Youth
| general_consent_form_2018_2019.docx.pdf |
St Mary's Youth FaceBook Page
We put a strong emphasis on relationships and community in St. Mary’s and believe that relational strength helps us accomplish our goal of moving the young people closer to Jesus, sharing His good news and building resilient lifelong faith. As youth leaders we are passionate about supporting young people on this journey. We are powerfully motivated by the incarnational nature of Jesus and use this to inform and guide our mission to young people.
With this in mind, youth ministry at St.Mary’s is underpinned by the following values;
1) Belonging to a family
St.Mary’s Youth Ministry (YM) is a family. We will be a place of belonging for teenagers and for leaders. Every young person who walks through our doors will be known.
2) Questioning in safety
St.Mary’s YM will be a safe place to be honest. Questions will be encouraged and doubts will be seen as opportunities for faith exploration and not shame or embarrassment. Personal stories will be celebrated and respected.
3) Experiencing God in Jesus
We desperately want teenagers to encounter Jesus. We believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and that trusting in Him brings salvation and new life. To that end, we want young people to experience God and be transformed through His love.
4) Culture of Encouragement
We believe each young person and leader is unique and has gifts to offer the world. We will actively develop a Culture of Encouragement, intentionally identifying and nurturing gifts and skills.
5) Integration with the church
Teenagers should be connected with the church, not just the youth work. We will work to reduce the isolation of young people in our church and find meaningful ways to integrate them into the life of the congregation. We as leaders will call church members to see, listen to and act for young people in the congregation and local community.
6) Missional
We will help young people engage their faith outside St.Mary’s YM. We refuse to allow our ministry to become program-centric and only occurring in youth group time. We will engage the world around us in mission and outreach, both for the formation of our teenagers, and to engage the work of the Kingdom of God.
7) Contextual
We will seek to find Jesus in the world of the teenagers who join us and not impose our educational or spiritual agendas on them. We will endeavour to contextualise and not colonise their experiences, passions, desires and needs.
School Years 7-9
Pathfinders is for young people in school years 7-9. We normally meet in the youth room at the back of the church hall each week during the 10.30 service on Sundays. On the 1st Sunday in each month we are all in the service together for All-age worship service. In Pathfinders we spend time getting to know each other and looking at the key themes of the bible in an interactive and relevant way.
Friday night. Every Friday we run a youth group for years 7-9 in the church hall. This group provides as relaxed, informal space to meet and look at life from a Christian perspective. This usually involved some games, some social time with table football/tennis etc. and a discussion. A good place to bring friends.
School Years 10-13
ReGen is for young people in school years 10-13. The group isn’t a bible study, per se, though we will look at the bible a lot! We usually have a curriculum of some sort that we are using, something to provide context for spiritual discussions. The emphasis will rarely be on information or knowledge but will be focused more on interpretation, application and transformation. Our foundation will always be on Jesus as the ultimate revelation of God and His saving power.
ReGen meets on Sundays and on Fridays. On Sundays we meet during the main 10.30 service. On the 1st Sunday of the month we meet at Starbucks, on the 3rd Sunday young people have the opportunity to serve in the church through ministry’s such as the welcome team, Sunday school, prayer, reading etc. On the other Sundays we meeting in the Vestry.
On Fridays we meet in one of the leader’s homes for an informal cell group which fuses worship, prayer, community, bible reading and mission.
Youth Socials and Events
Every half term we try to hold a social event where all the young people come together. In addition to this the young people organise fund-raisers and outreach events on a termly basis. These events need a separate ‘Off-site’ consent form.
Youth Mentoring
We also run a mentoring programme. We want all our young people to be supported as they navigate secondary school and head into the world, continue in education or into employment.
Soul Survivor
Each summer we take a group of our young people camping at Soul Survivor. Please do speak to one of our leaders for further information. For 2018 the key details are:
Dates: TBC
Safeguarding
To find out about our safeguarding policy head on over to our policies page.
We put a strong emphasis on relationships and community in St. Mary’s and believe that relational strength helps us accomplish our goal of moving the young people closer to Jesus, sharing His good news and building resilient lifelong faith. As youth leaders we are passionate about supporting young people on this journey. We are powerfully motivated by the incarnational nature of Jesus and use this to inform and guide our mission to young people.
With this in mind, youth ministry at St.Mary’s is underpinned by the following values;
1) Belonging to a family
St.Mary’s Youth Ministry (YM) is a family. We will be a place of belonging for teenagers and for leaders. Every young person who walks through our doors will be known.
2) Questioning in safety
St.Mary’s YM will be a safe place to be honest. Questions will be encouraged and doubts will be seen as opportunities for faith exploration and not shame or embarrassment. Personal stories will be celebrated and respected.
3) Experiencing God in Jesus
We desperately want teenagers to encounter Jesus. We believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and that trusting in Him brings salvation and new life. To that end, we want young people to experience God and be transformed through His love.
4) Culture of Encouragement
We believe each young person and leader is unique and has gifts to offer the world. We will actively develop a Culture of Encouragement, intentionally identifying and nurturing gifts and skills.
5) Integration with the church
Teenagers should be connected with the church, not just the youth work. We will work to reduce the isolation of young people in our church and find meaningful ways to integrate them into the life of the congregation. We as leaders will call church members to see, listen to and act for young people in the congregation and local community.
6) Missional
We will help young people engage their faith outside St.Mary’s YM. We refuse to allow our ministry to become program-centric and only occurring in youth group time. We will engage the world around us in mission and outreach, both for the formation of our teenagers, and to engage the work of the Kingdom of God.
7) Contextual
We will seek to find Jesus in the world of the teenagers who join us and not impose our educational or spiritual agendas on them. We will endeavour to contextualise and not colonise their experiences, passions, desires and needs.
School Years 7-9
Pathfinders is for young people in school years 7-9. We normally meet in the youth room at the back of the church hall each week during the 10.30 service on Sundays. On the 1st Sunday in each month we are all in the service together for All-age worship service. In Pathfinders we spend time getting to know each other and looking at the key themes of the bible in an interactive and relevant way.
Friday night. Every Friday we run a youth group for years 7-9 in the church hall. This group provides as relaxed, informal space to meet and look at life from a Christian perspective. This usually involved some games, some social time with table football/tennis etc. and a discussion. A good place to bring friends.
School Years 10-13
ReGen is for young people in school years 10-13. The group isn’t a bible study, per se, though we will look at the bible a lot! We usually have a curriculum of some sort that we are using, something to provide context for spiritual discussions. The emphasis will rarely be on information or knowledge but will be focused more on interpretation, application and transformation. Our foundation will always be on Jesus as the ultimate revelation of God and His saving power.
ReGen meets on Sundays and on Fridays. On Sundays we meet during the main 10.30 service. On the 1st Sunday of the month we meet at Starbucks, on the 3rd Sunday young people have the opportunity to serve in the church through ministry’s such as the welcome team, Sunday school, prayer, reading etc. On the other Sundays we meeting in the Vestry.
On Fridays we meet in one of the leader’s homes for an informal cell group which fuses worship, prayer, community, bible reading and mission.
Youth Socials and Events
Every half term we try to hold a social event where all the young people come together. In addition to this the young people organise fund-raisers and outreach events on a termly basis. These events need a separate ‘Off-site’ consent form.
Youth Mentoring
We also run a mentoring programme. We want all our young people to be supported as they navigate secondary school and head into the world, continue in education or into employment.
Soul Survivor
Each summer we take a group of our young people camping at Soul Survivor. Please do speak to one of our leaders for further information. For 2018 the key details are:
Dates: TBC
Safeguarding
To find out about our safeguarding policy head on over to our policies page.