Sr. High Youth - God is Moving
We Are on the Move
If you told me ahead of time what Sr. High Youth would look like this year, I would not have believed you.
It started off “normal” with 80-100 students camped in familiar territory. Pastor James had the year all planned out and was particularly excited about starting up community groups. Kick-off went great! Keegan Poelzer and his games team found their groove quickly, and things were off to a good start. But change was coming our way. We were about to pack up camp and move out.
Pastor James’ resignation in the fall started the season the move. This had our youth and staff in a time of goodbyes and mourning. Pastor James had a profound impact on our youth, so this change did not come easy. But after Christmas break when we started up again, it was evident that more change was necessary.
Two things became evident to the team:
We had to make a course correction. We had drifted into a culture where teens were divided in their pull. Many were still pulled to spiritual growth and contributing to a loving community but a growing number were pulled to their own self-gain, even if it came at the cost of the rest of the group.- We felt like we had to move into designated small groups. This is where teens could feel more connected and be better known, where youth leaders could be more intentional and focused. We needed to rely more heavily on our youth leaders.
And so, off we went… for about two months.
Then came Pastor Dave’s nudging from God to move into the Care ministry side of CrossRoads Church; we now see him stepping into Pastor Stu’s former role. So as we continued to travel the road, we found ourselves short yet another pastor. Plans formed and ideas of a new structure started to emerge as we evaluated and dreamed.
With a new established, we started to make moves to this new staffing structure. Job descriptions were being drawn up and things seemed to be running smooth. Until we came to another road block - that being COVID-19 and its effectiveness at stopping nearly everything youth ministry did. It felt a bit like what happened to the Israelites, as God asked them to set up camp in the desert and wait, not allowing them to make moves to their future destination.
During this time, as it became evident that we would be parked in COVID-19 limbo for quite a while, as we set up temporary camp. Our youth leaders took the key position, each connecting with their small group online weekly. They did, and continue to do an incredible job of this, as weeks turn into months.
Our youth ministry staff support our leaders as best we can during this stop. We record teaching videos and create games and interactive activities that we feed to the youth leaders to help aid what they do in groups each week.
Then came another loss. In our camping spot of neither here nor there, CrossRoads Church had to make the tough decision regarding cutbacks. Each ministry walked through loss and Youth Ministry’s adjustment came by way of losing our games guy, Keegan. We are thankful that God has provided for Keegan by way of another full-time job in construction! This, however, meant we lost another team member. Keegan was great at what he did! He often talked about how much he loved his job, and we all loved him and his ability to play.
So, where does that leave us?
We still remain parked. Our youth leaders are rocking it with their small groups, but they do tire as online groups is a far more exhausting way of trying to connect with teens. Try and talk to a teen while they’re on their computer!
We’re grateful to have brought on Susan Ebenal to help with teen engagement and connectedness, specifically through social media. And in the short few weeks she has been with us, she has done well!
What are our plans for next year?
We are looking to hire a youth staff member that crosses between Jr. High youth, Sr. High youth, and into Young Adult Ministry. Sharing this role brings continuity through these groups and allows for us to be more intentional and focused in key areas.
I will continue to lead the student ministries team and guide us in more “big picture” ways. (Things like, are we achieving what we are trying to? Can we do more? How do we grow?) I will share the responsibility to teach our three age groups on a rotational basis. This next year, my talks will focus on “understanding”.
We are in the process of hiring an associate pastor. They will operate the ground ministry that we do - things like missions’ trips, class trips, serve events, retreats. They will also speak to our three ministries, focusing on “practice”.
Finally, when we are able to meet again, we would like to hire a youth leader coordinator. Their role will be to recruit, empower and care for our youth leaders. They will also rotate through the three groups and lead “connection” themed nights. These nights will focus on building deeper relationships with leaders and peers.
With all this change, our spirits are still high. But we would highly value your prayers. If you would, pray that we would be effective in growing students in their relationship with God and in connected community during this time of change. On this continued journey, we look forward to the new places we find and feel confident that God goes ahead of us.
Rob Mudde, Pastor of Young Adult & Student Ministries
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