Fellowships
With all of the demands placed on the time and energies of teenagers in our culture, our Youth Fellowships provide a place to get away from the pressures of school and sports and hang out with friends, while growing in an understanding of faith and how it relates to their lives within their context. Sunday night meetings are the core of the program and are held in our new, technologically enhanced Youth Room (including Rock Band, Wii and an iPod dock). We hang out, eat, play games and video games and have a time of meaningful discussion - a weekly "Gel Session" - which offers our teenagers an opportunity to take their conversations beyond the surface and delve into the real issues and challenges that they face. Other activities, such as mission projects, trips to the city, dinners and the annual Mission Trip, round out the program that brings faith and culture to a head.
Junior High Fellowship, for students in 6th - 8th Grade, meets Sunday nights from 6:00 - 7:15pm.
Senior High Fellowship, for students in 9th - 12th Grade, meets Sunday nights from 7:30 - 8:45pm.
Confirmation
Teenagers are trying to figure out what they believe, and our Confirmation program is designed to help them do just that. By exploring current topics and relating them to faith and the Bible, teenagers are invited to explore Christianity and what it means to be a member of our Church. Confirmation is offered for students in 9th Grade or older who wish to explore more about their faith and beliefs.
Outreach
We participate in projects that help others and make a difference in the world, on the local, national and international levels. Children, teenagers and adults are involved in hands-on activities, such as sorting for the Rummage Sale, preparing meals for "Bridges," working at soup kitchens, collecting school supplies, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, mentoring students from Newark, collecting food and compiling personal health kits. Our projects and programs respond to both ongoing need and local and global crises that arise.
The premier event of the Senior High Fellowship is the annual Mission Trip. In recent years, our students have traveled to Puerto Rico, the Gulf Coast Los Angeles and Jamaica. Participating in a mission trip is one of the most powerful ways to expand a teenager's world beyond the limited bounds in which we live. Past trips have changed the lives of participants and it is no wonder that these trips are often the subject of their college essays.
