I was reflecting recently about my first real ministry position. Before I came to Sandown, while I was still in college, I was the youth leader for the Tilton Northfield UMC. Before my second year of seminary I was appointed as pastor of St. Matthews in Sandown. One of the first things I did was start a youth group. For many years Nicole and I were the youth leaders ourselves. Over time, as the church grew, additional leaders got involved and we were able to pass the baton to others.
But I have to say that nearly 40 years after my first youth ministry position I still have a heart for a young people. I still have a deep-seated desire to see our church reach our teens with the love of God and the hope of Christ. I think the reason I have always had a concern for our youth is twofold. First, it's a tough age. What our young people face growing up is far beyond anything I ever had to deal with. The stresses, the struggle and the temptations that our students face on a daily basis are almost overwhelming.
On the flip side, this is also a season of life that holds great opportunity and potential. Who our young people will become, and how they will live, is greatly shape during these teenage years. This is particularly true in terms of their values and their faith. When it comes to a ministry investment, these formative years of childhood and youth pay the greatest dividend. It is very often in these early years that people make faith decisions that carry through their entire lifetime. So I have always had a great desire for our church to invest significantly in our youth.
Over the years our youth program has seen its ups and downs. The challenging thing about youth ministry is the kids grow up. So it tends to go in waves as kids graduate out and new students get involved. Right now, after two years of covid, our youth ministry has come to a virtual standstill. But the need for youth ministry is greater than ever. So it's time! Time to relaunch. Time to reinvest in this critical stage of life. And for me personally, I've come full circle, right back to where I started in my earliest years of ministry.
For several months now I have felt God calling me to get reconnected to both youth and young adult ministry as a leader. Back in September we launched a new young adult group that is hosted at my home on Sunday nights. In a few weeks we are relaunching youth group. On Wednesday, February 16th, we will hold a dinner meeting for parents and youth at our Plaistow campus beginning at 5 PM. It will be an opportunity to hear our plans for the relaunch of youth group and to meet our amazing team of youth ministry leaders.
I would ask every one of you who has a middle school or high school student to join us. Parents, we need your help and support in getting our kids connected. If you would like to attend the dinner, have questions or might be interested in volunteering please drop me a note via email.
And I would ask all of us to please keep our young people in your prayers as Rock Church seeks to help them come to know Jesus and grow in faith.
Love you all!
Pastor Steve
PS, this coming Monday Jan 31 is our Women’s GROW program. So Sunday we could use 3 or 4 volunteers to help move chairs and set up a few tables right after our 10:30 service in Plaistow. If you can stay and help, please email Rachel Jones.