Rooted Youth Ministries - Hilmar Covenant Church

10/04/2025

- Rooted continues with the same old same old. RMS is journeying through the New Testament specifically looking at the life of Jesus and how his life connects to the Old Testament and shows us that he is the Son of God. RHS is basically learning the same thing but through the lens of the TV Show: The Chosen.

Rooted Events!

- RHS Special Event: The Chosen Season 1 Finale! THIS SUNDAY (Oct. 5th)
To celebrate the end of season 1, we will be having dinner together, beginning at 6pm and we will end at our normal time of 8pm. Students should RSVP to Ashley so she know how much food to have prepared.

- Rooted (high school) X Crescendo: Fellowship Night
Crescendo has asked to feed the high school students and spend time in prayer and fellowship with one another. Crescendo is a group from our congregation that are of retiring age. These nights are always filled with laughter, good conversations and prayer for one another. RSVP’s would be helpful but not required.

- PSWC Fall Retreats! REGISTRATION CLOSES SOON
RMS: October 17 - 19 // RHS: October 24 - 26
Rooted youth will once again be heading to Mission Springs for the PSWC Fall Retreats! This is a 3 day, 2 night retreat in the Santa Cruz mountains. Head on over to https://www.missionsprings.com/camp-event/pswc-fall-youth/ for more information and to register!

Registration for Middle School closes on October 10th. Please let Ashley know once you are registered.

Registration for High School closes on October 17th. Please let Ashley know once you are registered.

- Rooted Middle School Costume Party! October 29th
Rooted middle school will be having a costume party and we will be carving pumpkins! Students are encouraged to wear their costumes as long as it’s church appropriate and I do ask that it not be spiritually dark. If you have any questions about a costume being appreciate, you are more than welcome to ask. This will run for our normal times with doors opening at 6:15, the fun starting at 6:30 and ending at 8pm.

- Rooted High School Costume Party! November 2nd
Rooted High School will be hosting their Costume Party after the holidays but with all the same fun! Students are encouraged to wear their costumes as long as it’s church appropriate and I do ask that it not be spiritually dark. If you have any questions about a costume being appreciate, you are more than welcome to ask. This will run for our normal times with doors opening at 6:15, the fun starting at 6:30 and ending at 8pm.

06/27/2025

Happy July Rooted Families!!

- Rooted has been on a break for the last month or so and I am so glad to announce, we are almost back!

- While we have been on a break, I have had the joy to work alongside many of the students for VBS! I am very thankful for their time, hard work and participation in VBS! And THANK YOU parents for driving them around and adding one more thing to your schedules!

Rooted Pool Parties!

- As many of you know, during the summer we change up the schedule a bit and we do summer pool parties at the homes of our Rooted Youth families! (Thank you all so much for hosting!) I will be texting out the address as well as any extra details such as were to enter on the day of. That will also be posted on our instagram

05/28/2025

Happy Summer Rooted Families!!

- Rooted Middle School has finished the Old Testament! On our journey through the entire Bible, we are proud to finish the first portion before the summer! We looked at the prophets, learning about Elijah and then we looked at the exile of Israel by looking at an overview of Ezra and Nehemiah. We ended the year with an overview of the prophets, both major and minor, looking at how they all spread the same message of one day, being able to gather together and worship God with people of all tribes and nations which will begin with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Which we will look at in the fall!

- Rooted High School is already planning for the fall as we are nearing the end of the Cold-Case Christianity series. We hav been learning how to study our faith as well as break it down and defend it. In the fall, we will be watching The Chosen together followed by discussion and study time where we will look at the passages that were covered in the episodes we watched together!

- As for the summer, we will be looking at the idea of “Who is Jesus to You” and looking at the different titles Jesus has not only in the Bible, but in our own lives.

Summer Events

- June for Rooted: We will not be having Rooted during the month of June (except for June 1st for our RHS End of the Year Party) We are in FULL VBS mode over here and we’d love your help! Contact Ashley for more information!

- Rooted Pool Parties: As many of you know, during the summer we change up the schedule a bit and we do summer pool parties at the homes of our Rooted Youth families! (Thank you all so much for hosting!) Below is our schedule. Please note, our pool parties begin the second week of July, July 9th.

Also! I know many of our Rooted families are planners so I've included a rough draft for the rest of 2025! Phew! I feel like the year just started and the end is already in sight!

04/04/2025

Hello Rooted families!

Can you believe it’s already the 4th month of 2025? Where does time go?

- Rooted Middle School has continued our journey through the entire Bible! We have finished off the time of judges and are now looking at 1 Samuel and Israel’s first kings! We did take a break for one lesson as we looked at what Ash Wednesday and Lent is. We even took some time to participate in receiving ashes and talking about the meaning behind fasting and what the ashes represent.

- Rooted High School has been on their our journey, working through the book of Romans. We are taking our time looking at all that Paul is taking about to the church in Rome and seeing how we are to apply it to our own life.

Events:

- Pickleball Nights: Beginning in April, we will be opening up the gym before youth group for pickleball! This is open to everyone, both rooted students and adults! The gym will open from 4 - 6pm. You are not required to be here for the whole 2 hours, join us for a game or two or stay the whole

- Holy Week Experience: Join us in a self guided, interactive tour through Jesus’ last 7 days on earth before his resurrection. This tour is for the whole family and will start at Palm Sunday and end at the tomb. The dates and times are Thursday, April 17 from 4 - 7pm and Friday, April 18 from 10am - 5:30pm.

- No Rooted: We will not have Rooted on Easter Sunday or on Wednesday, April 23rd. See you after Spring Break!

- 5K Run for Water: Join thousands of people across the globe in our mission to bring life-changing clean water and fullness of life to children in communities around the world. Walk, run, or roll with us at the World Vision Global 6K for Water! Each registration provides lasting, clean water to a child, like the one on your race bib! For the youth participating, there will be prizes for: First Place Finisher, Best Dressed, Best Twin Theme as well as a raffle for all students.

02/26/2025

Am I the only one that feels like January goes so slow and the rest of the months fly by?

- February has been an amazing month, building excitement for the events to come in March!

- During February, RMS has continued our journey through the Bible! We have since made it to Exodus and we are making our way through the story of Moses and the Israelites and their journey out of Egypt. Through this time, we have also used various methods to study the Bible stories such as SPECK, biographical studies and creating timelines as a group.

- RHS spent time looking at a series called “God & Relationships”. Moving into March, we will continue back to our study of Romans.

Events:

- RHS goes to Oak Park Ice Rink on Saturday, March 22: RHS has been begging and begging for an off campus event separate from RMS so here it is! RHS will be going ice skating at the indoor rink in Stockton on Saturday, March 22. We will be leaving the church at 2pm for a skate session from 3pm-5pm. We will be back around 6pm. The cost is $15 and this includes the rental of ice skates. Sign ups close on March 14th.

- RMS goes to Extreme Paintball on Saturday, March 29: RMS will be going to Extreme Paintball in Modesto on Saturday, March 29. We will be leaving the church at 8:30am and we will be back around 1:00pm. The cost is $30 and this includes the paintball gun, paintball ammo and for the girls, chest protection if they would like. Students are asked to wear pants and long sleeves (preferably layered) and they are required to wear closed toe shoes. Sign ups close on March 21st. RHS Is welcome to join.

If your student signed up for Extreme Paintball, please expect an email by Thursday, February 27th with more information.

- Re-Empowering the Village: A Mentorship Program of Rooted Youth: RHS students as well as RMS 8th graders will be asked to fill out applications and be a part of this mentorship program. We will be partnering students with adults from our congregation who have been background checked and are good-standing members of our congregation. These partnerships will be based of similar interests and what each party can offer the other. Through these relationships, we hope to provide students with another person in their court, someone to support them, guide them and share life together as the student shares their new and not-so-new struggles and the adult it able to offer a listening ear or advice and guidance if needed. More information will be available to parents as the program gets rolling but before partnerships are announced.

02/06/2025

January is finally over! (And yet it still didn’t feel long enough)

- January has been off to an amazing start for Rooted Youth!

- In my last email, I mentioned how RMS will be learning about “What Following Jesus is Really Like” but God had other plans! Instead, we are going through the Bible in a year! We have almost made it through Genesis, looking at key stories such as Noah and the Flood; Abraham, Sarah and Hagar; Jacob and Esau and the story of Joseph!

- Through this time together, students have been diving into the Bible, reading the stories for themselves and then answering discussion questions on their own! Praise God for middle schoolers reading their Bibles!

- For RHS, we took a break from Romans, once again, as in February we are diving into a series called “God & Relationships”. Through this topic, we are looking at how God views marriage, divorce, singleness and even what the bible says about courting and dating.

Events:
- Re-Empowering the Village: A Mentorship Program of Rooted Youth: RHS students as well as RMS 8th graders will be asked to fill out applications and be a part of this mentorship program. We will be partnering students with adults from our congregation who have been background checked and are good-standing members of our congregation. These partnerships will be based of similar interests and what each party can offer the other. Through these relationships, we hope to provide students with another person in their court, someone to support them, guide them and share life together as the student shares their new and not-so-new struggles and the adult it able to offer a listening ear or advice and guidance if needed. More information will be available to parents as the program gets rolling but before partnerships are announced.

- RHS goes to Oak Park Ice Rink on Saturday, March 22: RHS has been begging and begging for an off campus event separate from RMS so here it is! RHS will be going ice skating at the indoor rink in Stockton on Saturday, March 22. We will be leaving the church at 2pm for a skate session from 3pm-5pm. We will be back around 6pm. The cost is $15 and this includes the rental of ice skates. Sign ups close on March 14th.

- RMS goes to Extreme Paintball on Saturday, March 29: RMS will be going to Extreme Paintball in Modesto on Saturday, March 29. We will be leaving the church at 8:30am and we will be back around 1:00pm. The cost is $30 and this includes the paintball gun, paintball ammo and for the girls, chest protection if they would like. Students are asked to bring water for staying hydrated, wear pants and long sleeves (preferably layered), they are required to wear closed toe shoes as well. Sign ups close on March 21st.

12/03/2024

- Can you guys believe it’s basically 2025??

- Before I get ahead of myself, December is here! This past month, Rooted has been looking at “How to Study the Bible”. This has been a series where we look at the importance of studying the Bible and how to study it. We looked at different study methods, all while reading popular stories from the Bible, such as creation and the fall, David and Goliath and, Daniel and the lions den. For RHS, we have been going through Romans and will continue to do so for the holiday season.

- RMS will begin a series called “The Gift” for the month of December.

- Fall Retreats Recap: If you missed the recap on our Instagram, (you should follow us! ) but also, we talked about The Wild Chase for both weekends, focusing on Psalm 23:6. We looked at various stories, from Jonah (for the middle school) to Joseph, Jonah and Hagar (for high school). These stories all showed us that despite our faults, despite the bad that happens to us, God will use it for good. His goodness and love will chase us down for all the days of our lives.

Events:
- Christmas Parties and White Elephant Gift Exchange (for both RHS and RMS)
The Rooted Christmas Parties happen on normal youth group nights. For RHS: it will be on Sunday, December 15th from 6:30-8pm and for RMS it will be Wednesday, December 18th. Students are asked to bring a gift in order to participate in our gift exchange. There are a couple rules: 1) nothing dead or alive, unless it’s a plant; 2) no burned CD’s, DVD’s and such; 3) no trash. Thank you!

- Caroling for Kids (This is in the works so not all details are cemented, updates will be presented at RHS)
In partnership with HHS, Rooted is invited to join the students of HHS in a fundraiser to raise money for Valley Children’s Hospital. We will be selling time slots for us to visit you and sing you Christmas Carols! A time slot will be $15, if you’d like to request certain songs, the time slot will be $20. Students are asked in joining us to serenade the town!

Dates and Times: Saturday, December 21 from 5-8 pm
Monday, December 23 from 5-8pm
Tuesday, December 24, 10am - 1pm

10/01/2024

Happy October Rooted Families!! (Now if only it was cold and not 100+)

- In October, Rooted Middle School will be finishing the Sermon on the Mount and then jumping into a series simply called, “How to read the Bible” where we will be discussing where to start on reading the Bible and how to make it a bit easier to understand!

- For Rooted High School, we are taking a break with the Sermon on the Mount series and jumping into a series called “Practicing the Way”. Pastor Katherine has been guiding the church through this series through her sermons. RHS will be watching the videos that go along with the study as well as discussing the practices and how God is moving in our lives through them.

Events:
- Hilmar Homecoming Parade: October 11th. Hilmar Covenant Church will have a float in this year’s Hilmar Homecoming Parade. If your students are interested and looking for a float to ride on, please let Ashley know!

- RHS Costume Party: October 27th. RHS will be having their costume party where students are encouraged to wear their costume to youth group! Our party begins at 6:30pm but doors will open at 6:15. The fun will wrap up at 8, like usual youth group! Students are asked to make sure their costume is church appropriate and it isn’t anything spiritually dark. If students have questions about their costumes being church appropriate, please don’t hesitate to ask Ashley!

- RMS Costume Party: October 30th. RHS will be having their costume party where students are encouraged to wear their costume to youth group! Our party begins at 6:30pm but doors will open at 6:15. The fun will wrap up at 8, like usual youth group! Students are asked to make sure their costume is church appropriate and it isn’t anything spiritually dark. If students have questions about their costumes being church appropriate, please don’t hesitate to ask Ashley!

Fall Retreats:
Registration is Open!!

The cost is $199 but fundraising is available! The fundraiser for the Fall Retreats will be happening on Sunday, November 24 after church, roughly 11:15am but we’d love to have you join us for service!

If your student is looking to attend, please let Ashley know and she will get you all the registration information.

Middle School Retreat: October 18-20

High School Retreat: November 1-3

09/18/2024

The past 6 weeks we have been looking at The Sermon on the Mount through a series called “Kingdom People”! Today we will be tackling the popular verses about storing our treasure in heaven and about how Hod cares for the birds of the sky and lilies in the field. Being your Bibles and I hope to see you soon!

08/14/2024

RMS! Welcome Back!! Are you guys ready for the most fun time?!

We have a packed schedule for tonight starting off with a trip to Paris! (a hint to our games for tonight!)

We will also be starting an 8 week series called Kingdom People!

Bring your Bibles and See you soon!

07/26/2024

UNITE 2024, you are a core memory! Until next time🫰

Send a message to learn more

07/24/2024

Rooted!! We are back! Tonight we will be continuing our pool parties by visiting the home of Pastor Katherine!

Her address is: 22063 American Ave.

The fun happens from 6-8 and dinner is provided! Don't forget a swimsuit and a towel!

I hope to see you there!