While not nearly as far from home as my Christian Chronicle colleague Erik Tryggestad (who you may have noticed has made his way to Nepal), I am on the reporting trail this week. My son Keaton, daughter Kendall and I left Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon and hit the road for Arkansas and Tennessee.

The Bradenton Herald in Florida reports:
PALMETTO — Brother Curtis Johnson Sr. has spent 40 years of his life, mostly at the Eleventh Street Church of Christ, providing spiritual guidance and life lessons to the people.
He’s also spent 30 years training athletes, among them his Olympian sprinter son, Curtis Johnson Jr.
Today, Johnson will host the second annual Next Generation youth forum that will touch on the importance of keeping those in the right perspective.
“Many of our young folks have a one-track mind: I’m going to be a professional athlete,” said Johnson, …

Another weekend. Another flood of youth groups from Churches of Christ bound for Gatlinburg, Tenn. On the heels of last week’s Winterfest — which drew more than 12,000 teens and sponsors to the mountain resort town — the Challenge Youth Conference expects a crowd of 9,000 for its event this weekend.

More than 12,000 teens and sponsors from Churches of Christ in 27 states are focusing on spiritual disciplines at the 27th annual Winterfest in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The three-day youth retreat began Friday afternoon and wraps up Sunday morning.

This weekend, thousands of young people will participate in Leadership Training for Christ and Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes events across the nation. The Christian Chronicle would love to hear about readers’ experiences and see photos of the happenings. We’ll need photos by next Wednesday to consider them for our print edition.

About 450 teens from 14 states are gathered in Parkersburg, W.Va., this week to paint the homes of people in need of assistance during the 11th annual Mid-Ohio Valley Work Camp organized by the local Churches of Christ.

We reported in April on colleges and universities associated with Churches of Christ drawing fewer students from within the fellowship. As a follow-up to that report, our latest print edition highlights the changing student population at York College, where 58 percent of freshmen listed their religious affiliation as something other than Church of Christ in fall 2009. Read the full story and then share your comments.

Most young adults today don’t pray, don’t worship and don’t read the Bible, according to a survey cited by a front-page story in USA Today. Are we seeing that trend in Churches of Christ?