Upcoming Events
March 20 youth rally, service day an opportunity to be missional 
Lancaster Mennonite Conference is inviting church youth groups, regardless of faith or church affiliation, to participate in a youth rally and service day on Saturday, March 20. The event is the youth portion of Lancaster Mennonite Conference’s annual “Celebration of Church Life.”
According to Jon Heinly, youth minister for both Lancaster Mennonite Conference and Lancaster Mennonite School, opening the event to local youth groups outside the Mennonite Church is the result of the conference’s “missional understanding of church life—connecting with the work of Christ in our communities.”
“A service project is a great way for youth to be the hands and feet of Christ within a local community,” he said. “We are excited about inviting other area youth groups to join us.”
The event, called “A Ton of Food,” will include morning and/or afternoon youth group service projects, a food drive competition, a pizza dinner, and an evening concert and message with rapper/youth speaker ASON (Thurman “TC” Curtis). 
The rally gets its name from the goal to collect “A Ton of Food”—2,000 pounds of non-perishable food items for Water Street Ministries, Bridge of Hope, and Central PA Food Bank. Food suggestions include canned fruit or vegetables, instant mashed potatoes, condensed soup, pasta, and instant pudding (items that have not passed their freshness date). Youth groups will compete to see who can bring the greatest amount of food. A weigh-in station will be on site at the evening event, showing total progress and individual youth group accomplishments. There will be a prize for the first place group.
An important part of the day is planning a local service project. Youth groups are responsible for lining up their own projects. Ideas include Arbor Place, Christian Aid Ministries in Ephrata, Downtown Investment District (Lancaster), Friendship Community, Humane Society, Lancaster City Council of Churches, Mennonite Central Committee Resource Center, Water Street Ministries and much more. Youth groups can also schedule service projects on other days; these groups are still invited to the other rally activities.
The pizza dinner will run from 5-6:30 p.m. in Lancaster Mennonite School’s Alumni Dining Hall at 2176 Lincoln Highway East. Youth groups interested in participating should contact LaRie Miller at Eastern Mennonite Missions by Friday, March 12, with pizza orders: 898-2251. Pepperoni and cheese pizza can be ordered for $8 per pizza. Checks made out to Lancaster Mennonite Conference will be collected at the dinner.
The evening concert and message begins at 7 p.m. in Lancaster Mennonite’s High Fine Arts Center, also at 2176 Lincoln Highway East. Thurman “TC” Curtis is youth pastor at Capital Christian Fellowship, a Lancaster Conference congregation outside Washington, D.C. The youth speaker is also a rapper, going by the name, ASON (www.bigsonny.com). TC will perform and challenge youth in their walk with Christ. In addition, several youth will be given the opportunity to share where they saw God at work in their service project during the day.
Other than the minimal cost for pizza, the event is free, thanks to the generous underwriting of Auntie Anne’s Inc. Event sponsors are Lancaster Mennonite Conference, Eastern Mennonite Missions, and Lancaster Mennonite School. For more information contact LaRie Miller at 898-2251.
