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I had requested that our worship team lead us in this song tonight because what we sang is close to what I hope to see happen within our student ministries this year.
That we would seek God’s kingdom before anything, that we hunger and thirst for Him, that He would release captive hearts and that we would allow Him to set us free from our sin, that he would bring peace to those that are hurting and in pain, that he would heal, that he would set our hearts on fire for Him. That He would build His kingdom here.
Everything we do within this church, whether it’s our student ministries, children’s ministries, or adult ministries is because we hope to see people discover the love of Christ and find life through Him. The way you’ll usually hear that from stage on a Sunday morning is that we exist to equip people to find life and faith in Christ. That is the reason we do everything we do; so that people would know Jesus, find freedom in Jesus. And because that’s the reasons we exist as a church, that’s the reason we exist as a student ministries. to equip our students to find life and faith in Christ. We hope to see that happen in 3 ways; for our students connect, grow, and participate.
Some of what we’re doing this year is really similar to what we’ve done in the past, but there’s been a lot of adjustments. As I mentioned in my first email, the process of making adjustments started roughly 6 months ago at the beginning of March.
On March 3rd, there was a meeting open to all parents to come and give feedback about our student ministries. It was led by Pastor Nate and the elders without me there so that we could get clear feedback about what’s going well within our student ministries as well as what we need to adjust.
Before I do that
After that meeting happened, I met with Pastor Nate and the elders to receive that feedback. There were some really easy changes we were able to implement; things like turning down the volume of the music and changing what kind of music is played before service. There were other things that had got mentioned as well, things like: parents wanting deeper teaching, more accountability to student led teams, and a more strategic plan to transition our 6th graders into our student ministries.
As I received that initial feedback, I began praying as well as reaching out to a group of families to talk through some of that feedback. Out of the families that I reached out, I ended up meeting with a third of them and received even more detailed feedback about some of the hopes from parents.
Over the course of the summer, I then spent specific chunks of time dedicated to praying about and planning this upcoming school year. 3 of those days made up 20 hours of inviting any board members and our leaders to be a part of the planning. I ended up spending some of it with Pastor Nate, and some of it with 4 other leaders. Aside from that, I spent many more hours combing through curriculum, looking at what other youth groups did, and most importantly hearing from God about where I believe He is leading us.
I’ve said this to our leaders many times and I want to say it to our parents and students as well. I am confident that we listened to God well and that we are making what we believe is the best decisions for our student ministries. As decisions were made, they were made with our student ministries as a whole in mind. What I mean by that is that we have 60-80 different teens that will be involved in one way, shape or form throughout the year. One one spectrum we have kids who don’t know Christ and feel embarrassed walking into a church, and on the other spectrum we have kids who have grown up as Christians and have felt called into ministry. And then we have everyone in between.
And as we have 60-80 potential teens coming attending at a given point, that means that we have over 100 parents that hope to see their kid grow in their faith. On one spectrum we have parents of kids I’ve never met or heard from, and other parents that hope to see really specific things happen, and then everything in between.
I can guarantee that everyone isn’t going to love everything. But the reason I’ve shared this process with you is because I want you to understand that these decisions weren’t taken lightly. They were made with so much prayer, so many conversations, and based off of a lot of feedback. And I’m truly excited about what God has planned for us.
3 Ways we’re equipping students to find life and faith in Christ. Connect. Grow. Participate
CONNECT
CONNECT
Small Groups - connect with others by forming authentic relationships
The primary purpose of our small groups is for our students to connect with others by forming authentic relationships. With the focus of our small groups being on the forming of relationships, the time that our students will spend together will look different for each group. Whether it’s a serving project, playing board games, watching a football game, doing a Bible study, doing a craft together, or cooking a meal together, the goal will always be for students to connect with others by forming authentic relationships.
When will they meet?
Small groups will meet every other week on Sunday nights at 6:00-7:30 PM. A schedule is attached to this email with all meeting dates.
How many small groups are there?
4; MS boys, MS girls, HS boys, HS girls. The goal is for there to be 2 leaders for each group.
Where will they meet?
There will be two locations our small groups will meet at; middle schoolers (7th-8th grade) will meet at one house, while high schoolers (9th-12th grade) will meet at a different house. Both boys and girls will be meeting at the same house and will split into gender-based groups.
How can I help?
I’m confident this is where God is leading us for small groups. I’m also confident that we serve an amazing God that provides. I’m prayerfully expecting the following 2 things to happen as I communicate our needs. Please reply to this email if you'd like to fill one (or both) of them!
· For 2 more people to co-lead a small group. We are in need of one leader for MS girls, and one leader for MS boys.
· For 2 families that love hosting people at their house to open their home for our small groups. While the location is flexible, we’d like to meet within 10 miles of the church. Hosting a small group doesn't require you to lead one, and there's not an expectation that you would feed them. It's simply opening your home.
Now, keep in mind that this is just our starting point. While the purpose is for our students to connect with others by forming authentic relationships, how we do that may transform throughout the year. If we find that we have more students than space, we’ll find more people to host. Or, we’ll add additional nights for certain age groups. We hope to see as many students involved, so don’t be alarmed if we add more throughout the year. If and when we do add more, it’ll be addition to Sunday nights and not instead of them.
GROW
GROW
Our primary goal for Sunday School is for our students to intentionally grow in knowing Christ; both in knowing about Him and knowing Him personally. As I envision what this looks like, I think about Paul's goal he writes about in ; ”My goal is to know him (Christ) and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead”. There is an incredible value in knowing Christ, and our desire is for our students to grow in that knowledge.
Phillippians 3:7-14
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
As I envision what this looks like, I think about Paul's goal he writes about in ; ”My goal is to know him (Christ) and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead”. There is an incredible value in knowing Christ, and our desire is for our students to grow in that knowledge.
What kind of classes will be available?
Two classes will be offered at the same time on Sunday mornings; one focused on the Bible and one focused on how to practically live out our faith. Students will get to choose which class to attend.
Bible-focused classes will differ depending on who the teacher is and what they’re passionate about.
The practical-focused classes will focus on helping students live out their faith. Every other month, the class offered will be specifically focused on servant leadership, geared for current student leaders and those interested in growing in that area of their life.
September 8, 15, 22, 29
Bible Focused - Heart of Worship (Duncan)
Practical Focused - Servant Leadership (Me)
October 6, 13, 20, 27
Bible Focused - What Scripture says about Loving Others (Pastor Lee and myself)
Practical - How to Disciple (North Metro Representative for Fellowship of Christian Athletes - Zach Hansen)
How long are the classes?
While these focuses will remain the same throughout the year, most classes will have a new one starting at the beginning of each month. There will be instances where the class length will differ based on our calendar.
What time do the classes start and end?
Sunday School officially goes from 9:30-10:45 AM. For the first 15 minutes, we encourage our students and leaders to connect and catch up from the week. The class time will take place over the course of the next hour, with the first 45 being material covered and the last 15 allowing time for questions. That time will also be a good time for students to recite their verses for those who choose to do so.
Who will be teaching the classes?
I will teach the majority of the leadership classes every other month and will teach the Bible-focused classes during the other months. Teachers for all other classes will include adult leaders, retired pastors, and others that we believe are well-equipped to disciple our teenagers.
How do we hope to see students growing?
By attending classes consistently with a humble mindset to learn.
By bringing a Bible, taking notes, and adding to the discussion during class time.
By the renewing of their minds through Scripture memorization. At the beginning of the year, I will provide a list of passages for students to memorize. While this won’t be mandatory, it’s highly encouraged. The last 15 minutes of class time will be a great time for students to recite their verses to a leader.
To grow closer to Christ through prayer and personal devotions during the week.
By asking questions that they’re thinking about.
By the renewing of their minds through Scripture memorization. Under your seat, you’ll find a bookmark with suggested passages to memorize throughout the year. This won’t be mandatory to anyone, but we encourage students to do this because as Paul says in , we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We hope that students would memorize out of the desire to, not because they’re supposed to.
The last 15 minutes of class time will be a great time for students to recite their verses to a leader.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Our hope isn’t for our students to memorize
PARTICIPATE
PARTICIPATE
As we’ve done in the past, we will have weekly services on Wednesday nights for a time of connection, games, and worship during the same time frame as AWANA; 6:45-8:15 PM. Our primary goal for Wednesday nights is for our students to actively participate in worshipping God as a community. The two primary ways we hope that will happen is through praising God by singing and by studying God's Word together. This will also be a time where most of our students will serve in some way either on a team or in AWANA.
MS and HS Split for Message
While our services overall will be similar to last year as we play games, give announcements, and worship together, there is a significant adjustment: MS (Middle School: 7th-8th grade) and HS (High School: 9th-12th grade) will be split for the message.
During our discussions over the last 6 months, one thing that became clear was that there is room for improvement about being more intentional with our 6th graders transitioning to student ministries. One of the goals for splitting during the message time is to help ease that transition. There will be built-in accountability time for those that want to memorize verses in MS (similar to AWANA), a smaller group of people that will more naturally connect, and a message that will be geared specifically for their age. While all of those things are important for MS, we believe giving our HS students the same opportunity to be with teens their age is just as beneficial.
We have volunteer leaders that will be teaching MS, and I will do the majority of the teaching for HS. After many hours of praying about and discussing curriculum options, we've decided we will be using Orange Curriculum, which equips teachers of both age groups to go through the same topics most of the time but still provide age-specific material for our teachers. Orange is well-known and I've been extremely impressed with what they've provided so far. The message time will be 30 minutes, which will include time to check-in with verses (for MS) as well as a message mixed with discussion questions.
How do we hope to see students participating?
By having an open heart while entering worship, singing along while we praise God.
By bringing a Bible, paying attention, taking notes, and adding to the discussion during the message time.
By serving on at least one team
Worship Team – practices from 5:30-6:30 PM and leads later in service
Café Team – serves snacks and drinks before service
Video Team – meets every other Wednesday night from 5:00-6:00 PM
Prayer Team – meets after service from 8:15-9:00 PM
Selena! Selena is a 14 year old girl from the Dominican Republic that we’re sponsoring
With the hopes of connecting with others through small groups, growing closer to Christ through discipleship classes , and participating in worshipping God as a community, we’re excited to see our students find life and faith in Christ. On top of these weekly things, we’ll also have retreats, trips, worship nights, social events, and serving opportunities.
On top of these weekly things, we’ll also have retreats, trips, worship nights, social events, and serving opportunities.
With all of these things going on, I’d like to request one thing. And if there’s one thing you take away tonight, I’d hope it’s this. I’m asking for your support, don’t worry not financial support.
Here’s the reality. In a 4 week period, a little less than a month, each teenager gets 672 hours. In that same given period, if your kid attends Sunday School, small groups, and Wednesdays every week (which most don’t), we get to spend 28 hours with them. For those of you who can’t do 28/672 in your head, the amount of time we see your teen is a little over 4% of their weekly schedule. That’s 7 hours a week out of 168. Your kid sleeps more than that in a given night!
To help that sink in, I put together something to show you. This jar (full) right here represents how much time your teenager has in a given month. And this jar (almost empty) represents how much time we have with them IF they come to everything. It’s a very generous amount.
Listen, the only reason I’m here, and the only reason all of our leaders are here is because we believe God has called to help teens know Christ. We’re here to support you and encourage you for your kids’ sake, and I ask that you do the same. We appreciate the feedback, and we believe it’s healthy to get feedback. I hope that shows. Now that we’ve taken that feedback, acted on it, and made decisions to move forward, I invited you come alongside us and keep this momentum going.
In a little bit, Pastor Nate is going to come up and close for us, but before that happens I’m going to invite the worship team back up one more time. We’re going to sing the song “Build Your Kingdom Here” again, and I want us to sing it like we mean it. Let’s invite God to do what He wills for our teens, and to do remarkeable things within this ministry.