Ministry Value #1 – Renew: Youth Ministry at Moorpark Presbyterian Church

Renewcast 09: Ministry Value #1 (Part 2) – ft. Amber D & Brennan C

Show Notes:

We discuss ministry value #1 about belonging. Special guests Amber & Brennan

Ministry Value #1: “We believe the church needs to be a place where all youth are welcome and find belonging. This happens through authentic, meaningful relationships between adults and youth.”

We discuss:

A few quick comments about Dave’s office, regarding cats and the Cubs.

In the last episode, Jack shared some thoughts on a high schooler’s perspective of the church, and we discussed God creating us to be in relationship from Genesis 2.

In this episode, we look at that a little deeper. If we believe God desires us to be in relationship in the church, then how do we get that? Is it working?

What things prevent deeper relationships? Things like the “Sunday School answer” and inauthenticity. What’s the result of a lack of relationships in the church?

Church as a classroom vs church as a community.

How do we correct the concerns? We discuss a new way to look at how we teach in the church, which is more about a relational conversation than a lecture, as well as empowering youth to use their voice.

Renewcast 08: Ministry Value #1 – ft. Jack B & Dave H

SHow Notes:

We discuss ministry value #1 about belonging. Special guest Jackson Butman.

Jack shares a few stories about sobbing over video games, telling mom “I love you,” and kids breaking coffee mugs.

We’ve created 8 “ministry values” that we’re going through each month at Renew. In September, we discussed the first:

Ministry Value #1: “We believe the church needs to be a place where all youth are welcome and find belonging. This happens through authentic, meaningful relationships between adults and youth.”

We discuss:

-Do youth feel that they belong here (in the church)?
-Do youth outside of the church feel connected to it? How do we help that happen?
-How do youth outside the church view it? Do they think it’s about a relationship or is it just religion?
-What’s significant about relationships in the church?

We then look at the creation story in Genesis 2. God says it’s not good for man to be alone. God gives us rules (religion), but God also gives us life.

-How are relationships in the church a way that God gives us life?
-What’s more important, relationships or religion?

The challenge is to reach out and connect with others, which leads to a connection to the church beyond high school.

October 2017 Newsletter: Ministry Values Curriculum

This school year for our curriculum, we are going through some newly created ministry values specific for our Renew youth ministry program. What are ministry values, you ask?

Well, what is something you value? You’d probably say things like, “family time,” “friendship,” “athletic or arts performance,” “good grades,” etc. If you really value these things, then you add activities to your schedule to make them happen.

In a similar way, as a youth ministry (and as a church) desiring to accomplish something specific (growing disciples, for example), we want to communicate the things we value in order to help accomplish them. In other words, what we do here should line up with these values.

So the first is this, “We believe the church needs to be a place where all youth are welcome and find belonging. This happens through authentic, meaningful relationships between adults and youth.”

All month long we’ve been discussing this at Renew. If you’d like to hear more about it, in the next couple weeks we’ll have a new month-long podcast series up. We’d love for you to listen and join the conversation. Search for the “Renewcast” on iTunes, SoundCloud or in the MPC Life app.

Stayed tuned for more to come!

You Belong Here

Ministry Value #1: “We believe the church needs to be a place where all youth are welcome and find belonging.”

Overview:

Ministry Value #1: “We believe the church needs to be a place where all youth are welcome and find belonging. This happens through authentic, meaningful relationships between adults and youth.”

Genesis 2:18 – God says, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

It’s no question from a quick read in Genesis that humanity makes choices over and over again that lead to death. But God, he creates and sees that “it is good.” And verse 18 shows us that God also knows what is “not good.” So then since humanity chooses actions that lead to death, we could say that only God knows what is good, and what is not good. And here we see that God desires for us to be in relationship with one another.

Relationships in the church, then, have potential to offer what God is referring to when he says, “it is not good for man to be alone.”

What are some ways that relationships have helped you? (write out some thoughts)
After doing that, now think about the different things that have helped connect you to the church (people, experiences, etc). Which is the most significant of these things?

Your answer to that second question might suggest that relationships are most important. This is why we believe that youth need “authentic, meaningful” relationships with adults. This is why God says, “It is not good for man to be alone.”