We’re starting something new. Starting October 2nd, Sunday mornings will be about Connecting and Serving. These are two of our four core values, and I’m excited for this transformation on Sundays. ServeSundays are all about allow our youth to be involved in the life of the church outside the “walls” of the Youth Ministry. We have two services on Sunday, and we want our youth to attend one, and serve during the other one. We have LOTS of “positions” available, but there is also some freedom in creating new avenues of service. It might be easiest to associate this program with an internship. We’ll help get our youth plugged-in, provide training and feedback, encouragement, and evaluations. That last line sounds pretty serious, that’s because we want to be intentional about training our youth.
Why the change?
Great question, a lot of people are asking it. Our changes are rooted in evaluations of our ministry, and youth culture research. There are three key issues that we are aiming at: 80% of youth leave their faith after high school, authentic relationships are a prerequisit for developing lasting transformation, and we’ve outsourced spiritual formation and christian education to professionals, leaving our homes out of the picture. ServeSundays allow our youth to pursue using their gifts, skills, and talents within the Church. This will help to establish a life-long habit of service.
We kicked off a new five-week study this week to help our teenagers understand God’s purposes for life. The first lesson, called “Reaching Out to Your Friends,” focuses on helping students understand that we are created in God’s image, and have the ability to reflect God’s love. Our prayer is that each teenager will commit to a life of representing God’s love to all people, regardless of their race, gender, skills, or popularity.
