Over the past couple of months we have been hard at work redeveloping our children's and youth ministries at Rock Church. We've expanded our teams at all locations. We've created welcoming environments for our kids. We've prayed diligently for this ministry to effectively reach young people with the hope and good news of Christ. We are now in the midst of launching our Sunday morning children's program at all locations. Plaistow began this past Sunday. Sandown begins this Sunday and North Shore launches their program on October 3rd. I can't tell you how excited I am to see us have a full children's program across all locations.
Where we need your help now is inviting the children. I imagine it is very possible that you have a neighbor, co-worker or friend who has school age children. I would ask you to pray for them and to extend an invitation to any of our campuses. We have a great team of folks ready to welcome them, love on them and share with them the love of Jesus in a way that is fun and engaging. As Jesus said “let the children come to me.” Your invitation can help make that happen.
The next step is to get our youth ministry up and running again. 18 months of Covid has definitely taken a toll on our youth program. But we are committed to rebuild it better than ever. My goal is for us to re-envision what youth ministry can look like in our church and develop a new model that helps us really connect to our young people at this critical age and help them to fully connect to Christ.
If you think you might be interested in being a part of helping move this important area of ministry forward, or if you are a parent with a child of middle school or high school age, we will be holding a zoom meeting to begin to work on this. It will be held next Monday September 27. If you would like the link, please email me at Steve@rock-church.org.
Our young people, children and youth, are dealing with so much today. More than ever they need a solid foundation in Christ to help them navigate the stresses, challenges and choices that they will face. It is more important than ever that the Word of God, the hope of the gospel and the support of a loving Christian community be available to our children and youth. As a church, we are being called to make that possible. “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them. For to such belongs the kingdom of God.”
Have a blessed week. I look forward to us all being together on Sunday. Don't forget that this week is our fall kickoff in Sandown and next week at North Shore. Love you all.
God bless,
Pastor Steve