UCC National Youth Event (NYE)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
National Youth Event is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Every four years, United Church of Christ youth gather from across the country to engage in this incredibly fun and faith-feeding experience. Until the last General Synod, no U.C.C. gathering was larger than NYE! See below for answers to your NYE questions and information on how to register.
Registration: www.ucc.org/youth/pdfs/nye-preregistration-form.pdf
Travel: Group Travel Registration Form
Age Recommendations –
a letter from the Missouri Mid-South Youth and Young Adult Working Group
Q: NYE – What is it all about?
A: Check out the NYE info and video at
www.ucc.org/youth/nye
Q: NYE – Who is it for?
A: NYE is open to youth ages 13 – 18, although the national website also uses
the phrase “high school youth”. The decision for whom to invite is up to the
individual local churches, but it is the general feeling that NYE is an event
more appropriate to high school youth. For the reasoning on this, please follow
this link: (link to age recommendations)
Q: Are we traveling as a group to
Knoxville, Tennessee or do I organize that?
A: Illinois South Conference (ISC) participants will be traveling by bus to
Knoxville, Tennessee. The bus will be leaving Immanuel UCC in Ferguson, MO
(along I-70) at 5:00 a.m. on July 24 and will then travel to St. Paul UCC,
Waterloo, IL (near Route 3) to pick up ISC participants. The bus plans to leave
Waterloo at 6:00 a.m. The cost of transportation is $120 per person but
Illinois South Conference is assisting with these expenses. The exact amount of
assistance is unknown at this time. You will be notified mid-April with the
final cost per person.
Q: What are the negatives and
complications of driving one’s own group?
A: The negatives are having to make the travel arrangements yourself, no rest
time for adult leaders who serve as drivers (the youth will be ready to go when
you get to TN and you might not be…), your group will miss out on bonding time
with other church groups from our conference and Missouri Mid-South, and
finally, unless you have a church bus, volunteers donating gas and mileage or
rental connections, you won’t be saving any money. Complicating factors you
also need to think about and address are whether your church’s insurance will
allow for youth to be transported to the event in the manner you are choosing
and whether they have special requirements. For instance, some church insurance
policies will not allow youth to sit in the backs of 15 passenger vans, etc. As
well, many insurance companies require those that drive youth to have a Class E
chauffeur’s driver’s license and be age 25 or older.
Q: I want to travel on the
conference bus, but live pretty far away from Waterloo and that makes it hard to
get there by 6:00 a.m.
A: There are two options: First, Immanuel UCC in Ferguson has shower
facilities and has been gracious enough to extend an invitation to any ISC
groups wanting to come the night before. You may then get rest, shower and
leave Ferguson at 5:00 a.m. Advance notice is required by Immanuel. Please
contact Karin Oelzen, 314-521-7324 or e-mail
koelzen@immanuelucc.org if you will be meeting in Ferguson instead of
Waterloo. Secondly, our bus should be traveling through Paducah, KY,
on the way to Knoxville. If it would be easier for you to get to Paducah, we
could pick you up there. Please notify Jane Kramer, 618-939-7123 or e-mail
jane@stpaulonline.org if you will be meeting anywhere other than Waterloo.
Q: How do I register my group?
A: Follow these steps:
STEP ONE: Pre-registration
Follow this link and fill out the pre-registration form for your entire
group:
www.ucc.org/youth/pdfs/nye-preregistration-form.pdf. Return this form and
one check that includes a $25/per person event registration deposit to the
University of Tennessee address indicated on the form. DO NOT SEND THESE
DEPOSITS TO THE CONFERENCE OFFICE OR ISC CONTACT PERSON. We are not expecting
them and they will be greatly delayed in getting to the university (which means
you will not receive your full registration packets in a timely manner). Make
sure that yon your pre-registration form, you checkmark “I am a youth group
leader bringing a group.”
STEP TWO: Full Event Registration
Once you complete and submit the pre-registration form to the University of
TN with a non-refundable deposit of $25 per person, you will be mailed a full
NYE registration packet (which will have more detailed information regarding the
event, workshops, accommodations, etc.) Have participants fill these out. THEN
MAKE TWO COPIES of each person’s registration packets, and mail the originals to
the University as indicated on the packets and on the national website. Include
ONE CHECK for the remainder of your registration costs, as instructed on the
national website:
www.ucc.org/youth/nye
STEP THREE: Conference
Pre-Registration
Of the two registration packets copies you made for each NYE participant, please
keep one copy for your records. Then please do the following:
1) Send the second copy of all NYE participants’ registration
packets to Jane Kramer, (St Paul UCC, 200 North Main Street, Waterloo, IL
62298) for conference records, housing purposes and further NYE activity
organizing).
2) Along with these copies, please fill out the NYE Group Travel
Registration Form.
3) Please make out ONE CHECK that includes a non-refundable $25
deposit for each person riding to NYE on the conference bus. Checks should be
made payable to MMS-UCC.
4) Mail registration packet copies, the group travel registration
form and your church check for travel deposits to Jane Kramer, no later than
April 30th
Jane Kramer
St. Paul United Church of Christ
200 North Main Street
Waterloo, IL 62298
STEP FOUR: Completing Travel
Registration
Please submit one check for the remaining amount of travel costs (This amount
will be posted on these websites when the amount is known in mid-April):
www.iscucc.org or
www.stpaulonline.org. These payments should be made payable to MMS-UCC and
mailed to the address for Jane Kramer shown above. THESE FINAL TRAVEL PAYMENTS
ARE DUE BY JUNE 1ST.
Q: Will there be time for youth from
our conference to bond with one another?
A: We are trying to make sure that there is! This is part of the reason
conference travel plans and conference knowledge of participation is helpful.
Besides seeking to travel to the event as a conference, we will be housed by
floors as conferences. As well, ISC participants will gather for
end-of-the-evening vespers services if volunteer leadership is willing. And
even just walking around on campus – youth tend to greet one another by what
conference they are from: “Hey Iowa!” “Hey Hawaii!” National Youth Event is a
great place for youth to not only realize their identity as a member of the
United Church of Christ, but to grasp their part in the smaller covenantal group
that is their conference.
Q: Who do I contact if I have questions about NYE registration or travel
details?
A: Please contact the ISC Facilitator for NYE, Jane Kramer at St. Paul UCC in
Waterloo, IL: 618-939-7123 or by e-mail:
jane@stpaulonline.org.
ISC Timeline
Mid-April
Check
www.stpaulonline.org
or
www.iscucc.org
for final details on bussing assistance covered by ISC. You will then know the
amount actually due for each person.
By April 30
Pre-registration form is due to University of Tennessee.
Due date for registration packet copies, the group travel registration form and your church check for travel deposits to Jane Kramer, St. Paul United Church of Christ, 200 North Main, Waterloo, IL 62298. (This date is early so we can still order another bus if it’s needed.)
Registration fee for NYE increases by $20. Any persons not registered through University of Tennessee before this date will now be required to pay $365 each.
June 1
Remaining amount of travel costs is due by sending ONE CHECK made payable to
MMS-UCC and mailed to Jane Kramer, St. Paul United Church of Christ, 200 North
Main, Waterloo, IL 62298.
June 27
Deadline for all
completed registration forms and money to University of Tennessee.
Cancellations received BEFORE this date will be subject to a $25 fee.
Cancellations received AFTER this date will be charged a $50 processing fee.
July 24
Be at the location of your choice to depart for Tennessee and ready to have a great time! Please make sure to notify Jane Kramer if you will not be meeting in Waterloo.