We labor in love to:
- Help develop meaningful spiritual disciplines in the lives of our youth. These include daily quiet times, prayer, Scripture memory, and ministry.
- Prepare our youth for present and future challenges by firmly grounding them in biblical truth.
- Cause the youth group to grow into a unified, diverse, caring, and cohesive faith community.
- Develop qualities which will enable youth to serve those outside the church, and assume positions of ministry and leadership within the local church.
- Build a healthy, open relationship with the youth so that they feel the freedom to approach any leader at any time about anything.
- Equip the youth to share their faith in a clear manner with unsaved friends and family.
- Restore the sense of intimacy between God and teen through worship.
- Support and embrace the parents of our youth as we emphasize a holistic "family ministry."
We summarize our goals as:
- To edify our youth and parents
- To equip our youth and parents
- To evangelize our unsaved friends
- To exchange our lives in community
- To exalt our Triune God
We work from a philosophy of ministry that believes:
- The starting point for youth ministry is God, not human activity.
- The center of youth ministry is Christ, not any human leader.
- The strength for youth ministry is the Holy Spirit, not human ability.
- The guide for youth ministry is the Bible, not human wisdom.
- The focus of youth ministry is people, not programs.
- The goal of youth ministry is to mature Christians, not just to make converts.
- The environment for youth ministry is the family and corporate body, not isolation or individualism.
- The growth of youth ministry is spiritual reproduction, not spiritual addition.
- The process of youth ministry is progress, not perfection.
- The marketing of youth ministry is attraction, not just promotion.
- The satisfaction of youth ministry is God's glory, not human pleasure.
Guided by our philosophy, these goals may express themselves in different forms from quarter to quarter. You can, however, always expect a variety of purposeful, enjoyable, educational, and ministerial events to complement Sunday School (9:30 a.m. at the church on Sunday), Youth Group meetings (3:30 p.m. at the church on Sunday), and our new Leadership class (7:00 p.m. Tuesdays at the church). As a part of our church's "Family Ministries," we emphasize our support role to Christian parents who have the primary responsibility of raising godly kids. You'll find parents and family units growing together at most all our events! We would love to have YOU be a brick in the growing foundation of a solid, God-honoring, and unique youth/family ministry. Come join our community this week, or contact us at obc@obc.org for a current schedule of events and information! |
|