Three principles guide Youth Ministry at FPC:
- FPC Youth Ministry is relational. All youth receive unconditional love, respect, and acceptance from the adult leaders.
- FPC Youth Ministry is discipleship-making. Most commitments to faith are made before the age of eighteen, most often during the middle and high school years.
- FPC Youth Ministry includes friends. The greatest influences in the lives of our children are their friends.
Middle School Years
The middle school years are crucial! During middle school, the foundation of faith is established. If the foundation is strong, faith will flourish. If the foundation is weak, faith will crumble. During the middle school years, students make key life decisions. Becoming or not becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ is one of those decisions. It’s imperative that our youth be given the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus Christ and the opportunity to respond. Weekend retreats and summer camp experiences can be transformational events. During the middle school years, our youth will forge their identity: who they are, how they will live, what they believe, and what they will do. Our Wednesday night LOGOS program and Sunday morning Sunday school classes focus on knowing the faith and applying it to life.
One of the greatest influences that shape our youth is their friends. Youth Ministry at FPC ministers to our youth and their friends. Our monthly activities are designed to be attractive and fun. These events provide the opportunity for our youth leaders to build relationships and win the right to be heard.
High School Years
During the high school years, FPC’s Youth Ministry seeks to build on the foundation of faith established in the middle school years. The development of a faith that is solid, anchored deep and able to guide our youth through their high school years, college years and beyond, is our goal. We are diligent in our efforts to turn the immature faith that was forged earlier into a deep, lifelong, abiding faith. The focus of our high school ministry is on small discipleship groups and personal ministry. We encourage our youth to be part of the church in deeper ways during their junior and senior years. For this to occur, they must have a ministry of their own and a rock-solid relationship with caring adults and peers.