Programs and Events

Youth Group

When: Every Wednesday 7-9 pm (6:30 pm hangout before it starts)

Where: Laurelwood’s Sanctuary/Gym

What: Each Wednesday typically consists of games, worship music, an interactive lesson, and mentor groups where students can share about their lives and make friends.

Sunday School

When: Every Sunday 9-10 am

Where: Youth Room (In the Fellowship Hall)

What: Join us each Sunday morning for our Youth’s bible class. This class is meant to provide teens with a better understanding of God, our relationship with Him, and His word to us. Students will be challenged to think deeply, broaden their perspectives, and discern applications of biblical truth. The class is discussion based, and students are encouraged to bring their own Bible. (See calendar for any cancellations)

Camps and Retreats

Having a retreat is a spiritual discipline that isn’t often discussed, but it is formative and powerful when we do practice it. This is why students are encouraged to participate in our different yearly retreats. To receive all the benefits of practicing the spiritual discipline of retreating, it is best to disconnect from technology and go somewhere that is different from your usual rhythms of life and do things outside of your usual rhythms too. Students will do just that when they spend either a weekend/week away from home to be with God in community with others. They will enjoy unforgettable activities, worship through music, receive different teachings, and more. (See calendar for retreat/camp dates.)

The What

• The apostrophe s in Youth’s Ministry is actually a really big deal! It means that students have ownership and lead the ministry empowered by adults.
  • Adult roles – Changed from doing the ministry activities, to being mentors and coaches. 
  • Student planning team – With the coaching of Sam, these students plan the ministry calendar, weekly schedule, and lead various activities at Youth Group. Any Sophomore or older can apply if they have been to youth group for a year.
  • Student leaders
    • We want to take students further in their walk with Christ by helping them discover their spiritual gifts and how to apply them, what makes Christian leadership different than worldly leadership, and how they can dive even deeper into the word of God so they can teach it to others.
    • Student Leadership is one of our primary strategies in Youth’s Ministry. It is also one of our discipleship strategies too. As Jesus taught to the crowds, he also taught to the twelve disciples. What Jesus taught the twelve was different than the crowd. When students join student leadership, they will receive different types of teachings and trainings.
    • They will come to know the old adage, “A leader can’t take someone further than they have been themselves.”  Students will undergo a training period, then they will select a ministry team to work with. Depending on their team, they may attend weekly or monthly meetings to plan or train within their responsibilities. We aren’t just looking to hand off tasks to students because we want them to learn what true responsibility looks like.

The Why?

• Youth get to have ownership over ministry which leads to more discipleship.
• Youth care less about how we can entertain them. They have endless entertainment on their devices.
• Youth would rather be believed in, and invested in, rather than just told what to do.
• Youth are currently part of the church, not the future. Our hope is that more and more of them are trained to do ministry now.
• Discussion Based Teaching: Part of Youth’s Ministry is structuring lessons to reflect how students learn best. Students learn best through discovery and thinking things through for themselves. In a typical sermon, a lot of thinking is done for them, and their questions are left unasked or unanswered, leaving the student feeling disengaged. Discussion based teaching lets students wrestle with big ideas and ask the hard questions. In turn, students will begin to understand how the Bible addresses many of these ideas and questions, and it’s a matter of searching for the information rather than it not being there. All of us are on our own faith journeys, and discussion based teaching will encourage students to use the Bible as their map.
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