Youth Disciple in the Making Going on NOW
Every Wednesday Evening- 7pm to 8pm
Beginning Wednesday, January 25 and meeting every Wednesday evening from 7pm to 8pm for 8 weeks (through Wednesday, March 14), teens 6th to 12th grade are invited to join Pastor Sue Mitch, Jess Horsley and other adult mentors in a small discussion group which will watch and discuss the creative, thought-provoking NOOMA video series by Rob Bell.
A brilliant speaker whose words will make you reconsider your relationship with Christ, your involvement in the world, and your own ideas, Rob Bell expresses a unique prospective in the NOOMA video series, which will get you talking about everything from why people are scared of silence and why love is misunderstood to the beauty we witness every day and how we breath.
For more information about the NOOMA video series, click HERE.
Those interested in participating are encouraged to sign up by EMAILING JESS or calling 314.966.8167x119.
You can also sign up at ENGAGE Fellowship or Sunday school.
Click HERE to invite your Facebook friends to this event!
We'll meet in the youth lounge every Wednesday evening from 7pm to 8pm beginning Wednesday, January 25. Snacks and drinks will be provided, there's no cost to participate, and we hope to see you there!
Sale of Youth Mission Shares Going on NOW!
You can help support the 2012 Summer Journey Music and Youth Mission Trip by purchasing a $20 youth mission share. Each $20 youth mission share is completely tax-deductible, with all donated monies being used towards KUMC youth serving, singing, and sharing the love and word of Christ this summer as we travel to Memphis, Tennessee from Wednesday, May 30 through Sunday, June 3.
We hope you’ll support youth service and mission and purchase a $20 youth mission share sometimes soon!
Youth Circle Meets Every Sunday
from 10:30-11:30am in KUMC Youth Hall
Every Sunday from 10:30 to 11:30am, youth grades 6th - 12th gather in the youth hall to put their God-given talents, gifts, and abilities to work through a variety of methods in a new theme-based, goal-oriented fellowship, mission, and learning opportunities.
You, your friends, your family and everyone you know is invited to take part in this completely new, completely real, and completely experimental way of breaking through the barriers of this world and finding God alive and at work in our lives! We hope you'll join us every Sunday from 10:30 to 11:30am in the youth hall!
Who are KUMC Youth?
Do you like to paint? Do you like to dance? Do you like to wear skirts, shorts, or pants? Do like to shoot and edit vids or hang around and play with kids? Do you love school or hate it bad? Have you ever been happy or angry or sad? Do you like to sing or act in skits? Do you listen to music and dance to hits? Do play sweet tune and jam out loud? Do you stand out from the rest of the crowd? Do you like to read books or watch TV? Do you like to talk about what you see? Do you use your phone to take cool pics? Do you play sports or do cool tricks? Can you text real fast? Do you surf the net? Do you know who you are or don't know yet? Do you like to eat? Do you like to cook? Do you like to write, blog, or Facebook? Do you walk or skip or run or hike? Do you drive a car or peddle a bike? Did you know God cares? Do you care too? Did you know there’s someone praying for you? Do you question everything and search for truth? If "yes" to any of the above, you're KUMC Youth!
Watch for 2011 Year in Review Soon!!
***Resources for Parents & Adults***
Below are a number of articles published for parents and adults to read in order to better understand youth ministry and the state of youth and ministry today.
If you have an article you think is important for others to read, please contact Jess Horsley at jess@kirkwoodumc.org.
Silence is NOT Golden:
Why We Can't Afford NOT to Talk About Faith at Home
by Kara Powell & Brad M. Griffin - November 3, 2011
Through our College Transition Project research we explored all kinds of factors that may be related to faith formation in students' lives. In the midst of a host of factors that do seem to help develop Sticky Faith (faith that sticks with youth through teen years into adulthood), some of our most intriguing findings point to the role of parents and family conversations about faith.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE & FIND OUT MORE HERE!
Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church
Barna Group Research Finding - September 28, 2011
Many parents and church leaders wonder how to most effectively cultivate durable faith in the lives of young people. A five-year project headed by Barna Group president David Kinnaman explores the opportunities and challenges of faith development among teens and young adults within a rapidly shifting culture. The findings of the research are included in a new book by Kinnaman titled You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Church.
The research project was comprised of eight national studies, including interviews with teenagers, young adults, parents, youth pastors, and senior pastors. The study of young adults focused on those who were regular churchgoers Christian church during their teen years and explored their reasons for disconnection from church life after age 15.
No single reason dominated the break-up between church and young adults. Instead, a variety of reasons emerged. Overall, the research uncovered six significant themes why nearly three out of every five young Christians (59%) disconnect either permanently or for an extended period of time from church life after age 15.
FIND OUT THE SIX REASONS & READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE!
Few Millennials Interested in Religion, Study Finds
Michelle A. Vu - Christian Post Reporter
Millennials, those born between 1980 and 2000, are not anti-Christian or anti-religion, but they are, in general, just not interested in religion, says a new book based on a survey of members of this generation. An apathetic attitude towards religious and spiritual matters is common among members of this generation, according to The Millennials by Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Research, and his son Jess, a Millennial born in 1985. Members of this generation are likely to care less about spiritual matters than those from previous generations, the Rainers wrote.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE & EXPLAINATION HERE!
Six Megathemes Emerge from Barna Group Research in 2010
Change usually happens slowly in the Church. But a review of the past year's research conducted by the Barna Group provides a time-lapse portrayal of how the religious environment in the U.S. is morphing into something new. Analyzing insights drawn from more than 5,000 non-proprietary interviews conducted over the past 11 months, George Barna indicated that the following patterns were evident in the survey findings...
1. The Christian Church (that's us!) is becoming less theologically literate.
2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE & EXPLAINATION HERE!
3 Ways to Get Teens to Share their Faith
Greg Stier - Christian Post Guest Columnist
When the teens in your youth ministry begin to share their faith they will pray harder and worship louder. Many of them will read the Bible more diligently and walk in dependence on God more willingly. Why? Because the social stigma associated with evangelism helps teenagers to heighten their spiritual senses and deepen their spiritual thirst. There’s something about the threat of losing friendships, popularity and reputation that can help to trigger spiritual growth like nothing else. The act of evangelism is a visible, visceral way for Christian teenagers to pick up their cross, die to themselves and follow Jesus.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE!!
The Importance of Adult Influence
in Teen Faith Development
Ashley Berkholz (YouthWorker.com)
Adults set the standard. Adults are who teenagers look to and who they want to emulate when they get older. We may not realize it, but teenagers are looking to us for examples of how faith is supposed to be represented. So why are we not setting the examples very well?
As adults, we have an extreme influence on teenagers and how they understand faith. We need to help them get a better understanding of faith through how we live, help them gain a fuller understanding of living faith by growing with them.As adults, specifically parents, we have an enormous task of setting the example of faith to teenagers. Parents are being watched more than any other adult who in a teen's life because they share the same roof. As parents, we need to set the example starting in our own homes. Although I am not a parent yet, I grew up in a home where faith was not always discussed. I had to go elsewhere for my information and never was afforded the opportunity to ask my parents about their faith. We never had time set aside for learning more about the Bible, and they did not ever mention it unless someone else brought up the topic.
As adults, we should be setting the example for teenagers who are around us: This includes youth pastors, coaches and any other primary adult in a teenager's life. If they see a Christian living a life of sin and not following Christ, what impression does that leave on them? They will assume they can live that way, too, and not have to follow the Lord.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE!!
Religious Parents Influence Young Adults
A UMNS Commentary by David Briggs
Parents matter in the religious lives of America’s youth. This finding was clear to sociologist Christian Smith as the principal investigator for the National Study of Youth and Religion in 2002-2003, the most detailed study ever done on teens and religion. And it was clear in a 2007-2008 study following teens into emerging adulthood.
“What the best empirical evidence shows … is that even as the formation of faith and life play out in the lives of 18- to 23-year-olds, when it comes to religion, parents are in fact hugely important,” report Smith and Patricia Snell of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame.
Of the many influences on emerging adults, “One of the most powerful factors was the religious lives of their parents—how often they attended religious services, how important religious faith was in their own lives, and so on,” they write in their new book, “Souls in Transition: The Religious & Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults.”
We live in a culture where mothers and fathers hover over their children in school, on athletic fields and even on social media sites such as Facebook. Yet why do so many parents take a hands-off approach to religion and spirituality, setting youth adrift in crucial areas of moral reasoning and finding meaning in life?
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE!!
