One of the most important parts of growing up is the observance of rites of passage. Rites of passage for teenagers are an essential part of measuring their maturity and forming their identity. These rites include entering high school, getting a driver's license, first school dance, first job, and graduating.
At Bethany Covenant Youth, we want to structure our ministry around various rites of passage so we can help our students measure their spiritual maturity alongside their physical and emotional maturity. We want these "mile markers" to help our students discover their identity as a child of God and as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Each of our Mile Markers corresponds to a level of spiritual formation. We want our students to KNOW Jesus, GROW with Jesus, SHOW the love of Jesus, and GO and make disciples of Jesus. This is the path people take in their faith journeys and a way of seeing how we can keep becoming more and more like our Savior.
Our Mile Marker for KNOW is our 6th Grade Breakfast. At this point, they are leaving children's ministry and entering into youth ministry. They are given a gift from Kelly, our children's pastor, and given a Bible by me that they will need for their next Mile Marker. The next two years for them in ministry will be devoted to KNOWING Jesus by getting to know him better through Scripture reading, prayer, and worship. They will work out what it means to have a relationship with Jesus and with other Christians.
Our Mile Marker for GROW is Confirmation. Our 8th graders go through Confirmation so they can be more sure of what they believe and why they believe it. They are given an overview of the Old and New Testaments, Christian theology, and church history. They are also challenged to memorize Scripture and do a project that displays compassion, mercy, justice, or evangelism. During this year, and the years that follow, students are challenged to GROW in spiritual maturity and start becoming more like Jesus in thought, deed, and attitude.
Our Mile Marker for SHOW is CHIC/Summer missions. Both of these events will expose our students to the world in new ways and help them get a bigger picture view of Christianity, the Kingdom of God, and what their place in all of this is. CHIC will challenge our students to go deeper in their own faith but further in their efforts to show God's love to others. Mission trips help our students be the hands and feet of Christ in serving others and sharing the Good News about Jesus with them. In following up with these major events, students will be challenged to be the hands and feet in their youth group, their church, their homes, the schoools, and their communities.
Our Mile Marker for GO is Senior Challenge. This is a new program and more information about this will be shared later. Senior Challenge will culminate on Graduation Sunday as we celebrate the lives of those who will be leaving our youth ministry, prepared to engage the culture around them and make disciples for Jesus Christ.
We believe as a ministry that rites of passage are essential for helping students seeing where they are in their walk with Jesus, how their faith is growing, and what they can be focusing on in their spiritual growth. It also gives students something to constantly be looking forward to, while at the same time allowing them to look back to see where they came from.
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