch the group goes back to the
church to play some games, sing songs, share stories or help
with a function being held at the church.
In addition to Sundays, the group also meets one Friday a
month. In September they had a game night which provided
many laughs with the ever so popular game of Zippity.
THE LIFE Youth Group have a great time at the bowling lanes.
From left, front row: Zoe Gunderson and Kassie Vetrano. Next
rows: Erin Roocke, RileyGunderson, Julie Mechella, Chris
Koester, Taylor Kurz, Peter Larson, Kyle Mechella and Sydney
Vetrano.
Join us and have your time of THE LIFE!
Sundays
Worship with Communion, 10am
Children’s Sunday School, 9:45am
Bible Study, 11:30am
Thursdays Worship with Communion, 7pm
Dec 7
Dec 14
Dec 21
Dec 24
Dec 25
Tree Lighting & Family Festival, 3pm
Saint Nicholas Sunday, 10am
Santa Lucia Sunday, 10am
Christmas Eve, 4:30, 7, 11pm
Christmas Worship, 10am
Jan 8
Jan 8
Jan 12
Burning of the Greens, 7pm
Men’s Ministry, 8pm
Women’s Ministry, 7:30pm
In October they went to Schmitt’s Family Farm and went
through a haunted mansion and corn maze. November was
another game night, the beginning of LYG’s Voice Competition
and a time of bowling.
LYG has also participated in church events such as the Ribfest
where they painted children’s faces, as well as helping pack
shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
They are looking forward to numerous events scheduled in
December which includes helping with the annual LIFE
Church Tree Lighting, LYG’s First Christmas party and Christmas caroling with members of the church. In January they
will head to Boston to attend Quake Zone, a retreat for teenagers.
Any teenagers in the church who might be curious what a typical LYG Sunday meeting or a Friday night event looks like,
please drop in, or contact Jenn Remy for more details.
Doodling DaVinci’s
By Ginny Raffa
painting?” A threeyear-old proudly answered, “Yellow!”
By the end of that one
session, all seven children in the group
knew the difference
between “color” and
“shape,” and had a fair
familiarity with Kandinsky’s vivid style.
Having earned a Master’s Degree in art
therapy from Long Island University, Mrs.
Bruno points out many opportunities for
learning through this unique approach.
“The children will use the art room experience to express themselves through their
art making, which is an important component for healthy growth and development.
For example, children will work on developing their fine motor skills. The children
also have the opportunity to talk about
their artwork by describing what they
According to Lisa
made. Listening to our children talk about
Dennelly, director of
their artwork can be truly revealing of
THE LIFE Day School,
Three-year-olds try their hand at forming colorful concentric
their blossoming personalities.” Mrs.
the new program,
circles, with Mrs. Bruno’s guidance.
Bruno adds, “The children will also learn
called “Doodling Dathat art is a reflection of the world we live
Vinci’s,” offers art sesin; the beauty of humanity and the earth
sions to three- and four-year-olds twice a
hildren in THE LIFE Day School
are God's creation.”
month.
are learning the principles of art
C
from master artists like DaVinci
and Kandinsky.
When the class started, Elisa Bruno, who
teaches the new art program, pointed to a
square in a sample painting by Kandinsky
and asked, “What shape do you see in this
THE LIFE Line
is a publication of
THE LIFE Lutheran Church
One Old Westbury Road
Old Westbury, NY 11568
516.333.3355 • thelifeny.org
STAFF
Rev. Justin Vetrano, Pastor
Susan Weickert, Administrative
Assistant to the Pastor
Lisa Dennelly, Day School Director
Laura Bauer, Church Administrator
Jay Campson, Facility Manager
Ginny Raffa, Editor/Outreach
Page 2
“We’re offering our new art program to enrich the children’s
appreciation of art in an ageappropriate experience. It’s one
of many special activities that the
Day School offers at no extra cost
as part of our rich curriculum.
Mrs. Bruno, who helped design
the art program, describes the
sessions. “The children meet
with me for a group art lesson
where they learn about famous
artists. Then the children create
their own artwork, as we draw
inspiration from the art samples,” she said.
Children in THE LIFE Day School learn about the art and
style of famous artists such as Kandinsky.
“One of my goals is to provide the children
with a fun art experience in a studio environment where they can be free to splatter
a little paint, drip a little glue, and get their
hands messy.” She adds, “With instruction
and demonstration, they will learn to use
mixed media, such as ‘found objects’ for
making puppets, creating collages and
painting, to name a few.”
Programs are available for Toddlers (twoyear-olds), Nursery (three-year-olds) and
Pre-Kindergarten (four-year-olds) for
part-day or full-day sessions. In addition
to the Doodling DaVinci’s art program,
THE LIFE Day School also offers Soccer
Shots.
Serving the Children
By Laura Bauer
H
omework Help is a free after
school program for children in
grades four and five in the Westbury School District operated by volunteers at THE LIFE.
Last month Cheri DeBellis, our primary
contact in the Westbury schools and
head teacher at Drexel Avenue School,
came to meet with the Homework Help
staff. Cheri and the staff discussed how
to connect more with the teachers and
resources at the school so we can better
serve the students we see every week.
During her visit Cheri reinforced how
great the need is for many students, and
the importance of Homework Help in
filling in some of the enormous gaps in
their lives.
Students in the Homework Help program enjoy craft time. Here, they’re making paper
turkeys, writing something they are thankful for on each feather.
world around them are very limited.
Many do not even have a safe place to
play at home. With high numbers of chilCheri bluntly told us, “The children don’t dren from families where English is not
get what they deserve.” Budget conspoken and parents with little education,
straints, increased emphasis on testing,
the students also struggle to complete
and the ever increasing enrollment at the their schoolwork.
schools eat away at the educational and
Cheri told us about a field trip to the
enrichment activities the school can proBronx Zoo the children had taken a few
vide. Because their families or those they
years ago. Due to bad traffic, the bus arlive with have few resources, the sturived at the zoo with time only for the
dents’ opportunities and exposure to the
children to eat their lunch there. The
teachers were upset their students did
not have a chance to enjoy the zoo. As
they listened to the children on the way
home, though, they learned that the children felt they had had an exciting adventure; many had never seen a bridge, let
alone travelled over one. The large buildings they could see along the route were
also novelties they could not stop talking
about. We take all these things for
granted, yet this was an eye-opening experience for the children.
Cheri recognized the Homework Help
program assists the children in many
ways. They have a safe place to play and
are in a caring environment. She recognized the help the children receive with
school work is invaluable. The ability to
see and learn new things on our annual
field trip and through the outside educators we bring in from Clark Gardens and
the LI Children’s Museum, gives the children opportunities they would not likely
have otherwise.
Our visit with Cheri was humbling and
encouraging at the same time. It drove
home that we are serving God’s children,
children who need us in many ways.
Page 3
Devotion: Offering Christmas
By Pastor Henry Schriever
"Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock
and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14
W
hat does the prospect of the
Christmas holidays do to you?
Does it fill you with joy and
excitement? Do you "dust off" your Christmas song recordings around December 1
and begin playing them soon after? Are
these days and weeks filled with fun?
Or are they filled with feverish activity that
somehow leaves you exhausted and even
depressed?
The days before Christmas and after (in
fact, all our days) are very largely what we
make of them. Whether we find fun, hope,
rest, strength, joy depends on where we
look.
The author of Psalm 19 knew where to
look. Our psalmist begins that poem with
"The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims His handiwork." The majesty of the creation proclaims not only power and might, but also
beauty and strength - even the grace of
God, who causes His sun to shine on the
just and the unjust alike.
And we? Where do we look? The creation is
a good place to begin, but we have something much greater - the One who was born
to bring the new creation, real light and
hope into our lives. When you look at the
manger, to the cross and to the empty tomb
(all these go together, you know) then you
really see something - something that carries you to hope, rest, strength, peace, joy.
That kind of looking is called "worship".
Which is what the season is especially
about - worshiping and thanking God for
Jesus. The very word "Christmas" is derived from the "Christ Mass" (or service of
worship) offered at the celebration of JePage 4
sus' birth. So it is of the utmost importance
that we in these busy days not let ourselves
become entangled with those who strive for
a "Happy Holiday" without Christ. It is necessary to keep Christ in "Christmas" to be
sure, but it is just as necessary to be sure
we have the "mass" in our celebrations as
well. Anything less than that is merely the
noise of emptiness.
preparations of shopping, baking, cooking,
writing and all the rest, combine what you
are doing with all this "giving" with the
"words of (your ) mouth and the meditation of (your heart)" offering it all up to the
Lord to use as a means for reminding all
who receive your "gifts" that it is the Lord's
greatest gift we celebrate - as you delight in
His grace.
So as you enter these "holy days" with the
A most blessed season of Christmas.
TLLC

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