Lighthouse is our youth ministry for Jr. High students. We have specifically designed this experience to:
• Encourage 6-8th graders to connect with their peers in a way that is relevant and creative;
• Create community life with opportunities to connect in small groups, large groups, and for fellowship;
• Develop in our students a personal relationship with Christ; and
• Allow opportunities for jr high students to be involved members of Trinity’s community.
CONFIRMATION…
Think about your confirmation experience. If you had one, who taught it? What did you learn? How did being confirmed make you feel? What was that commitment like in your life? Now think about what you want for your child’s confirmation process. What do you hope they will learn? How do you want them to feel as they commit to being a member of the body of Christ? As they affirm their calling in baptism? What do you want that commitment to look like in your child’s life?
Let’s Talk…
60-70 percent of students are walking away from the church. Imagine that – almost an entire generation is walking away from the church, forever. Those are not very promising odds. Our goal at Trinity is not to just “keep students in the church”, it is to raise them up in a way that will unleash them to live out their personal faith everyday. God has called parents to be an example and to care for their children spiritually. He has given the church the role of being a community of faith that reaches out with the light of Christ.
Something New…
Beginning this fall, we are going to respond to the needs of junior high students in a revolutionary way. Our model of discipleship at Trinity is that everyone who calls Trinity their “home” would be in a weekly worship service, support the weekend principles of welcome, worship and kid’s ministry through service, and be in a small group. Through our new schedule and format, our junior high students will have the opportunity to experience. We want to provide every junior high student the opportunity to begin serving and worshiping on Sunday mornings and meeting weekly in a small group during our time together on Wednesday evenings. We are calling this weekly Wednesday evening experience “LightHouse”.
LightHouse meets weekly on Wednesday nights from 7 - 8:15pm. Hang Time, a time for students to gather and reconnect with friends and teachers starts at 6:45pm. This consistent experience gives students the opportunity to come together for large group teaching times, small group discussion, and hands on experiences in fellowship and service. Our 3 stem approach helps students learn the WONDER of a BIG God. A God that is big enough to walk them through every experience they have had, and will have. Junior high is a time when we allow students to DISCOVER who they are in God’s truth. Your Jr. High student’s experience will be designed to ignite PASSION for a life lived in step with God’s plan for their lives. WONDER…DISCOVER… PASSION: 3 words, packed with promise.
What Does this Mean?
We see this new approach to Jr. High ministry as an opportunity for us to partner together to help students on this journey to confirm their faith – and to be a light to the world. Many of you have already attended a meeting about the enclosed materials the changes above, thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk about junior high ministry with you personally. Enclosed you will find the handouts, in case you need additional copies. For those of you
unable to attend these meetings, please join me on Thursday, June 11th at 7pm for another parent information meeting.
Jesus said, You are the light of the world… Matthew 5:14
