Newsletter from March 3, 2010
 

From the Director of  Youth and their Families. . .

If you’ve happened to walk by one of our weekly youth meetings lately you may have noticed something a little strange, something seemingly out of place.

Adults. Lots of them.

At our last meeting there were no less than fifteen adults in attendance. Among them were two of our elders, four deacons, a high school guidance counselor, and a host of adult volunteers. One of them even had the courage to share her testimony in front of the entire youth group.

I am thrilled about the fact that here at Covenant we have, obviously, a little more adult involvement than a typical youth program. In fact, we are striving to be as atypical as possible in this regard.

A few weeks ago the president of MTV was quoted as saying “We own 14 year olds.” As someone who grew up watching MTV, I have to admit that for many teens, he’s pretty much right. Very few things have the effect that music and mass media in general can have on the mind of the American teenager. Unfortunately, two of the primary messages sent out by media outlets like MTV are “adults cannot be trusted” and “you already have everything you need to succeed in life inside of yourself.” Rather than separate the youth from the rest of the body of Christ and exacerbate the problem, we involve adults.  The wisdom and guidance of these adults is invaluable to our youth.

Our aim is to be Covenantal and, thus, Biblical in our approach. This means that we strive to create an environment in which our youth experience the blessing of being part of the body of Christ as a whole, not a segregated subset.

One way we integrate adults into our youth is to intentionally ask Godly men and women to come and be a part of our meetings and events. These volunteers spend time talking with and listening to our youth, visiting them at school, teaching their small groups, Sunday School classes, and living life with them in general. These adults are often painfully and wonderfully transparent in order to share God’s grace and forgiveness with our students. They also give our students a vision for the future. Their presence reminds students that they will not be youth forever and invites them to begin considering what type of man or woman they would like to one day become. By agreeing to spend time with students, CPC adults become an example of what it means to be a person whose identity and value is found in Christ.

We have been blessed with many brothers and sisters in Christ who love our youth and who are willing to spend time with them. Please pray for these saints who are pouring themselves into our students.

What about you?  Are you willing to participate in the youth ministry?  Please consider sharing your talents with us and help us make CPC a truly covenantal community.

Chris Gregory