Dear Friends,
Everyone knows the old adage that says, “It takes a village to raise a kid.” Our lives don’t run like villages much anymore. So much of our world is outsourced, compartmentalized, or digitized. But church is a place where we can come together, where embodied life together is valued over exclusively online relationships. Church is the place where we come together as a village to raise up the next generation of young people in their faith.
The Fuller Institute for youth ministry has done 20 years of research on what helps students keep their faith after they graduate high school. The number one thing they have found is that those who have five adults in their lives who are impacting their Christian journey are far more likely to keep their faith as part of their lives after they graduate high school. That is 5 adults of faith to every youth student. This includes parents, youth leaders, Sunday School teachers, choir members, altar guild leaders, friends, etc. A 5:1 ratio means we need all hands on deck when it comes to the spiritual lives of our youth. We need your help as volunteers and to be part of the various programs from ages birth through high school.
When kids are baptized, we as a congregation, commit to helping to raise up these precious ones to know Christ. We are in serious need for more volunteers who will inevitably make a significant difference in the lives of the students they interact with. We need volunteers who can help create a safe and welcoming environment in the nursery every Sunday, we need volunteers who can be a supporting adult role with our faithful Sunday School teachers April and Florence, we need regular youth leaders who can get to know our older youth students and be present regularly with them, getting to know them on a deeper level.
Please consider offering your time to this ministry so we, together, may help these young people’s faith flourish and thrive.
Blessings,
Julia F. +