Our Life Together: Christian Education & Formation - Youth Ministries
Youth in grades 6 through 12 are a valued part of our faith community, and they are invited to be active participants in the
full life of our congregation—perhaps the best faith formation available: after all, as the old saying goes, "faith
is caught, not taught."
In addition, though, we do offer a number of education and formation activities and programs specifically for youth, offering
them age-appropriate ways to engage more deeply with their own faith, with the Bible, and with the history, traditions, and
practices of Christianity.
Philosophy and Approach to Youth Ministry
We here at Second Congregational United Church of Christ know that there are a lot of different approaches out there to doing ministry with youth. We don't claim to have all the answers about how to do everything, but we do have a couple convictions about ministry with our youth:
- Youth ministry cannot be separated from the overall life of the congregation. Our youth are just as much a part of the baptized Body of Christ as anyone else, and so need to be part of the same community, activities, and ministries as the rest of the church. The days of the sending the youth off somewhere else until they become "real" Christians (a.k.a. adults) are over!
- Youth ministry must be substantive. Our youth are wonderful, faithful, questioning, doubting, concerned, intelligent, seeking, searching, gifted people. Their faith—whatever form it make take, whatever questions it may have—is real, and so we must deliver the goods of a real welcoming community and real exploration of faith, and not simply feed and entertain the youth. In today's society, youth can go many other places to be entertained. We have to be church to and with them.
Want to read more about the thoughts and beliefs behind our approach to youth ministry? Check out A Theological Framework for Youth Ministry.
Middle School Youth:
Sunday School
For youth in grades 6 through
8, we offer a Sunday School class in the hour before Sunday worship, from 9:30 - 10:15 am, so that the youth may
attend worship as well. Our junior - senior high Sunday School class is usually taught by Janet Jacobs. For more information, speak with her or
contact our Director of Christian Education Becky Erbe.
Middle School Youth Group
Our Middle School Youth Group, for grades 6 - 8, meets as part of Wednesday Youth Night from 6:30 - 7:30 pm during the
program year. For more information about the junior high youth group, contact our Director of Christian Education Becky Erbe.
Stay and Service Workcamp- We offer a Stay and Serve style workcamp each summer for our Middle School Youth. We serve our community for a 2 1/2 day camp which ends with 1/2 day trip to one of the local pools or Waterpark.
Wednesday Youth Night
For over 12 years, we have been offering an ever-expanding menu of activities and programming for a variety of ages as part
of our "Wendesday Youth Night". We bring together children and youth from our congregation, children and youth from
the Boys & Girls Club chapter housed at our church, and adults for an evening each week of educational activities, music
ensemble rehearsal, recreation, and dinner.
Check out the Wednesday Youth Night section for more information, or feel free to
contact our Director of Christian Education Becky Erbe.
Confirmation
Confirmation is an intensive, one-year faith-formation process we offer our
youth as they transition between middle school and high school. For most of our youth, the process
leads to the Rite of Confirmation at the end of the year, a rite through which they public affirm for
themselves the baptismal vows their parents made on their behalf when they were baptised. (Each year,
we do typically have one or more youth who were not baptized as infants, and so the confirmation process
leads instead to their own baptismal vows and their baptism.)
High School Youth Group: Sundays at The Loft
Youth in high school (grades 9 - 12) are invited to participate in
our Second Congregational High School Youth Group. It's is a safe place for all youth to explore
their questions, their faith, and their livesm and also to come together to do ministry in our
church and in the world.
Regular meetings are Sundays during the program year, from 2:00 - 4:00 pm.
Meetings vary from week to week, but usually include an evening prayer worship time, an exploration
or discussion of a faith-and-life issue, and some recreational time. Unless otherwise announced, they
always include dinner!
Youth are welcome to join the youth group at any time! Come with your
questions, your doubts, your faith, your life—you!
Snow Camp
 Each January (usually the last
weekend), all youth grades 6 through 12 are invited to take part in our annual Second Congregational Snow Camp at Silver Birch Ranch in White Lake, Wisconsin. The group travels by bus up to Silver Birch on Friday evening and returns on
Sunday. The weekend includes much play time in the snow for the youth, as Silver Birch offers facilities for snow tubing,
broomball, horseback riding, and more. The weekend also includes a theme topic around a faith matter and a number of
activities, talks, and sharing time to explore the topic. Past themes have included "We Are Family", "Faith in Motion", and "C.S.I. Silver Birch" (Changing Self Images). Saturday night closes with an
intimate worship service featuring Holy Communion.
For more information about Snow Camp, contact our Director of Christian Education Becky Erbe.
(back to Christian Education & Formation) |
