Most everyone has heard of the “Religious Right”, but apparently amongst the 18-20 Something crowd (like us!), a new perspective on the traditional Christian political allegiance is emerging. You can check out the article here.

“Polls have shown that young Christians aren’t any less concerned about the “family values” issues that have traditionally driven Christians to the Republican camp. (In fact, a study by the Barna Group, an evangelical polling organization, shows young Christians are actually more conservative on abortion than their elders.) It’s just that they’re also concerned about issues such as social justice and immigration, issues traditionally associated with Democrats.”

In case you didn’t get the email, here’s a screen capture of it below.

Some of you have been keeping up with Parkcrest Worship Pastor Steve Dunham’s weight loss challenge over the last few weeks, but I also wanted to point out a few of things that some people from the ‘Somethings have been doing to stay (or get) in shape.

First, Amy Naluai has been coordinating a workout group each Saturday in the modulars (in the parking lot behind the sanctuary). From what I’ve heard they like to workout with the Turbo Jam exercise videos, so if you’re interested in Super Happy Cool Fun Turbo Jam times, then you might try this out. It’s a great way to get to know people a little better.

Another place to workout if you’re not into the exercise video thing is the basketball court. A few of us go together this past Saturday to play some basketball over at Wardlow Park (on Wardlow Rd in between Bellflower and Clark) — needless to say it was blistering heat that day, but we had a good time nonetheless. If you’re interested in shooting some hoops, we’ll be at Wardlow Park again this Saturday at 9am (a little early I know but it’s also not as hot at 9am) — bring some water/gatorade for sure.

If you’re more of the “gym rat” type, then I’m sure you’ll be able to find some people that go to the ‘Y’ or 24 hour. Maybe you could even run on the treadmills with Goldsworthy to make sure he doesn’t turn the speed down.

I said that the lunch on Sunday will start at 1:30, but instead we will be there at 1:15. So don’t show up 15 minutes late.

No name is ever easy to say for the 18-20 Somethings. I guess that’s why people come up with surrogate names for events so they don’t end up with titles that explain everything about the event. But anyway, we are having our monthly lunch hangout deal, and you’ll never guess which place we’re going to eat at this week. I’ll just tell you that you’ll want to save up your quarters this week. Or you can cheat and look at the image below. Either way, it’s sure to be a blast for people of all ages (if you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re going to Chuck E Cheese). We’ll be meeting up at the Chuck E Cheese located near the Cerritos Mall at 1:30pm this coming Sunday, April 20. Hope to see you there!

So hopefully you received an email that looks like this one:

And it gave you all the important dates and times — but let me plug those events a little more.

• 18-20 Somethings Gathering — this Sunday in Parkcrest Unplugged (the building right on Woodruff) we’ll be having the inaugural Monthly Gathering (we’re so inventive with names) where we’ll have food, games, music, and most importantly, other people to hang out with. This is a great way to get to know other 18-30 year olds at Parkcrest if you don’t feel comfortable showing up at someone’s house for small group. This Sunday, it’ll start at 6pm in Parkcrest Unplugged.
• 3rd Sunday of the Month Lunch — which used to be the 1st Sunday of the Month Lunch until we decided to have the monthly gatherings. Basically a bunch of people just go out to lunch after church at places like Chipotle, Baja Fresh, Town Center Food Court, and I think we may even be going to Chuck ‘E’ Cheese this month. So stay tuned for details on that — come back and check the website or the church bulletin on Sundays.
• Weekly Small Groups — Right now we have 3 small groups going and you can check those out on the Small Groups page. This is a great way (and maybe one of the only ways) to really get to know people at a deeply personal level. It’s a great time to establish lasting relationships and is a great way to find community. So if you’re not in one, we encourage to try one out. We are looking to establish more small groups in the fall, so there will be even more opportunity for you to join one.
• Dominican Republic Trip — oft-referred to as the “DR”, Jaime Hambleton has helped establish a great relationship with a church in the Dominican Republic called “El Circulo Juvenil“. Every summer a group of people go down there to help serve them with whatever they need. The DR page has even more information for you to check out.

Yes, it is true! The 18-20 Somethings will be meeting this Sunday — the first time we’ve had an official 18-20 Somethings get-together.

The details: Sunday night @ 6pm, Parkcrest Unplugged (the building right on Woodruff at the Heartwell Campus). Bring friends — we’ll have food (Subway sandwiches I think) and it’ll just be a time to hang out. I think there will be some fun party games too.

This event is (hopefully) the beginning of monthly events for 18-20 Somethings, because we on the leadership team realize that there isn’t an easy way to get to know other people that are in their 20’s at Parkcrest. So our hope is that these events will provide a way to connect with others, above and beyond the small groups.

The 18-20 Somethings ministry has for a long time sought to establish community, from the days of 5950 to now. It is definitely one of the qualities of the first church that many people focus on, and so it’s always cool to see ways in which people are establishing that community in the world. One that I’ve recently encountered is this one in Philadelphia. I just read a book by one of the members of the community, and the stories of how they’ve managed to impact their neighborhood in Philadelphia is really amazing.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter! I was up at the crack of dawn this morning, getting ready for the OverDrive services today. But it was a blast being at Parkcrest for Easter — it felt a lot less like an extravaganza and more like a communal Easter service. If you couldn’t make it to OverDrive today, here’s a taste of what you missed. This was the “special” song that Scott Moore and the band sang this morning.

Because of the Blood by Our Hearts Hero

Thanks to Nathaniel Rowe for the heads up on this. Get In The Way ‘08 is an effort to prevent people from spreading hateful messages in the name of Jesus. It’s sponsored by a group called Real Fusion and is happening this Friday, March 21. Below is a summary of what’s happening and if you want to get involved, there’s a number at the bottom to call.

Real Fusion is getting in the way of: HATE, HYPOCRACY, INJUSTICE…and a few protestors…

On March 21st at a Mosque in Los Angeles a group of Christians, in the name of Jesus, will be holding signs and shouting words of hate to people Jesus loves and died for. Does this make sense? Yea, we didn’t think so either.

What are we going to do with these brothers and sisters? You cannot confront these people with words. Let me say it again…You can’t confront these people with words. It will only make them louder! So….we will confront them with silence…and mirrors.

If you want to GET IN THE WAY contact Devin Delozier
@ 562.822.9901