Hello Students and Parents,

Here is an important announcement for you from Pastor Jack about a change we are making for the fall. More specifics will be available in the coming weeks. Let us know if you have any questions!

Rich

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To all the middle school aged youth and their parents,

This fall we are making a few changes to the youth program for the purpose of becoming more effective in equipping and making disciples of our youth. All of us recognize that there is a very large difference between the needs and learning style of high school and middle school aged children. We desire very much to provide a very strong program to minister to and to reach both age groups. However, due to our limited resources this is a very difficult challenge. Most of you are aware that Pastor Rich’s role as a youth pastor is not his sole responsibility. Because we are looking to expand his efforts towards the church’s discipleship efforts as a whole, he simply cannot minister to the two very different age groups in an effective manner and effectively accomplish his other responsibilities.

Because of this, we are splitting the middle school and high school ministries. Our Wednesday evenings will continue to meet and will be for grades 9-12 (aged 14 and above.) For our middle school we are providing a new opportunity! Our children’s pastor, Regina Gossage, is going to help us in facilitating a monthly fun event that will have theme-based game nights, fellowship, and faith-building exercises for our children. It ought to provide them with a great time of being with their friends while also continuing to grow in discipleship and ministry.

We do not envision this as a permanent solution for our middle school. For now though, our prayer, plan, and hope is that these changes will be a strong first step towards providing a more effective discipleship effort that is age appropriate for the two very different life stages that our children will go through.

The elders and I very much appreciate your prayers as we continue to evaluate our plan and vision for moving forward.

Pastor Jack