It has been a fun and exciting semester as I have jumped into the youth ministry at Christ Church. I was delighted to accept the position of Youth Coordinator in July. I have never experienced a church or staff quite like Christ Chruch. You are a unique and lovely people! As a native Texan, there has been much to learn about Colorado. What should I do all summer with amazing weather and beauty? Answer: get outside as much as possible. What’s the best way to spend Labor Day weekend? Answer: attend weekend away with Christ Church. More specifically, beat Fr. Terry at pickleball. It has been a delight to settle into life in Colorado. I have loved getting to know the students and families of Christ Church.
Wednesday Night Youth Group:
Wednesday nights are a joyful weekly gathering for our students. The ebb and flow of the evening is similar to years past. The students on the youth leadership team (Prescott, Ian, Cory, Grace and Cora) have taken significant leadership in planning and leading games, fun and inserting bits of humor into our program.
In the Fall, we taught through the first half of Genesis. We sought to more clearly understand the beauty, goodness, and complexity of God’s creation and humanity's place in God’s kingdom. We explored the truths that God created order, beauty and goodness out of darkness. He created a world where life can flourish. This semester, we are teaching through a series titled, “Jesus Said What?” Each week, we will look at a different interaction with Jesus in which he says something particularly interesting, shocking, challenging or confusing. The overall hope for the teaching on Wednesday nights is to help students see Jesus more clearly, understand why he said what he said, and apply his words to our context.
New Initiatives in the Youth Ministry:
Youth Leadership Team Mentors:
The Youth Leadership Team (YLT), which consists of five student leaders, has significant responsibility in planning and leading aspects of the youth ministry. An additional part of their commitment is a willingness towards soul care and discipleship. In the fall, the YLT and I were meeting every other week. There were two main goals of these meetings. One, I wanted our team to spend time together reading the Bible examining more closely the life of Jesus. Then, asking and thinking about how his life affects, changes and challenges ours’. We read and discussed the book of John. The second aim of our time together was to plan all the practical pieces of Wednesdays nights, social events, and service projects.
This semester, in lieu of our bi-monthly team meetings, each student will be assigned a mentor from Christ Church. These men and women are people that have been identified as godly, faithful, earnest, wise, followers of Jesus, whom we also believe to be trustworthy, genuine, kind, compassionate, and have a heart for engaging and loving the younger members of our church.
The hope and desire for this time together is simply to know, love and support the student in all areas of their life but particularly the growth and development of their spiritual lives. I believe these types of relationships are vital for the health and growth of life with Christ. This was and continues to be true in my own relationship with Christ. I have experienced much growth through relationships with older women who were committed to knowing and loving me. In these relationships I felt known, loved, cared for and safe –to ask questions about the Bible, its application in my life, pose doubts, and make sense of the world up against my Christian belief. My hope and prayer is that our students would also experience the joy and growth from this kind of friendship.
HS Collective:
This spring, we will introduce a new youth program specifically designed for high school students. HS Collective exists for high school students to deepen relationships with each other, while engaging in biblical discussion around culturally relevant and practical topics.
The name, HS Collective, signifies two important values and aims. One, the Christian faith is meant to be lived and experienced in community. The hope is that we would truly live into our name -- that we would become a group of individuals bound together by love for God and each other, united by a mutual interest (knowing God) as we navigate what it means to “Be With, Become Like, and Live Like Jesus” (CCD vision) in today’s world. I hope this will happen as we collectively share a meal and participate in biblical discussion.
Secondly, HS Collective exists to allow students to collectively engage in God’s Word and learn how to apply his word to their lives. We will discuss topics like: God’s plan for my life, anxiety & stress, dating & romantic relationships, the trustworthiness of the Bible, spiritual disciplines, biblical friendship and more.
Advent Devotionals:
Last December, the youth ministry and friends of the youth ministry put together a 31 day Advent Devotional to help redirect, shape and form our hearts for the “good news of great joy” that is the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. These devotionals were written by parents, youth volunteers, staff and each student on the youth leadership team. Reading through the wisdom and thoughtfulness of the students' devotionals were a particular highlight. These devotionals were incredibly rich and soul stirring. They were made available to the Christ Church community and beyond, through our website, thanks to the hard work of DeeDee Atwood and the communications team!
Youth Ministry Special Events:
Last semester we had a myriad of special events. The students celebrated Halloween on a snowy Saturday evening. Special guest Father Joseph made a surprise appearance and took the party to the next level (he has a way of doing that). About 13 students gathered one Saturday morning in December to bag rice and beans for Metro Caring. This was a wonderful morning seeing our students serve and care for the people of Denver. And wow, you have never seen a faster bagging assembly line. A highlight in December was the first annual visit to Claremont Residencies to sing Christmas Carols. We had a blast visiting with residents while filling the halls with Christmas cheer (acapella at that). We hope to be invited back next year! We closed out the semester with a Christmas party - games, gingerbread house decorating, and a white elephant gift exchange.