Youth Ministry and Core Values
Hopefully you have all seen and reflected on Faith’s newly adopted Core Values! So the question I (Nick) have asked myself is ‘what do Sunday morning Bible studies, Wednesday night Youth Groups, Thursday night college Bible study, trips to the corn maze, retreats, Idaho Servant Adventures, Christmas parties, and all the rest have to do with these Core Values at Faith?’
Well…a lot actually!
Sacramental Worship
As a youth group we don’t celebrate the sacraments in isolation but with the entire Faith community! We continue to hold our time together in worship in high esteem, helping students gain a greater understanding of the gifts God gives to us in worship.
Intergenerational Life Together
When it comes to youth ministry, this is the Core Value that excites me the most because, as a church body that holds this value high, we have the opportunity to invest in the lives of students (from preschool to college) and walk with them in their journey of faith. What an exciting opportunity to model for emerging generations what it looks like to be Christian in the world!!
Disciple-Making
In our effort to make disciples and grow in our Christian faith, we as a youth group at Faith Lutheran spend time together in Scripture. Together we ask what a particular passage in Scripture is saying and how it is applicable for our lives today in 2012 in Fair Oaks, California. As members of a body that is rooted in God’s Word, this is an indispensable part of the disciple-making process.
It is also important to remember that disciples aren’t made, nor do they live, in isolation. That is why we come together as a peer group to play, eat, and talk together. As we all grow individually in our faith in Christ we also grow together in friendship so that we might continue to encourage and support one another throughout middle school, high school, college, and even beyond!
Vocational Service
Disciples of Jesus don’t just talk about faith in a smelly room in the gym or come to church on a Sunday morning; at some point the rubber has to meet the road. Certainly we have the opportunity to serve at church, in the community, and even in different states! These are all great ways to come together and serve our neighbors in meaningful ways. However, the concept of vocation opens up more opportunities to talk about and engage in ‘service’ beyond programmed or planned service projects or events. As we live in our vocations, or callings, of child, sibling, student, or friend how might we be the hands and feet of God? When we live out this value we extend the Church beyond the four walls of our sanctuary and begin touching lives in the community!
Much of what we do as a youth group already seeks to live out Faith’s Core Values but there are also many ways in which we can grow and more fully utilize the gifts of our congregation to serve and encourage our children, teenagers, and young adults as they grow and mature in faith! What are your thoughts?